No idea what to do with an old desktop

assassinX

assassinX

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I have an old desktop and I really don't want to destroy it, is there anything else I can do with the desktop? The desktop is about 6 years old and is running windows XP with about a 1 Ghz processor I believe.
 
I'm not sure offhand, but you might be able to donate it to someone, maybe a private school (not an expensive private school of course), a local business, rec center, or whatnot. Or maybe Goodwill.
 
Or do what some people on craigslist do. Put a $20 video card in it and try to sell it for $200 as a cheap gaming system! :roll:

But seriously, if it works fine, just give it to a charity or to someone who needs a pc for their kids to use for homework/school research. I'm sure there are plenty of places in your area that will accept it.
 
Don't forget if you donate it, help a future child understand the under workings of an os. Install a linux distro on it and leave the cd/dvd copy in the optical drive. I have seen to many people who were not forced to understand how to truly use even install Windows/Mac and today can barely even make a shortcut or understand the difference in multiple harddrives shown on the desktop... NOT that Linux is hard but many distros out of the box require more knowledge or tinkering spirit to really dig in deep with it or even SCREW it up...


Another fun thing to do is just have the computer as a developmental spare, I almost always have a less powerful machine for testing and other things...
 
Agree that donating is probably the best way to go. If no schools or anything close by want it, just give it to goodwill. I know my church runs a thrift shop and sells them in poorer neighborhoods to families that cant afford new PCs. You would be surprised how far that can go for people.
 
Agree with many on donating.

You can also turn it into an arcade machine. Many freeware indie hits run smooth on a system like that. Connect it to your TV and get some gamepads ($5 to $20) and bam.
 
[quote name='Megazell']Agree with many on donating.

You can also turn it into an arcade machine. Many freeware indie hits run smooth on a system like that. Connect it to your TV and get some gamepads ($5 to $20) and bam.[/QUOTE]

Was going to suggest either Donation which many have or something similar to this. Can turn it into a HTPC if your disk drive is a DVD reader :).
 
Older computers generally work great as backup boxes as well. Get a copy of SyncToy for your computers and drop a big hard drive in the old one and there you have an easy way to network backup one or more older computers.
 
I took my old 5 year computer and just stuck it under my tv. Installed the most minimal amount of apps and its a great htpc.
 
[quote name='assassinX']I have an old desktop and I really don't want to destroy it, is there anything else I can do with the desktop? The desktop is about 6 years old and is running windows XP with about a 1 Ghz processor I believe.[/QUOTE]

I win. My desktop is 10 years old and I still use it. :p

But goddamn I want to get rid of it and get a new one especially for gaming. :joystick:
 
take it out to an empty, remote field with a couple friends, and smash it with a baseball bat in slow motion. then upload it to youtube with some gangster ass music in the background.

NOTE: wear business suits.
 
[quote name='captain_clayman']take it out to an empty, remote field with a couple friends, and smash it with a baseball bat in slow motion. then upload it to youtube with some gangster ass music in the background.

NOTE: wear business suits.[/QUOTE]
OFFICE SPACE really funny movie
 
Use it as a server...

Plug in a few terabyte HDs and store all of your torrent downloads and files on it.

You can also have it automatically backup all of your files to Mozy or Cabonite.

That way you never have to worry about loosing files on your main PC.
 
I think Lifehacker.com did an article on this question, but personally, I'd:

1. Hook it up to my Fiance's HDTV and use it as a media server or Emulation game engine (I'm bringing back 16-bit gaming at my apt).
2. Home/business server (gotta store 1.5+TB of porn somewhere :D)
3. Got a family member with kids? Think of it as an early X-mas present for them, and save the money for yourself.
4. All else fails? DONATE!
 
Put it on craigslist free section and youll have a dozen people wanting to come pick it up in about 10 minutes.

Ive given away a bed, ceiling fan, boxes and boxes of old vhs movies, a old tube tv set and some other things on craigslist and always had alot of people beg me for it and when they came to pick it up they were always grateful and you could tell they didnt have much money at all so least it was going to good use.
 
Donate it or use it as a media center. Doesn't take much power for that.

I had an old netbook that I gave to my parents and hooked up to their 56" TV so they could watch Hulu, Netflix, etc. on it.
 
I'm facing the same dilemma with my old desktop--its over 6 years old and my new one I got a few months ago.

I thought about donating it, but it's served me so faithfully that I have a hard time letting it go. I feel kind of bad just giving it away to strangers...what if someone abuses it and trashes it? Will they defrag it regularly and open up the case to use an air canister to clean the dust out every couple of months? (Yeah, I can't believe I feel that emotionally about a freaking desktop).

My solution--I'm turning it into a "new" workstation for my husband's business office. Plus it can still run World of Warcraft and a few older games, so its a second low end gaming PC/emulation machine for him.

(Now my old piece of shit Gateway computer that I had 10 years ago, I had no problem donating. I almost cringe at the thought of the person who has it now and has to deal with its daily crashes and bugs).
 
I just put it out for the trash a few days early, and it's usually gone within the hour. One time I just put a box of various computer cables & wires out and it was gone in under 2 hours.

(You should probably take out the hard drive first, and disassemble it with a hammer....if you know what I mean.....that goes if you give it to charity or trash.)
 
I turned my old fam pc into a media center for the living room (mostly using it for netflix and the occasional web surfing). I would like to add another hard drive to it and possibly add a decent cheap video card since the on inside is a 64mb one. Just not sure if the power supply can handle the load
 
[quote name='captain_clayman']take it out to an empty, remote field with a couple friends, and smash it with a baseball bat in slow motion. then upload it to youtube with some gangster ass music in the background.

NOTE: wear business suits.[/QUOTE]

win. +1 pennies that are meant for everyone
 
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