What do you normally do with old PC?

Forums › Desktop computing › What do you normally do with old PC?

kipkip

50 posts

Geek

#293587 31-Jan-2022 16:51

Have an old desktop sitting at home gathering dust as it was originally built for watching EPL during the Coliseum Sports era (Premier League Pass). It was built with a 3rd gen i3 + 8gb ram + Win 10 Pro + BitFenix Phenom matx case. Did a quick search on TM and similar spec PCs are selling ~$75 which doesn't seem to worth the hassle.

Already have 4 other PCs so there's no need for it. Any suggestions on what to do with it? Seems a bit of a waste when it is still running fine.

1 | 2

398 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2859423 31-Jan-2022 17:06

Donate it to a local school who wants it or to one of the various charities (google donate computer and you'll find a few) that provides computers to low income schools or individuals who have need of it.

ratsun81

508 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2859434 31-Jan-2022 17:42

I might be interested in taking it off you, where are you located?

kingdragonfly

11214 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2859438 31-Jan-2022 18:02

As the IT tech for some non-profits, trust me if you don't want to use it as a Windows PC, most schools won't want it either.

There's also a page here in Geekzone about "The Warehouse Stationary" handling ewaste.

The Salvation Army feels the same way.

I use an old PC as follows

* add a Freeview satellite TV tuner (I like the TBS Quad tuner, since it can record 4 channels at once)

* Use NextPVR software to download the Tv program guide, and do the actual scheduling

* Google Kodi to show videos (alternatively Windows Media Center, XBMC, MythTV, MediaPortal)

* Sky satellite dish

I find Windows is nice to have on my TV, so I can cruise the web easier.

It'll also play simple games

I know you can do similar with Raspberry Pi, and similar, but I prefer the Windows.

Windows 7 or 10 is fine.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2859705 1-Feb-2022 07:59

I strip down for parts and put on TM, or else they sit in a draw for a year along with other parts and I do a yearly "$1 reserve" pile on TM :)

If its complete (with case etc), then see if local kindy or similar would be interested for the kids.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

CokemonZ

1051 posts

Uber Geek

#2859786 1-Feb-2022 10:41

Pay it forward group on facebook. Tend to give to people with kids to help with online learning. I try and find a cheap monitor to go with it if I have the time.

Tzoi

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2859791 1-Feb-2022 10:48

Turned it into a server to host a NAS and various other services depending on what I feel like running (game servers for example)

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18667 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2859803 1-Feb-2022 11:09

I keep old pcs to run old software. Updates often make useful things unusable so it is handy to have a fallback somewhere. With really old pcs you can reduce the problem by removing mobo and psu and taking the case to a scrap dealer.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2860078 1-Feb-2022 15:29

kipkip:

... which doesn't seem to worth the hassle.

Already have 4 other PCs so there's no need for it.

just sent it to the dump or the recyclers .
Anything else will require some 'hassle'

:-)

kipkip

50 posts

Geek

#2860179 1-Feb-2022 17:50

Found it interesting that the charities seem to only be interested in ex-lease/business PC in large quantity.

I have been dropping off parts and stuff for recycling through e-waste.org, but feeling a bit wasteful when it is still usable for general browsing or MS Office. Would have repurposed it if not already have a NUC+Shield+NAS setup for TV and non cpu intensive tasks.

Hence curioius what everyone else is doing instead of sending to recycler.

nztim

3825 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#2860189 1-Feb-2022 18:07

kingdragonfly: As the IT tech for some non-profits, trust me if you don't want to use it as a Windows PC, most schools won't want it either.

Totally and 100% second this, giving PCs to Charites and schools that cant be managed by Intune etc (which the schools and charities get for for free) just creates headaches for them and then they have to handle dumping it

my rule of thumb is, does it have TPM? Is it UFEI Boot? Can it be managed by Intune? - If yes to all three then you can donate it otherwise you are just moving your e-waste problem to someone else

I offer up stuff for free on GZ before I take it to e-waste

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2860449 2-Feb-2022 09:47

kipkip:

Found it interesting that the charities seem to only be interested in ex-lease/business PC in large quantity.

Possibly as many of the unwanted home pc's , are garbage that have failed or near to failure . (not saying yours is)
So many dont replace a PC until its unreliable or unusable (slow/obsolete) .

We get clients old unwanted PC's . I'd say 80% are junk , the other 20% need work/parts to be usable .

Scott3

3981 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2860454 2-Feb-2022 10:11

I wipe the hard disk, put a clean install of whatever version of windows it came with, and sell it.

Good practice to wipe the disk, regardless of how you are going to dispose of it.

For me $75 is absolutely worth it. But even if the value is lesser, selling it means the disposal is no longer my problem, and it means that somebody will continue to use it (or harvest it for parts), which is good from a environmental & societal perspective.

mdf

3521 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2860537 2-Feb-2022 11:11

We've got a local stem club. They're usually keen on e-waste/semi working PCs for the kids to play with - I tend to send most of my (semi) working stuff there.

Was watching kids look on with bewilderment at a VCR a few weeks back. Couldn't get their heads around the size of the tape and the mechanical eject actions.

zaptor

745 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2860812 2-Feb-2022 18:56

Rikkitic:

I keep old pcs to run old software.

Yep - and that's the real rub.

A lot of old software (Windows XP and older) is fine. One could argue a few of those programs outshine what's available on current PCs. If you want to run any Win 95/98 stuff, XP appears to be far more accommodating.

If I had the space, I would've kept a lot of the old PCs I used to own.

Kiwifruta

1423 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2860837 2-Feb-2022 20:29

Turn it in to a router or firewall with PfSense, OPNSense, OpenWRT or VyOS, a Minecraft server for the kids and their friends safe from cyber bullies.

1 | 2