What do I do with my 10 year old computer?

It can be recyled, monitor too (monitors are full of leaded glass—really really recycle them), but you have to find a place that takes e-waste. A lot of non-profits will run e-waste collection specials (at least in California…) watch for signs.

Worst case, there are pseudo-commercial e-waste collection places that will take the stuff for a fee.

If you don’t feel comfortable blanking your own hard drive (it is not entirely trivial), donate it without the hard drive and find a friendly geek to blank the drive for you.

Depends on the config. If it is a PIII, you can install a linux distro like vector linux and use it for simple purposes like music and video streaming. You can also use it as a router and create a small home network.
Another option would be to donate it.
Monitor can still be used but I am not sure if you would want those fat 14” CRTs

You could start collecting them and create something strangely fantastic:

http://www.sandysmith.co.uk/artwork/computers/sunset.htm

Comedy Central has been advertising that website called adressthemess.com, or something along that line, for disposing for electronic equipment, but i haven’t actually looked at it yet…

Don’t just throw it out, be sure to get the hard drive out! This contains all your information, most likely private information as well. Just erasing it won’t do…. Then dispose of the computer as is preferred in your area. Or find new use to it, give it away to charity or maybe a nerdy kid in the neighbourhood who likes putting thing together.

So once I take out the hard drive, because I was going to reformat it, what do I do with it? Others have said it won’t work with my other computer which has Microsoft XP.

Where do you live?? In SF you can take it to Goodwill now, they just set up an e-waste program.

A10 year old PC is pretty much out of date. All the above is OK but then you could take it apart and get the gold trases out of it. At about $900.00 an ounce the Gold would be worth more then the PC. ( an ounce of Gold is 31.1010 grams)

And how would little me get the gold out and who would be buying them? I don’t think I have enough talent in that respect.

Unplug it, take the srews out to open it, turn it over or look, and all those traces that go from one silly looking thing to the other is gold. Take a very sharp knife to go under the trace and just peel it off the board. Any coin shop will test it and buy it from you.
Hope this helps.