15 Practical Things You Can do With an Old Computer

computer let's jump right into it number one  working with the hardware old computers are   great for learning the basics of disassembly and  reassembly sure modern parts look a little bit   different but they're still recognizable it's a  great way to learn how computers work and how the   parts interact with each other without running  the risk of damaging something of high value   if you've only ever purchased pre-built computers  it can be a lot of fun taking a computer apart   and putting it back together again you may even  be inspired to build your next pc from parts   number two learning how to solder old computers  require maintenance one such task is a   process called recapping which is basically  replacing capacitors this is a great way to   practice soldering skills by working on computer  components that are not of any particular value   i should preface numbers one and two by saying  old computers refers to the pentium 4 era   and forward as some systems that are older  can have a lot of value or be very rare number three experiment if you're a lifelong  windows user having an extra computer is the   perfect opportunity to familiarize yourself  with linux you may even be surprised at how   smoothly linux runs on an old machine the reason  is that linux demands much less processing power   alternatively if you are feeling ambitious  you could try your hand at making a hackintosh   for those not familiar with the term  hackintosh refers to a computer that   runs an apple macintosh operating system  on hardware not authorized by apple   you could even try multi-booting various versions  and combinations of windows mac and linux   you might also want to try creating  your own version of a chromebook   or chromebox which is essentially google  chrome as the entire operating system number four storage and file sharing turn  your old computer into a home server or   network attached storage either way you go these  options allow you to store files and share them   on your local network or over the internet sure  google probably has all your personal data photos   your resume every letter you've ever written on  your computer etc but not all of the data google   collects on you can be accessed for the data you  can access it's not always guaranteed or free   google has recently made policy changes  capping free storage at 15 gigabytes   so if you rely heavily on google services  you will be forced to pay for them soon number five various server roles repurpose your  old computer as one of many different types of   servers some options include media server file  server web server email server or dedicated   game server in the same vein as a home server  you can use your old computer to host your own   website email accounts files media or a private  game server there's no need to stop there as   there are so many server roles old computers can  fill depending on the configuration the server   doesn't need to have a lot of processing power the  heavy lifting is done by the client workstations   number six set up an external firewall or  router traditionally old computers are either   not connected to the internet or separated  from the rest of the computers on the network   because they pose a security risk however an  old computer can be put between the internet   and your other systems by assuming the  role of a firewall or router there are many   benefits to doing this some of which include  additional security and parental controls number seven use it for retro gaming this option  seems obvious and self-explanatory older pcs   can generally handle older games and there are  plenty of ports of old titles that work on pc   you can turn an older pc into  a dedicated gaming system   steam and gog have an excellent selection of  older titles you can even go the emulation   route connect your old computer to a  tv and set it up for console gaming number eight build your own tivo or slingbox   why should we have to pay a monthly fee to  record a tv show we are already paying for   to watch put your old computer to work by adding  a tv tuner and setting it up to record tv in place   of a dvr you rent from your cable company you  can take that one step further by configuring   your old computer to also stream tv to other  devices even when you're outside your home   traveling on a business trip and not wanting to  flip through dozens of channels to find something   interesting to watch stream your favorite shows  either live or pre-recorded from your dvr pc number nine build your own arcade cabinet you can  build your own arcade machine for use in your home   the cabinet is a diy project in and of itself  after the effort of assembling your own cabinet   why have it only play a single game when you  can use an old pc to power the arcade machine   and allow you to access entire  libraries of arcade games number 10 make it a guest room or kitchen pc   if you have a guest in your home and  they need a computer for simple tasks   like looking something up on the internet you  can have an old pc available for them to use   old pcs are also great to have in the kitchen  for use as a digital cookbook of sorts   sure you may have a cookbook or recipes  that have been handwritten or printed   but you may be looking for something that's  not in your existing catalog of recipes   in comes an old pc allowing you to quickly look  up new recipes without having to leave the kitchen   you could also keep an inventory of what's in  the fridge and pantry along with using tools   like supercook that tell you what you can  make with the ingredients you have on hand number 11 surveillance system popular options  for smart home security share a problem   a monthly subscription fee the fee is  often charged per camera which can add up   an old computer offers an old school alternative   instead of connecting cameras to the cloud you  can connect them to your locally hosted computer   this avoids a monthly fee no matter how many  cameras you connect a locally hosted solution   also avoids the privacy concerns some users  might have about cloud-based home security number 12 a kid's first computer depending on  the age some old computers can still perform   functions like word processing basic web browsing  and email they are also great for old games   this makes them great for a kid's first  computer while old computers may not be   powerful enough for fortnite they can do the  essentials and provide some entertainment number 13 set up a live weather station  this option is very niche and fun for   weather enthusiasts you don't have to  live in tornado alley to be a weather geek   if you love the weather try setting up your  very own weather tracking center on an old pc   you can do this by installing weather software  like storm lab and leave your computer running   if you capture anything awesome you can  even share it with your local news station number 14 sell it for parts  or as a complete system   somewhere on the internet  someone is looking for a computer   they may not be able to afford a new pc or are  looking for a second pc for the family your old   pc at the right price may be just what they need  assuming everything goes smoothly everyone wins   you unload your old hardware which finds a good  home with a new user that can appreciate it number 15 donate this is a very broad category  an old computer is better than no computer   making an old computer the perfect thing to  hand down to a sibling donate to a relative   or donate for use in places around the world  where people don't have the resources to buy   or use modern computers especially in  education old computers still have a use today   other options include offering old computers  to your favorite tech youtuber donating it   to a thrift store or you can donate your old  computer to science there are various distributed   computing projects where software ties together  a huge number of internet-connected pcs to work   on computationally massive problems for example  there is the folding at home crowdsourcing project   which can be set up to help researchers fight  the novel coronavirus causing covid19 set it   up on an old pc and let the software run in  the background there are many art related   projects that use old computers however i'm  of the opinion that old technology should be   preserved not destroyed that is why those  options have been omitted from this list   in conclusion there are so many fun and  interesting things you can do with an old computer   don't take it to the recycler just yet  thanks for stopping by see you next video

Channel: Adventures in Nostalgia

Views: 94,754

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Id: HK4Cx1ainYE

Length: 9min 58sec (598 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 29 2021