Salvaging old disk drives, card readers. etc

[Legatta]

So I got given this old Dell PC that's clearly seen better days, I'm gutting it for parts before I chuck it, but I was wondering, is there any danger is taking things like the disk drive and card readers and putting them in my shiny new system? I'm assuming the answer is no but I'm not completely sure so I thought it best to ask.

 

[kanewolf]

A hard drive could have viruses/malware. I wouldn't use a used disk drive.

 

[GhislainG]

A hard drive could have viruses/malware. I wouldn't use a used disk drive.

There's no risk if it's the only drive connected to the system and you don't boot from it. Once it's been wiped with DBAN (or a similar utility), it can be reused.

 

[Legatta]

Thanks for the replies, this one might sound silly because it probably is; are DVD Rewriters okay? Like if they turn out to be faulty could they damage the system at all? I don't desperately need them but if it's going spare I guess I may as well keep it.

 

[GhislainG]

I never had a DVD damage a system, but nothing is impossible. It could happen with a brand new one.