Computer users looking to get rid of their old, obsolete PCs will have another option this weekend as student volunteers converge on Centennial Campus Middle School for an event called Geek-A-Thon.

Two student groups in the Department of Computer Science organized the event, where volunteers will refurbish more than 200 computers to give away to middle school students.

The groups Women in Computer Science and the Association for Computing Machinery/Association of Information Technology Professionals worked with the Kramden Institute to organize the event.

WICS adviser and computer science lecturer Carol Miller said they’ve had to stop accepting volunteers after 155 students signed up.

“We have all that we can handle,” Miller said.

She pointed out however, that students should watch the Geek-A-Thon Web site for open volunteer spots.

According to WICS President and junior in computer science Penny Markijohn, most of the event’s 250 computers were donated by area businesses. A lot of times, she said the businesses were in the process of upgrading their systems.

“They really have nothing else to do but throw these computers away,” Markijohn said.

But Miller said volunteers would still accept computers on-site when the event begins Friday at 9 a.m.

She said donors don’t even have to worry about wiping old hard drives, since volunteers will run a program called “Darik’s Boot and Nuke,” or DBAN, to clear every system.

“It will write on top of [the hard drive] three times,” Miller said.

Although the event will award all of the refurbished computers to middle school students, not all will be given away at the end of the event, called the Give-a-Thon, since volunteers will spend time teaching each recipient how to use the system.

“It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to acquaint students with their new computers,” Miller said. “We can’t refurbish 250 computers and give away 250 computers at the same time.”

She said volunteers will give away 50 to 80 systems Sunday and will distribute the rest at other events.

The systems don’t go to just anybody.

Miller said students who receive computers must be good students, have no computer at home and must be selected by the school’s faculty.

The Kramden Institute, which organizes similar Geek-A-Thon events around the Triangle area, will bring an additional 50 volunteers — “super geeks,” according to Miller — from companies like Cisco.

Markijohn said this adds an extra incentive for student volunteers on the job hunt.

“It’s great networking,” Markijohn said. “It’s also really good for learning experience.”

But Miller pointed out that it provides something even better.

“At first glance, it looks like they’re getting technical experience,” Miller said. “What they’re really getting is leadership and training from organizing a big event.”

Miller said the event is an important step to breaking down what she calls the “digital divide,” the line between those who have computers and those who don’t. She pointed out that this year, 100 percent of the freshman in computer science indicated that they were bringing their own computer to campus.

The event might even have an important impact on future N.C. State students, she said.

“Maybe some of these computers are going to future computer science students,” Miller said.

Even looking back to her own middle school days, Markijohn said her academics definitely improved with access to a computer.

“It helps for regular assignments,” Markijohn said. “I was more likely to do homework if I had a computer.”

Markijohn said she hopes computer science students turn Geek-A-Thon at the University into an annual event.

“I doubt the need will ever run out,” she said.