The Dancer had an old Windows Vista computer for quite a while until it finally started acting up enough that we got her a Mac Mini (which she has finally stopped complaining about constantly...). The computer has been sitting around, my having long cloned the hard drive to a MicroSD card so she has all the files from it that she needs. I want to sell it- but I don't want to do so without wiping the HDD since she used it for EVERYTHING for a good while and don't want any of the personal info she may have put on it going to someone else. Unfortunately, she doesn't have (or it didn't come with) the Windows reinstall discs (and the license code) for it to simply wipe it and reinstall it cleanly.
I have half a mind to just figure out what the leanest & most user-friendly flavor of Linux is and put that on it since it's slow enough that most newer OS's likely would struggle a bit, but figure a number of people will look at that and not want to bother with it.
Finally, I could just pull and wipe the HDD and sell it without an OS on it.
Thoughts? The odds are that we're not going to get much more than $50 or so from selling it, so buying anything to put on it is not an option.
For something that old, I suspect Linux is going to be the most useful flavor of OS, since you don't really want to run old Windows, and it's probably going to crawl on recent Windows. But I don't think it's worth doing an installation, either.
I'd sell it sans disc and let whoever buys it decide what kind of disc they want and what OS to put on it. Even the most user-friendly Linux isn't likely to be a good hourly rate for you to install it. This also encourages the buyer to own the installation and not be cross when the wireless driver needs twiddling etc etc...
I tend to physically destroy old discs (like, with a pickaxe) when getting rid of old computers. I'm not sure what the split is between security and amusement.
So, 2007 to 2009? Any hardware that old is probably just not a good candidate for use today, unless you were going to use it for the kids' first system or something like that.
Tie a rope to it and use it for an anchor.
Pull the drive and donate to Goodwill, etc. take the write-off next year.
Destroy hard drive with sledge hammer/drill, etc.
If you have a use for it (like media PC in the garage for example), then toss Xubuntu or similar on it.
Mr_Asa
SuperDork
11/16/20 12:10 p.m.
Yeah, something that old isn't going to be worth anything from a sales point. Goodwill, or something similar that rebuilds PCs for schools or whatnot is going to be the best bet.
In reply to Stefan (Forum Supporter) :
Only real use I'd have for it in the garage would be as a space heater, and I have far more efficient space heaters than it would be.
Right, guess I'm just going to pull the drive and put the rest up for cheap.
Vista? I thought you were asking for a hard version of windows to find. I think I have copies of all of them going back to 1.0.
Stefan (Forum Supporter) said:
Pull the drive and donate to Goodwill, etc. take the write-off next year.
Destroy hard drive with sledge hammer/drill, etc.
If you have a use for it (like media PC in the garage for example), then toss Xubuntu or similar on it.
We once looked into donating an old computer to a few places- but they had age limits on what they would accept.
At some point, the best thing is to find a reputable scrapper. By reputable, I mean when you give it to them as trash, they don't send it off to some place to just be random electronic trash like we see in places in this world. There are people out there who crush and grind electronics up and manage to extract much of the precious metals.
In a wolrd where you can buy a brand new Chromebook for $180, I really doubt anyone is going to spend money on an old Vista machine. Including at goodwill and salvation army.
alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:
Stefan (Forum Supporter) said:
Pull the drive and donate to Goodwill, etc. take the write-off next year.
Destroy hard drive with sledge hammer/drill, etc.
If you have a use for it (like media PC in the garage for example), then toss Xubuntu or similar on it.
We once looked into donating an old computer to a few places- but they had age limits on what they would accept.
At some point, the best thing is to find a reputable scrapper. By reputable, I mean when you give it to them as trash, they don't send it off to some place to just be random electronic trash like we see in places in this world. There are people out there who crush and grind electronics up and manage to extract much of the precious metals.
In a wolrd where you can buy a brand new Chromebook for $180, I really doubt anyone is going to spend money on an old Vista machine. Including at goodwill and salvation army.
Most Goodwill are also E-cycling centers, so if they can take it and resell it they will, otherwise it gets recycled for the rare metals and other recyclable parts.
You can also look for Electronic Recycling in your area or outfits like FreeGeek that turn older systems into usable systems for those in need as well as training in how to install and use Linux.
A final option might be to toss it up on a local FB Free group (or NextDoor), drop it on yoru front porch and see if someone wants to come and get it. I just picked up a Doll crib for my daughter that just needs some new wooden dowels and glue.
Jesse Ransom (FFS) said:
For something that old, I suspect Linux is going to be the most useful flavor of OS, since you don't really want to run old Windows, and it's probably going to crawl on recent Windows. But I don't think it's worth doing an installation, either.
I'd sell it sans disc and let whoever buys it decide what kind of disc they want and what OS to put on it. Even the most user-friendly Linux isn't likely to be a good hourly rate for you to install it. This also encourages the buyer to own the installation and not be cross when the wireless driver needs twiddling etc etc...
I tend to physically destroy old discs (like, with a pickaxe) when getting rid of old computers. I'm not sure what the split is between security and amusement.
You just gave me a thought for some .308 targets!!!!
