Uses For Old Computers
These are just a few. There are many more…
Electronic Picture Frame – You can actually tear the box apart and build one of these custom frames, however, I think you should just get a 15” or 17” LCD monitor and hook it to the out-dated CPU. You can then load up your pics, set up a screen saver picture display (XP screen saver will do it) and you are good to go. You just need to find a place to hide the CPU. If you hide the CPU in a place that is not easy to access, make sure it is networked so you can update the picture repository across your network.
Web Browser ONLY – XP – Uninstall all of the software and only use the machine to browser the Internet through Internet Explorer. {How-To Details}
Web Browser ONLY – Linux (Knoppix) – Download Knoppix, create a bootable CD from the .iso image, and book your machine from it. No hard drive needed.
Router/Firewall – (requires 2 network cards) – You can use one of the applications listed below to turn your machine into a router. You may be able to do this without a hard drive.
- FREESCO
- IPCOP
- Smoothwall
- Firestarter
- Coyote Linux Personal Firewall
- Shorewall/Shoreline
- Mason
- Vyatta
- floppyfw
- FireHOL
- Guarddog
- Turtle
- m0n0wall
- Endian
- pfSense
- LutelWall
- Zorp
- ClarkConnect
- Devil Linux
- Sinux
- Kaladix
- SafeSquid
Overgrown MP3 Player/Media Server (requires sound card) – Load up the machine’s hard drive with MP3 files and use Windows Media Player to play them. This would be the only use for the machine. Turning an old machine into a media server is one of the more common uses for an old machine.
- Jinzora
- Firefly
- TVersity
- MediaTomb
- LIVE555
- MythTV
- Icecast
- Helix
- LinuxMCE
- Darwin Streaming Server
- GNUMP3D
If that’s not enough information, check out the Virtual Hosting Blog, where you can find a list of 100 apps to use in setting up your Media Center PC.
File Server/Network Attached Storage – Uninstall all of the software, clear off the hard drive of everything that is unnecessary, and make a file share available on your network. You now have Network Attached Storage. Here are some applications that may assist you even further:
FTP Server – Acquire Knoppix or another free version of Linux, boot it up, and run the FTP server application. Port-forward port 21 to this IP address and there you go…an FTP Server.
- Setting up a local web server in Debian Linux
- The Apache Web Server
- Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) LAMP Server Setup
- Quick Linux Server
Test Web Server (light traffic load) – You can set up a test version of your web site on this machine. As long as your traffic load is kept low (just you), there should not be a problem with this. I’ve run a production web server (IIS) on a Pentium 75.
X10 System Controller (see www.x10.com) – X10 is a technology that allows you to control various devices using the electrical system as it’s network. Check out the link for details.
Proxy Server – A proxy server can speed up access to commonly used sites.
Video Monitoring System (requires a web cam) – Set up a webcam on this machine and monitor your cat or dog while you are not home, or, monitor your spouse.
Trade it in (HP trade in program) – HP has a trade in program. This is only good, though, if you are spending money on a new machine.
Print Server (requires a printer) – Install as many parallel ports as you have printers, share those ports/printers out, and you now have a print server. {How-To Details}
TV (requires TV card) – Grab a TV card and install it, connect it to the cable or satellite connection, and watch TV to your heart’s content.
Store Digital Photos – Follow the steps for building a file server, then store all of your pics on it. You can even point you Picasa, Flickr, etc. to the share.
Visitor computer – If you have people staying with you periodically, I’m sure you’ve experienced the issue of allowing them to use your computer. To avoid that, take the old machine and get it all networked in the guestroom at a small workstation-like desk. They’ll feel like they are staying at The Hyatt. Hopefully, you won’t have to deliver room service.
Experimental PC – You can beat this machine up, install anything, then just wipe the hard drive and reload.
Recording Studio Machine – Start a podcast or do voice-over work and use this machine to record your sound. If editing is necessary, that can be done on another machine. {How-To Details}
Alarm Clock (requires a sound card) – there is software out there that will play an MP3 or WAV file on a schedule. Install this software and use the machine as an overgrown, overstated alarm clock. You could probably even play a CD to wake you up. {Download Software}
Email Spam Server – You could use this machine to start an online email spamming (advertising) business. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this machine can be sending out emails.
Recipe Workstation for Kitchen – Grab a recipe application, maximize it, get a keyboard condom, and you are done. {Free Recipe Software}
If you enjoyed this post, please make sure you register to receive these posts via email. You can also follow me on Twitter, link to me on LinkedIn, or visit my other blog, at www.johnasimpson.com.
© Copyright 2009, John A. Simpson. All Rights Reserved.
I just found free software to build an NAS box: http://www.dailycupoftech.com/howto-install-freenas/trackback/
[...] Jerry Brito wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptVisitor computer – If you have people staying with you periodically, I’m sure you’ve experienced the issue of allowing them to use your computer. To avoid that, take the old machine and get it all networked in the guestroom at a small … [...]
[...] http://www.spendingless101.com/?p=57X10 System Controller (see http://www.x10.com) – X10 is a technology that allows you to control various devices using the electrical system as it’s network. Check out the link for details. Proxy Server – A proxy server can speed up access to … [...]