Older Machines

[W3WN]

So, outside of outright trashing them, what can you do with some older (but fully functional) computers?

I have two Compaq Evo D300V machines that are about to be decomissioned. (One was my working computer, I just need to transfer my Citrix settings to it's replacement; the other is my shack computer, and I should have everything transferred to a Dell Optiplex 320 by the weekend). Both are XP Pro machines running SP3. Nothing wrong with them, they've just been or are being replaced by faster machines with larger hard drives. (The new working machine is Win 7; the new shack machine is still XP)

I thought there might be interest in the boxes if I threw a copy of Linux (Ubuntu) on them & made them relatively cheap. Sold a different 300V at the club hamfest back in January for $20, to ham involved in the HackPittsburgh group -- mainly because he needed a machine for a print server, and it saved him an hour to setup a different box. So, frankly, I have little faith that doing the work to convert the other two boxes is worth it.

I also have a Compaq laptop that was running Windows 2000; it could run XP if it had a bigger drive (it's only 20 GB. Well, it would run XP, just there's no room, really, for anything else). It's also phased out, as I have an Dell laptop that will take over it's functions (this will be the computer for digital software for the Omni VII). Other than the OS & small drive, it works fine. Again, I can throw Ubuntu on it simply enough. But is it worth the bother?

I really hate to just trash the machines. Just not sure what else to do with them. I really don't think I'll get more than $20/25 even on eBay or somewhere else.

And... no, I've looked into donating them. Goodwill & similar outfits have politely declined, as they have a glut of donated machines.

Thoughts?

[K7SGJ]

So, outside of outright trashing them, what can you do with some older (but fully functional) computers?

I have two Compaq Evo D300V machines that are about to be decomissioned. (One was my working computer, I just need to transfer my Citrix settings to it's replacement; the other is my shack computer, and I should have everything transferred to a Dell Optiplex 320 by the weekend). Both are XP Pro machines running SP3. Nothing wrong with them, they've just been or are being replaced by faster machines with larger hard drives. (The new working machine is Win 7; the new shack machine is still XP)

I thought there might be interest in the boxes if I threw a copy of Linux (Ubuntu) on them & made them relatively cheap. Sold a different 300V at the club hamfest back in January for $20, to ham involved in the HackPittsburgh group -- mainly because he needed a machine for a print server, and it saved him an hour to setup a different box. So, frankly, I have little faith that doing the work to convert the other two boxes is worth it.

I also have a Compaq laptop that was running Windows 2000; it could run XP if it had a bigger drive (it's only 20 GB. Well, it would run XP, just there's no room, really, for anything else). It's also phased out, as I have an Dell laptop that will take over it's functions (this will be the computer for digital software for the Omni VII). Other than the OS & small drive, it works fine. Again, I can throw Ubuntu on it simply enough. But is it worth the bother?

I really hate to just trash the machines. Just not sure what else to do with them. I really don't think I'll get more than $20/25 even on eBay or somewhere else.

And... no, I've looked into donating them. Goodwill & similar outfits have politely declined, as they have a glut of donated machines.

Thoughts?

Put them out by the curb with a sign that says do not touch. They'll be gone in 15 minutes.

[W5BRM]

Put them out by the curb with a sign that says do not touch. They'll be gone in 15 minutes.

No no its "for sale $25"

Thats when they disappear in minutes

[n6hcm]

i put a *toilet* on the curb and it was gone in 20 minutes.

nearly everyone has a an old computer or ten laying around. they're increasingly made of unobtanium (IDE disks are less commonly available, memory for upgrades isn't cheap anymore, ... ) and so while they're useful they're kinda risky.

wipe the disks (use something like D-BAN) and put them on the curb. interested parties will pick them up and find a way to use them.

[KC2UGV]

Craigslist them in the free section.

Make sure you note "WILL NOT DELIVER", otherwise, people will ask you to deliver (For free) free stuff.

[K7SGJ]

I wonder if he'd deliver free to AZ?

[n2ize]

Reef them. Remove the covers and toss or drop them into a lake, river, or other body of water. the open cases piled atop one another provide an excellent breeding ground for fish and other aquatic animals. Just like when they reefed hundreds of old NYC Subway Cars in the Chesapeake Bay. But on a smaller scale.

[KG4CGC]

Reef them. Remove the covers and toss or drop them into a lake, river, or other body of water. the open cases piled atop one another provide an excellent breeding ground for fish and other aquatic animals. Just like when they reefed hundreds of old NYC Subway Cars in the Chesapeake Bay. But on a smaller scale.

Aquarium level reefing.

[W2NAP]

can you deliver to Indiana?

[W3WN]

The Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has decreed in their infinite wisdom that it's now illegal to put electronics, especially computers, out for trash. They must be taken to special recycling centers. Which are only available about once every three months, and you have to pay a fee to dispose of the machines.

Putting them out on the curb is considered the same as putting them out for trash.

Now, what I can do is strip the machines. The bare metal chassis, sans electronics, can be put out, and the metal scavengers WILL take it. The rest? What's salvageable (memory, drives) goes into my small collection of hamfest table fodder; machine screws I have a small container for. Misc. metal parts that don't go out with the chassis go into the recycle bin. What's remains goes into a thick black plastic trash bag that's buried in the middle of trash can.

[W3WN]

can you deliver to Indiana?Sure. I can meet you on the IUP campus, or would you prefer the Eat-N-Park restaurant in downtown Indiana PA?

[K7SGJ]

Reef them. Remove the covers and toss or drop them into a lake, river, or other body of water. the open cases piled atop one another provide an excellent breeding ground for fish and other aquatic animals. Just like when they reefed hundreds of old NYC Subway Cars in the Chesapeake Bay. But on a smaller scale.

The reef thingie is a great idea, but I'm still using my computer, so, I drained the tank, with the fish,.......and.....well.......I don't need that aquarium screen saver anymore.

[W3WN]

You know, the funny thing is, I once considered gutting a large dead monitor & building a fish tank inside it. Took too much effort for too small a tank, and the plastic shell of the monitor couldn't handle the weight. Pity, would have been a nice gag.

...a few years back, during the 3 Rivers Art Festival, someone once had a piece of artwork called "Sleeping Fish". It was a 10 gallon tank full of dirt. And it won an Honorable Mention ribbon...

[K7SGJ]

You know, the funny thing is, I once considered gutting a large dead monitor & building a fish tank inside it. Took too much effort for too small a tank, and the plastic shell of the monitor couldn't handle the weight. Pity, would have been a nice gag.

...a few years back, during the 3 Rivers Art Festival, someone once had a piece of artwork called "Sleeping Fish". It was a 10 gallon tank full of dirt. And it won an Honorable Mention ribbon...

We were at the vets one day, and of course Animal Planet was on the tube. They had these guys that make all kinds of custom aquariums, and they did make one out of an old computer monitor. It was actually pretty neat.

[kb2vxa]

"So, outside of outright trashing them, what can you do with some older (but fully functional) computers?"

Not much, especially with such so long ago obsolete technology and an OS now past its support cycle. Setting them at the curb is illegal in many areas due to the fact they contain hazmat and must be properly recycled. Common sense dictates properly wiping the HD beyond any means of forensic analysis, any security worth its salt can overwrite 3 times with random garbage. FYI, paranoid corporations shred computers as a means of disposing of old systems during upgrades, a friend who works for Lucent informed me of their policy when I asked if I could have one of their old computers.

One important thing about Windows XP, something that drove me buggy until I found a way to stop the annoying warning pop ups. I have XP on Virtual Box to run old but still very useful software, every time I opened it a warning popped up saying support was about to end, when it did it changed to support has ended. I thought this wouldn't last, WRONG, so I disabled automatic updates including virus signature database updates in MSE. Why two instances of MSE I have no idea, one in my primary OS, Win 7 should be enough. OK, this didn't work, SOMETHING is bringing it up but WHAT? I took the shotgun cure approach and deleted every program I could that updates automatically behind the scenes and disabled access in those I need, no more annoying pop ups.

One thing perhaps I should mention in case you don't already know, MSE has a bad habit of overlooking some infections. Malwarebytes doesn't miss a thing and looks for updates hourly, also unlike many works happily side by side memory resident (real time protection) with MSE, so that's the way I have them. Rather than going through a lengthy unpaid advertizement you may find information here: https://www.malwarebytes.org/

Some enterprising individuals have come up with a way of avoiding picky recyclers that make you jump through hoops and legal entanglement of "improper disposal of hazardous materials", thermite and an electric model rocket igniter for safety. You can then take the slag to be recycled, if anyone asks what it is just don't tell them how it became slag. Oh, I'm sure you'll want to make a video or take pictures, just don't be dumb enough to post it on the internet like this guy did. (;->)

[W2NAP]

Sure. I can meet you on the IUP campus, or would you prefer the Eat-N-Park restaurant in downtown Indiana PA?

State of Indiana yo. exit 226 I69 :v

[NQ6U]

You know, the funny thing is, I once considered gutting a large dead monitor & building a fish tank inside it. Took too much effort for too small a tank, and the plastic shell of the monitor couldn't handle the weight. Pity, would have been a nice gag.

That's been done a lot with the old all-in-one Macs:

http://radbot.net/pix/1242.gif

[KB3LAZ]

The Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has decreed in their infinite wisdom that it's now illegal to put electronics, especially computers, out for trash. They must be taken to special recycling centers. Which are only available about once every three months, and you have to pay a fee to dispose of the machines.

Putting them out on the curb is considered the same as putting them out for trash.

Now, what I can do is strip the machines. The bare metal chassis, sans electronics, can be put out, and the metal scavengers WILL take it. The rest? What's salvageable (memory, drives) goes into my small collection of hamfest table fodder; machine screws I have a small container for. Misc. metal parts that don't go out with the chassis go into the recycle bin. What's remains goes into a thick black plastic trash bag that's buried in the middle of trash can.

Go to the local junkyard, at night, and chuck it over the fence. Or put it in a random dumpster in the city.

Seriously though, we have to do the electro-cycle crap here too. Open twice a month. I have had a junk PC in my trunk for three months because they are never open when I don't work.

[kb2vxa]

Is there a dumpster where you work? Dumpsters are great for disposing of dead things.

[K7SGJ]

Is there a dumpster where you work? Dumpsters are great for disposing of dead things.


Should he roll it up in a carpet first?

[kb2vxa]

Carpet optional, fingerprint removal mandatory.

[W3WN]

Funny thing (kinda) yesterday morning...

So, I'm at the 2 Rivers ARC hamfest, talking with a friend, let's call him Chuck (call withheld). Chuck has 4 HP computers, all sans hard drive, on or around his table.

Another local ham, Jim (call withheld to protect the... well, you'll see) I know comes over, asks Chuck what he wants for them.

"Make me your best offer!" (ie, just give me something for them).
"Uh, how about, ah, $20 each?"
"Sold!" Then Chuck proceeds to tell Jim that there are no hard drives in the machine. (They were given to him as salvage, drives removed for security reasons by the company)
"No drives? OK, I can't use them then. Thanks anyway!"

As Jim starts to walk away, I call him back and say "Jim, I have two Compaq computers, same vintage, I'm almost done decommissioning. If you give me a day, you can have them both, fully working, WITH hard drives and WITH an operating system, for $20 each!"

And Jim says... "Ah, no, I only wanted a working machine" and leaves.

Go figure.

[n2ize]

Just find a vacant lot or empty stretch of road or a ditch and chuck them there. no waiting, no fees. Just stop the truck or car and pitch them and take off. new housing developments are often good places for this. You pull in at night, hurl them and split. Sometimes they even have a dumpster and you can toss them right in there. If you have only one or two to get rid of Salvation Army or Goodwill boxes are also handy places to dump them. Let someone else worry about them.

[W3WN]

Just find a vacant lot or empty stretch of road or a ditch and chuck them there. no waiting, no fees. Just stop the truck or car and pitch them and take off. new housing developments are often good places for this. You pull in at night, hurl them and split. Sometimes they even have a dumpster and you can toss them right in there. If you have only one or two to get rid of Salvation Army or Goodwill boxes are also handy places to dump them. Let someone else worry about them.Nice.

You do know dumping is illegal, don't you?

I'm trying to avoid doing this. (I'd rather spend the money on radios, not fines and court costs)

[n2ize]

Nice.

You do know dumping is illegal, don't you?

I'm trying to avoid doing this. (I'd rather spend the money on radios, not fines and court costs)

The good thing is round here the city has a dump where you can bring in old electronics, air conditioners, appliances, etc. They are open 5 days a week. You drive it in and they tell you which dumpster to pitch it into or where to drop it. You wouldn;t believe all the big screen HDTV's, plasma tv's and other electronics . in that bin. The garbage men also regularly pick up old electronics and small appliances from the curbside on certain days of the week. So most of the time I can ust put it right on the curb and it's gone by morning. Not long ago some neighbor has an old vintage 1950's console sound system on the curb for pickup. I was very tempted to take it but it's too big and I have no place for it here. A little fixing and cleaning up and it would have made a nice vintage piece. Sad to see it go to the garbage truck and end up crushed.

[kb2vxa]

Backpedaling won't prevent a crash when your bicycle doesn't have a coaster brake. Now pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get in the car. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used in Island Court against you. You have the right to stop posting without a lawyer and making a fool of yourself........

[W3WN]

The good thing is round here the city has a dump where you can bring in old electronics, air conditioners, appliances, etc.
< snip >That's one thing they don't have around here.

There was a firm collecting electronics for recycling, a few years back. They went broke, and it turned out that they'd "borrowed" a warehouse & left it full of old electronics; the owner had to pay someone quite a bit to haul it all away, due to the current set of environment-friendly electronic disposal laws.

PITA.

And I expect to have a third obsolete machine tonight. I've just set up a Dell Optiplex 760 on Win 7 for a friend's XYL, I'm swapping the machines around tonight. (What the hey, it's money for Dayton). Oh well, if nothing else, I'll have some table fodder for Breezeshooters.