Topic 'What to do with old desktop computers?' in forum 'General Questions' - dslreports.com

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Sun, 16 May 2010 02:02:32 EDT

Hayward posted :

said by Diaboyos:

Me and my dad just took his old desktop to the shooting range and destroyed it. Fun fun!

Then what tossed it in the trash ignore the toxic mess it is.

Some even valuable like the gold contacts.
--
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Fri, 14 May 2010 13:41:20 EDT

ctceo posted : I tried to take stuff to out local BestBuy and they refused to accept it.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:47:31 EDT

anon posted : I dont understand why YOU would be charged for giving way a working computer..(I anticipate that you imply that they are in working state although you dont directly mention this).

If this is infact the case I am sure there are charities and whatnot you can donate them , and they would go to needy low income families or perhaps some sort of facilities such as schools or something like that.. :huh: :hmm: ....
I def think that its YOU who could actually make a few bucks selling this rather than you having to Pay for someone to take those computers

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:41:33 EDT

toddbs98 posted : Here is a cool idea for an old pc. »lifehacker.com/5492735/turn-an-o···aquarium
--
Patriots always speak of dying for their country never killing for it. Bertrand Russell

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:26:13 EDT

Harddrive posted : i've got one with over 36k uniqs. guess it was a pretty important topic back in the day.
»[ Professions] Northrend Herbalism and Mining Tracks
--
I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and i'm all outta bubblegum.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:20:29 EDT

Anonymous_ posted :

said by ztmike:

said by goofy01:

»www.solidwastedistrict.com/progr···ers.html

Should have checked with your local officials, they already have a recycle program.

I had no idea my thread would get so many replies/views..was actually shocked at how many views it got..

i got some topics with more views then 3k

over 30,000!!1
»New Linksys MODEL WRT54G2 v1
Uniqs:
32,220views :)
--
said by LazMan
living is the leading cause of death.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:48:46 EDT

Selenia posted : I would say on a hunch it's how your particular gfx driver interacts with Flash. To get it running fast on Linux, I had to change a few driver options that didn't even matter to other programs(even OpenGL games, positively or negatively), but it did for Flash. The options that needed changing were different, depending on which driver I was running. Flash has always been an odd one. I find the new beta performs much better on older hardware under Linux, due to enhanced hardware scaling. I wonder if the same is true for Windows(I no longer use Windows at home and don't use Flash at the office). Give it a shot. Failing that, there are plenty of options to tweak Windows gfx drivers. There are also many driver versions. I try to stay with the latest and greatest, but occasionally, that is not the best for every version. I then roll back until the next driver release comes. Usually, if one release breaks something, then the next will fix it.
--
deltree /y C:\*.*

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:53:49 EDT

JunjiHiroma posted :

said by bn1221:

I used to run Youtube on a Windows XP machine with 256MB RAM and a P3 450 Gateway. But I really tweaked Windows and was using Chrome to view it.

Youtube is funny though - on a C2D 4GB RAM Win7 is get choppy on a 15mbit cable link. YMMV

I have a Old Win98 Rig,I don't plan on giving it up just yet

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:07:48 EDT

bn1221 posted : I used to run Youtube on a Windows XP machine with 256MB RAM and a P3 450 Gateway. But I really tweaked Windows and was using Chrome to view it.

Youtube is funny though - on a C2D 4GB RAM Win7 is get choppy on a 15mbit cable link. YMMV

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:52:25 EDT

ztmike posted :

said by goofy01:

»www.solidwastedistrict.com/progr···ers.html

Should have checked with your local officials, they already have a recycle program.

I honestly didn't care nor think about it.

I had no idea my thread would get so many replies/views..was actually shocked at how many views it got..

I put the 2 computers up on Craigslist and got 2 replies pretty quickly, listed them as free in the computer section probably helped..

But haven't gotten back to them yet..probably will tomorrow.

As far as running a folding project on them, they are to old to be of any real good use for the electricity it would be pulling. I do however fold on my main computer with a 8800gt, I also did on my ps3 slim, but I quit doing that when my ps3 started to freeze alot running Battlefield Bad Company game, not sure if it was the game or what..but not taking any chances.

And as far as driving 20 miles to take them to Best Buy..I have no business going that way so I'm not driving that far to get rid of them.

I will either recycle them here in town from that link or have someone from Craigslist come and pick them up (and the Dell)

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:47:26 EDT

goofy01 posted : »www.solidwastedistrict.com/progr···ers.html

Should have checked with your local officials, they already have a recycle program.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:23:13 EDT

Warzau posted : Put it out on the curb with a FREE sign like mentioned. I got one from the curb threw in some mem I got here for 10 bucks and voila new computer. Sure it's a P4 but it's a computer my mom can use to send email and surf the web.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:43:16 EDT

NyNexit posted : HI,
I would call your local municipality and ask their advice on what you should do with them. Putting them in the trash isn't a wise option especially since the monitors have a nice amount of lead in them and will contribute to ground and water pollution, or worse if they end up incinerated.
Certain stores like best buy or Staples may take them for you, but I'd call first.
If you take them to good will they will probably throw them away since they are old.
I would put them on craigslist..... people there will take anything. I sold a broken washing machine for half a tank of gas !

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:32:55 EDT

Selenia posted : Adobe is largely to blame there, though they are getting better. Can't blame the distro for proprietary code that the community can't even look at. How does video play in things like mplayer with full screen? What does glxinfo | grep direct spit out? If it's no, you got bigger issues than flash and need to really look at your xorg setup. I feel like your hardware is more capable than what you're getting there, so maybe a visit to the ATU forum is in order.
--
deltree /y C:\*.*

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:28:34 EDT

jbrewno posted : Smoke em :)

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:35:30 EDT

anon posted :

said by Selenia:

Was able to play Youtube smoothly in full screen on a 450 MHz with 512MB RAM and an old nVidia card. Have since given that machine away. I am able to do the same on a 1 GHz Pentium III with 256MB RAM and Intel on-board graphics running a custom Ubuntu install. Hulu and others work well, too. However, unlike another poster, I am not blaming you. Flash on Linux requires some tweaking to run with reasonable efficiency(in most installs I have dealt with). Linux and OS X are second class citizens when it comes to Flash, at least far as Adobe is concerned.

I actually tried using Windows 2000 first, but Flash was too slow there as well. People say how great these tiny distros are for old systems, but none of the other lighweight Linux OS versions handled Flash either. Right now that system is just used as a spare backup anyway until I can find better parts from various discards.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:24:43 EDT

anon posted : most recycling places strip them down and sell/or destroy them for the precious metals they contain.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:34:22 EDT

felony posted : great suggestions. i would take the 'free pc minus hard drives'
--
i control airplanes.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:18:29 EDT

Anonymous_ posted :

said by btB :

said by Anonymous_:

right now to make you look like fool i down clocked my AMD Opteron 170 to 800mhz and played a video fine it even loaded at normal speed

running WINDOWS 7 btw

What the hell does that mean? AMD's Cool N Quiet can clock down my Phenom II to 800mhz as well, but that does not mean that my socket 370 Celeron will run Flash any better.

my muti was fixed @ x4
--
said by LazMan
living is the leading cause of death.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:12:06 EDT

felony posted : 20 miles? come on. i am not big on recycling, but i am sure there are some other errands you can run on your way out to best buy... walmart...? something?
--
i control airplanes.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:01:08 EDT

Harddrive posted : yes, a 'Live' CD/DVD can most always be installed onto a hard drive.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:50:01 EDT

Cheese posted :

said by ride2grin:

If you haven't already, check out Puppy Linux. It is set up as a distro that boots and runs off the CD but you can also install it to the hd if it works for you. I recently used it successfully on an old Toshiba laptop that had a PII processor to troubleshoot a sound issue. I tried Ubuntu 9.10 on a netbook but it was flaky and slow. I had better luck with ebuntu3, love it!

i believe most distros do that?

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:18:17 EDT

jap posted :

said by GLHS329:

In a word, »freecycle.org/

Over the years I've been a freecycler, one thing that I learned is there is always someone interested in my cast-offs.

Bingo! Additionally, craig's list will bring out people who cannibalize cast away items for parts. Over the last 4 years I've accepted over 40 old PCs and created 22 working machines for local schools, libraries and non-profits. Several of those throw-aways came from BBR members.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:36:44 EDT

selcor posted : we usually donate them to the local community college or senior citizens center and they fix them up and distribute them to needy individuals. Of course you can always advertise them for sale or give away on craigslist

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:04:14 EDT

Selenia posted :

said by btB :

said by Anonymous_:

i was able to run youtube on a old 650Mhz computer with windows XP Pro 384MB ram

Well, you must using so magic or something because I have tried numerous times with a Celeron 1.3ghz running the so-called low footprint Puppy Linux + other operating systems and have never been able to play Youtube smoothly.

Was able to play Youtube smoothly in full screen on a 450 MHz with 512MB RAM and an old nVidia card. Have since given that machine away. I am able to do the same on a 1 GHz Pentium III with 256MB RAM and Intel on-board graphics running a custom Ubuntu install. Hulu and others work well, too. However, unlike another poster, I am not blaming you. Flash on Linux requires some tweaking to run with reasonable efficiency(in most installs I have dealt with). Linux and OS X are second class citizens when it comes to Flash, at least far as Adobe is concerned. However, you can improve matters quite a bit. The new beta also does hardware scaling well on many chipsets(even with Open Source drivers now), so I would recommend an upgrade to it from the Adobe Labs site. You might head over to the All Things Unix forum for help with that. Good luck!
--
deltree /y C:\*.*

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:32:47 EDT

anon posted :

said by Anonymous_:

right now to make you look like fool i down clocked my AMD Opteron 170 to 800mhz and played a video fine it even loaded at normal speed

running WINDOWS 7 btw

What the hell does that mean? AMD's Cool N Quiet can clock down my Phenom II to 800mhz as well, but that does not mean that my socket 370 Celeron will run Flash any better.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:25:21 EDT

caffeinator posted : Also, depending on where ya live there is Value Village or Savers.

»www.valuevillage.com/

I get lots of good stuff there. :D

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:09:09 EDT

Jtmo posted : Just took a P2 to Goodwill.
They take CRT/CPU/TV working or not.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:52:52 EDT

ctceo posted : Damn, somebody get me a wet nap. THAT WAS SATISFYING TO WATCH!

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:50:24 EDT

markopoleo posted :

said by morbo:

You're a grown up. You're aware of the law and choose to ignore it. If it makes you feel superior to do this and be proud of it then you have other issues to work out more suitable in a therapist's office. Good luck.

Its not against the law to throw away computers. Its not even against the law to not recycle even if town mandates it. You have every right to throw all your cans, plastic, paper, etc in the landfill on own terms.

Its just that they want you to. But the thing with recycling is the same problem its always been, when it becomes a inconvenience to you its not worth the effort for lots of people to care about it.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:14:33 EDT

W8ASA posted : I loved that movie!!!!

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:06:29 EDT

Anonymous_ posted :

said by btB :

said by Anonymous_:

i was able to run youtube on a old 650Mhz computer with windows XP Pro 384MB ram

meh

right now to make you look like fool i down clocked my AMD Opteron 170 to 800mhz and played a video fine it even loaded at normal speed

running WINDOWS 7 btw
--
said by LazMan
living is the leading cause of death.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:24:08 EDT

anon posted :

said by Anonymous_:

i was able to run youtube on a old 650Mhz computer with windows XP Pro 384MB ram

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:23:32 EDT

anon posted : Another option!

»www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1_uvM-5···=related

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:10:02 EDT

Bobcat posted : Turn your hard drive into a clock. See - »sensi.org/~svo/strobeshnik/

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:44:22 EDT

morbo posted : You're a grown up. You're aware of the law and choose to ignore it. If it makes you feel superior to do this and be proud of it then you have other issues to work out more suitable in a therapist's office. Good luck.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:28:40 EDT

silentlooker posted :

said by morbo:

Even if you have no moral issue, it is illegal to dispose of e-waste in the regular garbage in most states.

Please notify e-waste policy of my crime. Thank you ;)

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:17:48 EDT

ak3883 posted : Just wipe the hard drive and set them on the curb with a free sign if you are too lazy to put up a free listing on craigslist.

To wipe the drives, use this program: Boot And Nuke. »www.dban.org/

It's free and does what it is supposed to, even allows you to run multi-passes and use DoD approved methods for destroying information. Just do a 3-pass or something and let it run overnight and there is a better chance of having a million bucks fall out of your car exhaust than recovering that data.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:06:14 EDT

Pashune posted :

said by Harddrive:

omg! i throw dead batteries into the trash. e-waste police coming with a no-knock search warrant in 3, 2, 1...

Also guilty as charged. Money's so tight so I can't make extra 'special' recycling trips.

Then again, I keep most of my supposedly 'dead' batteries because I find after keeping them cold for a while they give me a few minutes of life. Somehow they still come in handy, even as paper weights... go figure.
--
ISP: CableOne 5 mbit/500 kbit

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:39:54 EDT

Harddrive posted : omg! i throw dead batteries into the trash. e-waste police coming with a no-knock search warrant in 3, 2, 1...
--
I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and i'm all outta bubblegum.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:37:22 EDT

wth posted : 1. Remove HDD and beat it to death with hammer.
2. Throw HDD back into case. Do not connect/reinstall, just lay it in loose.
3. Dispose of them via recycling.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:36:52 EDT

morbo posted : Even if you have no moral issue, it is illegal to dispose of e-waste in the regular garbage in most states.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:28:56 EDT

PCInTech posted : some of you people are just in the wrong areas. Those machines would be GOLD to poor people in my area, who only want/need basic Internet access and functionality.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:22:05 EDT

nibyak posted : Mine go to the county dump. They have a large (truck sized) dumpster labeled TVs and Computers. There is no charge and its fun to see how far you can fling your monitor or TV. Last year we put three CRT monitors (17”) and two working Celeron Desktops on Freecycle and didn’t receive any interest.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:05:03 EDT

silentlooker posted :

said by morbo:

said by ztmike:

I'm not driving out of town to get rid of these things when I can save my car a trip and just toss them away.

Your post sums up a lot of what's wrong with this world. Proper disposal of e-waste isn't optional.

To each its own.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:55:16 EDT

morbo posted :

said by ztmike:

I'm not driving out of town to get rid of these things when I can save my car a trip and just toss them away.

Your post sums up a lot of what's wrong with this world. Proper disposal of e-waste isn't optional.

Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:44:45 EDT

caffeinator posted : How long did you wait for the nix cd?

I have an p3-800 with 256MB of ram that'll load most all linux LiveCD's...after about 2-3 minutes.

LiveCD's will load everything to RAM if it can, plus scratch disk. On an older PC like that it will take longer than you'd be used to on a modern PC. Installed to HDD, it'd fly though.

Oh, and when doing setup, try selecting Vesa for video.

I have several old 2nd-hand PC's like that for various uses.
Hell, my router is a PII that was literally sitting by the dumpster..it's been chugging away for years now. :)

said by JB:

Not to hijack this thread, but I also have 2 computers that I'm looking to get rid of.

Comp one:
AMD 3500+
Geforce 7300
2GB Memory
Win XP Pro

Comp two:
AMD 3200
Geforce 7600
2GB Memory
Win XP Pro

LOL...both of those are better than what I have now other than CPU. I'd have to spend like $30 just to get a video card like those that'd work on this AGP-only pc...

Computers like those sell for $50-80 on CL...even not working.

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Re: What to do with old desktop computers?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:25:54 EDT

dipweed23 posted : If I lived much much closer, I'd stop by and pick them up from ya to avoid the headaches of trying to find someone to take them.
They shouldn't last long on the curb, lots of junk collectors looking to sell scrap, or people looking for a project pc.