What to do with old computer.

[Shawn N]

Hi,

I'll be buying a new computer soon. The one I have currently is fine but it's slow and has a small HD.

What can I do with it (if anything) once I have the new one setup?

Thanks.

[JungleMan]

Use it as a backup, sell it on eBay, or build your own new computer, and use parts from the old one (like, for example, if you have a good CDRW, you can just use it instead of buying a new one).

[Sastraxi]

Frisbee!

[parksie]

Stick GNU/Linux or FreeBSD on it :)

[Shawn N]

What about systems with 2 monitors? I've heard of this being done before.

Anyone have a little info on how this can be done?

[mendhak]

I think you get graphic cards specially for that.

But you could always donate it to some school in the neighborhood :D

[Sastraxi]

I've got two monitors... just slap in a PCI card (preferably 4MB... 1280x1024@24bit ;)) and connect a monitor. Windows will locate the correct drivers for it, and then you can set it up (monitor positions, default monitor, etc). You won't need to do any more because you probably won't want any acceleration, unless you're putting in like a radeon 7000 ;)

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by Shawn N
What about systems with 2 monitors? I've heard of this being done before.

Anyone have a little info on how this can be done?

Two options for dual monitors

One is to get a dual display capable graphics card (most gaming cards have them)

the other is to take Sastraxi's suggestion.

[The Hobo]

One guy once told me that he had 5 Pentium 4's on the same mother board, with 3 60 Gig hard drives, and 18 gig memory. He said he had to use three window fans to cool it and kept it in a cardboard box.

He also mentioned something about like 4 monitors and having stereo speakers hooked up to it.

Yeah...something tells me he was buying his puddy on the wrong side of town.

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by The Hobo
One guy once told me that he had 5 Pentium 4's on the same mother board, with 3 60 Gig hard drives, and 18 gig memory. He said he had to use three window fans to cool it and kept it in a cardboard box.

He also mentioned something about like 4 monitors and having stereo speakers hooked up to it.

Yeah...something tells me he was buying his puddy on the wrong side of town.

Something's telling me he's lying, yet I can't quite pinpoint what it is :p

[The Hobo]

Originally posted by Jungle-Man
Something's telling me he's lying, yet I can't quite pinpoint what it is :p

I think it might have been the same guy that always complained that George Lucas stole the idea of Star Wars from him. No joke. The guy had...something loose.

[siyan]

1. Run a server out of it using Linux.
2. Donate it and be nice :)

-C

[The Hobo]

3. Eat it
4. Incorporate it into your car: http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=203681

[Shawn N]

A Linux server sounds pretty nifty...if I only knew something about the OS. Setting up a server would probably be a little difficult for a newb like me.

[JoshT]

Originally posted by Shawn N
A Linux server sounds pretty nifty...if I only knew something about the OS. Setting up a server would probably be a little difficult for a newb like me.

You're not going to learn anything if you don't try. The big Linux distros are easy to install anyway.

[Shawn N]

Guess you're right...I'm totally clueless on Linux. What should I be looking for when I buy? Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

[JoshT]

Buy Linux? If you have broadband, just download it from an FTP site. You can get Red Hat's distro from mirror sites pretty easily. If you're going to buy it boxed, I'd go for Red Hat or SuSe. Others like Mandrake. Get the cheaper box unless you absolulely know you need something added in a more expensive version.

[The Hobo]

Make sure the system's good enough to handle Linux, though. I had it on my old machine it was was unbelievably slow. And now I can't uninstall it from that computer :(

[Shawn N]

I'm assuming that if the comp. can run XP Pro then it can run Linux. Sound right?

[mendhak]

Right.

[Blinky Bill]

You could always give it to me :D

[parksie]

Originally posted by The Hobo
Make sure the system's good enough to handle Linux, though. I had it on my old machine it was was unbelievably slow. And now I can't uninstall it from that computer :( Umm...the kernel is quite happy on a 386 ;)

You're talking about X Windows here, which is a bit of a behemoth :p

The rest of the GNU OS is normally okay. Either way, you'll probably get better performance from GNU/Linux than from XP.

[mralston]

What to do with an old computer?
What to do with an old computer?
What to do with an old computer?
Throw it in the trash can!

[JoshT]

Originally posted by mralston

Throw it in the trash can!

You can't - its an environmental hazard. And if it works, why waste it. There are computer recycling program to get computers into poor households and schools.

Then there are guys like me that collect old PCs and parts.

[parksie]

And me.

My sister's PC is my ex-ex one (P233 with 64mb). Going to stick GNU/Linux on it as well when she gets a new one :D

[mralston]

Tut tut tut. Did any of you even bother to sing that which I wrote before pulling me up?! :)

And if that's the way you want it, then you can put me on the waiting list instead... My boss has just handed me a brand new copy of Debian... I need a guinea pig! :D

[Evil_Cowgod]

You could make the CD drive stronger and use it to cut paper cups in half ;)

[Michael_Kamen]

You could have your own personal netwerk in your own room and play network games with yourself :)

[DiGiTaIErRoR]

Hammer time.

Dun dun dun dun.... can't stop... hammer time...

5 p4's?

Uhm... *cough*...

They don't make motherboards with 5 CPU slots, although there are dual, quad, and even octal, and their cost would be enormous as you go on up.

[parksie]

Once you get more than about 4 CPUs it gets a bit much to fit it on a single motherboard, and you start getting onto arrangements like SGI have.

[DiGiTaIErRoR]

Originally posted by parksie
Once you get more than about 4 CPUs it gets a bit much to fit it on a single motherboard, and you start getting onto arrangements like SGI have.

Just get a really big case to fit it in.

;)

I want 16 CPUs on my MB, have my own super-computer.

[mralston]

We bought in a Compaq server to transfer an e-mail service onto...now that had 8 processors. Think it was about fifteen grand or something, but that was second hand. That machine (or should I say fridge?) was a monster! :)

[Gandalf_Grey_]

I agree with the zealots above me :p stick linux on it, depending on how slow it is (if i am not mistaken you never mentioned specs) you may or may not be able to stick xwindows on it, Xwindows would certainly make it easier for you learn linux however there is no point if your computer is to slow (i have seen KDE running on a 133 mhz system and it CRAWLED, not put on by me BTW).

Either way, a 66mhz computer woudl work great for a server, just get a lighter distro (don't go for redhat or mandrake, slackware or debian woudl be better). Or you could try out one of the BSD's.

:)

[parksie]

X collapses on anything slower than about 200, really. Earlier versions used to be a bit more efficient, but at the price of difficult hardware support.

[The Hobo]

I still think you should eat it.

[mralston]

Has anybody ever done that? I know there are claims in certain record books of people eating bicycles, buses and even aeroplanes, but has anyone ever eaten a computer before?

Shawn: Make sure you unplug it first...and watch out for those capacitors... give you a numb tongue! :D

[mralston]

Originally posted by parksie
X collapses on anything slower than about 200, really. Earlier versions used to be a bit more efficient, but at the price of difficult hardware support.

Not at all...I'm running it on a P166 at home. It's slow, but perfectly useable. In this case SuSE 7.0 with KDE 2.something.

Originally changed by Matt
X collapses on anything slower than about 166, really. Earlier versions used to be a bit more efficient, but at the price of difficult hardware support. :D

[parksie]

Depends which res you run it at, I suppose.

Although I'm biased, I used X on a 486. *shudder* Never again.......

[mralston]

Fair 'nuf.

[Gandalf_Grey_]

Originally posted by parksie
Depends which res you run it at, I suppose.

Although I'm biased, I used X on a 486. *shudder* Never again.......

redhat 7.3 and KDE is horrible on a 166 :p

[JoshT]

I had RH Linux 7.x (can't remember exact version) running on a 166 (actually a Pentium 100 and an overdrive chip) with 64 MB of RAM and it was okay for the most part for web surfing. A little sluggish, but not that bad.

[Gandalf_Grey_]

On the 166 that i use i find that KDE speeds up alot after using it for 5 minutes. Windows on that would remain perpetually slow :p

[Shawn N]

Well it's a 500mhz, 12 gig. Not too shabby, but definetely can't handle a sql and web server and trying to run vs.net all at the same time.

P.S. MSDN Universal subscription, not downloaded. :P

[JoshT]

Originally posted by Shawn N
Well it's a 500mhz, 12 gig. Not too shabby, but definetely can't handle a sql and web server and trying to run vs.net all at the same time.

P.S. MSDN Universal subscription, not downloaded. :P

It should handle Linux/Apache/MySQL just fine. Even slightly older MS software should work okay.