Avoid the Trash Heap: Great Uses for an Old PC

AMILO Desktop, SCALEO, SCALEO Homeserver, SCENIC, etc.

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ranaadnan
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Avoid the Trash Heap: Great Uses for an Old PC

Postby ranaadnan » Tue Jul 26, 2022 16:59

In 2019, after seven years of slumps, PC sales went up by the tiniest increment—0.3 percent. Demand then surged in recent weeks as people shifted to work-from-home setups due to COVID-19 quarantines. Which means some of you may be getting a new computer. But what do you do with the old PC?

You may be tempted to go the easy route and just junk it. But don't. If that laptopor desktop was created any time in the last decade, you'd be surprised by how much life you (or others) can get out of it. I'm not talking about limping along but of ways to bring an old PC back to practical life.

You may need to do some light upgrades here and there; more RAM and a big new storage drive may benefit some (okay, probably all) of these projects. In many cases, the PC will require access to the internet and/or the ability to access software written to a USB flash drive to install on that old junker. Take a gander at the options. You'll be glad you kept that old PC around.

Lighter OS
Do you like to try new things? Nothing will seem newer than a freshly installed operating system on your old PC—even a downright elderly computer will feel brand new. Most alternative operating systems (translation: not Windows or macOS) are based on Linux, which comes in various options called "distros." Famous examples include Ubuntu, Mint(Opens in a new window), elementary OS(Opens in a new window), PinguyOS(Opens in a new window), and Manjaro(Opens in a new window). You'll find interfaces similar to that and they come with software packages, like LibreOffice (a free, open-source equivalent to Microsoft Office). Most work pretty great on PCs with 4GB of RAM or more, but check the specifications needed.

Make a NAS Home Server
A network-attached storage device is a server for your home or small business network used for storing files you share with all the PCs on the network (or externally via the internet). Prices vary from a pittance to the hundreds. But if you've got an old PC with lots of storage drive space, you don't need to buy a NAS: make one.

Create a Starter PC
Take your old laptop, nuke the drive, and reinstall Windows 10. Then lock it down so the person you're giving it to can't install any software without your permission. Go into Settings > Accounts > Family & other users, and click Add someone else to this PC. The goal is to make an account for you, the Administrator, and one for your loved one, who will be a Standard User who can't mess with settings (much). Set the User Account Control for the account (type UAC into the Start menu to launch it). If UAC is off, the Standard User can act like an Admin. Turn it up too far and all the warnings can get annoying. You have to set the balance.

Anonymous PC
Everyone's worried about privacy. There are big data development services to make your working computer into a more anonymous workstation for surfing the web, but if you've got a long-in-the-tooth PC that needs new life, turn it into a dedicated privacy PC with The Amnesic Incognito Live System, or TAILS. Based on a Linux distro called Debian, TAILS can run off a USB flash drive, SD card, or DVD so you can take it with you. It routes all your internet traffic and requests though the Tor network. All the integrated applications come pre-configured for security, including the office suite, IM client, email software, and of course the web browser. Other privacy/anonymity focused Linux distros include Whonix(Opens in a new window) and Qubes OS(Opens in a new window) (featured in the video above).

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