What to do with an old laptop?

[NewbieAKguy]

I got my wife a new laptop for Christmas, so here sits her old one on the coffee table. It works fine......after 5 minutes are so once it has warmed up, so to speak . It's basically maxed out hardware-wise and I'm guessing now is that its slowness is caused by it not being able to keep pace with everything running faster, i.e. internet, software, hardware, etc. and it's getting bogged down by all the background processes. I'd do the ol' stop processes thing but I'm not nearly informed enough to know which ones to keep and which to shut off.

So, what are some suggestions to do with the ol' gal? Sell for what little I can get out of it? Donate it? Take off/transfer/delete all unnecessary programs and just use it as a sort of storage space for pics and/or music? Or is that not advisable because of possible crashing/corrupted files in the future due to its age?

Thanks for the help.

[JTHunter]

Like #5 said:

"NEED INPUT!"

You didn't say how old the laptop is, how big the HD, how much RAM, the type and speed of the CPU, the OS on the old laptop, or even if there are any cosmetic problems (cracked screen, keys missing, etc.).

That being said, you could reformat the system and reload the original OS as well as all the drivers for the hardware on it, if you can find them.
OR - you could load a LINUX version instead. The problem there is finding drivers in linux for the hardware you have. Not an easy situation.
If the HD is less than 100 GB, it's probably not worth the effort to use it for storage. Same problem if the RAM is less than 1 GB.

Many laptops of recnet vintage had coverplates over both the RAM & HD, allowing the user to get access and change those easily.
Your biggest headache will be getting the drivers for the various hardware parts. As a result, if you go that route, it would probably be better to let a pro do it.
If the system can be re-worked but a larger HD and more RAM would help, and can be done for less than $200 (plus parts), you might consider it.

[NewbieAKguy]

My bad, thought I had said the old one's age. Her old Dell Inspiron 1000 is about 8-9 years old. It uses Windows XP. Here's the info from it's System Properties page:

Celeron(R) CPU 2.20Ghz
2.19GHz, 448 MB of RAM

From the My Computer part it says Local Disk (C drive) total size is 37.2 GB, with 15.9GB of free space.

For more specific info you'd have to tell me where to look.

[Oswald Bastable]

My bad, thought I had said the old one's age. Her old Dell Inspiron 1000 is about 8-9 years old. It uses Windows XP. Here's the info from it's System Properties page:

Celeron(R) CPU 2.20Ghz
2.19GHz, 448 MB of RAM

From the My Computer part it says Local Disk (C drive) total size is 37.2 GB, with 15.9GB of free space.

For more specific info you'd have to tell me where to look.

It's good for target practice. I'd suggest .308...just for the fun of it.

[mriddick]

Write and rewrite the HD a few times then sell/give it to someone you trust. I bet somewhere in your life there's a person who could use it.

[N/A]

There are several youtube videos on how to recycle the gold out of computers....it you got time on your hands.

[Krupski]

What to do with an old laptop?

Take it to the range... unload a few mags into it.

[cevulirn]

I'd install linux on it, (Mint or Ubuntu are easy to use) to mess around with it before destroying it entirely. Who knows, it might come in handy.

[El Laton Caliente]

http://www.delorme.com/default.aspx

Buy a Delorme GPS for $40 to $70 and use it as a dedicated GPS...

[stampederunner]

Build a fast street car running megasquirt and use as your dedicated laptop for data-logging and tunning.

[Viking350]

Write and rewrite the HD a few times then sell/give it to someone you trust. I bet somewhere in your life there's a person who could use it.

If you have any sensitive data on it, before you sell it or give it away, you should do a low level format of the hard drive. Simply deleting files in windows doesn't erase them from your hard drive. It only changes the first characters in the file name. They can still be retrieved by anyone with basic computer skills. The low level format wipes the drive clean. It would require a re-installation of the operating system and any programs you wanted to be on the laptop.

[tank_monkey]

Get rid of all your forbidden porn before you release it unto the world!!!!!!!

[Viking350]

Get rid of all your forbidden porn before you release it unto the world!!!!!!!

Yeah, the midget donkey porn he taped while on vacation in Mexico has to go.

[darkheart]

Download tons of shtf .pdf files and keep it in a Faraday cage, or download tons of reloading manuals to have right at your bench if you reload.

[Dafapa]

Do you have a re-install disk for XP? If so you might try a fresh install (make sure you get all the updates) and it would probably be fine for web browsing and word processing. Or you could install linux like others have said (I prefer Fedora flavor linux http://fedoraproject.org/). They're usually pretty good about device drivers for basic items. You should have a serviceable internet browsing machine after installing Fedora. Fedora also has options available for word processing software.

Or you could just give it away, but honestly I find machines in that area tend to be more trouble than they're worth. I understand the feeling of not wanting to waste something, but it will be hard pressed to deal with the newer software out there. Not to mention you can get a substantially more powerful net book type device for about 300 bucks.

[NAPOTS]

take the hard drive out and drill (or shoot) a couple of holes in it.

Put a new hard drive in and donate it.

[imanaknut]

I have an old laptop that I use for microsoft office work. I do keep in mind that every file I create or modify has to be backed up onto a data-stick (thumb drive or what ever you want to call them) as I realize any old PC can crash at any minute.

I removed all internet stuff, and the anti-virus which was no longer needed since I don't connect to the danger net. That in itself sped the computer up to usable speed. It is amazing how much RAM an anti-virus sucks up.

Delete any program you don't use or need. Go to the control panel, and add/remove programs. Then delete what you don't use, being careful not to delete any update files that microstuff downloaded when you were on the net.

You can also use it for photo storage, but remember that all photos on that laptop need to be backed up onto something you trust just in the event, like I said before, your laptop goes dark forever.

Still good as a fancy word processor as long as it runs.

[NewbieAKguy]

Yup, I know to wipe the HD before selling/donating. And no you sickos, never been to mexico and pray I never will .

I realize we wouldn't get hardly anything, if anything for it if we tried to sell it, being as old as it is. I'll ask my wife if she knows anyone who could use one, telling them up front it's not top of the line anymore . Like I said it works okay, just slow....would hate to just junk it if I didn't have to.

How much gold in these things anyways??? lol

[Schuetzenman]

I've got an old Dell 510 that is slow as crap. I think the hard drive is dying. When it was new it was pretty speedy, it starting slowing down about 3 years after I got it. That lap top always ran hot as shit. Less than 500 megs of ram, way under rammed in my opinion. Your description of how slow it is strikes me as being very similar to my 510. You might try a new hard drive and getting more ram for it. You might be able to get 2 gig sticks to add to it.

[5.56NATO]

Those specs are perfect for xp. And in typical usage you might get around 2 years of use on the same xp install before it starts to get slower, if it has had the same xp install for 10 years it's past due for a fresh coat. I would nuke and pave it and then use it for browsing and so on.