Bye-bye old computers

[msdos622wasfun]

Hey everyone.

Just dropped off a couple of old PCs at a local electronics recycling event. How do you like these specs: A Panasonic Business Partner with a 20 MB hard drive and monochrome monitor (and 5.25" floppy!), and an IBM ThinkPad with an original Pentium processor in it and Windows 95 on it.

The Panasonic belonged to my sister, and she used it for WordPerfect and stuff like that. I even asked her if she would mind if I got rid of it, and she said she doesn't even remember owning it.

The laptop was just something I picked up used at a trade show. I tried upgrading it with my Windows 98 CD ... it took a half hour to install, but then I realized ... I don't have the product key anymore! Well, that's enough of that ... time to just say goodbye to the thing.

Anybody else here still using some real old stuff or on the verge of getting rid of it?

 

[LetMeIn]

Hi looks like were both Michiganders, Go Blue !!! Usually the product key is on the bottom of the laptop. Also KeyFinder | Magical Jelly Bean may help you. I don't know if you ever tried Linux but it's free and they have many distributions that'll work fine on old computers.

 

[msdos622wasfun]

Hi Ziggy ... No, the Windows 98 CD was something separate that didn't come with my laptop, and the product key is long gone because it was on a sticker that was on another computer that I got rid of some time ago. I actually thought about putting Linux on the laptop, but the thing didn't even have any Ethernet port or WiFi ... I think I would have needed a PCMCIA card for that. Wouldn't have been able to even get the thing online.

 

[LetMeIn]

You can buy a disc or usb fer under 20 but try a linux forum site to get the proper linux for your pc . There's hundreds of choices. I like Linux Mint but not sure it's right for your ole pc. DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

 

[azasadny]

I tend to donate my old PC's to neighbor kids, kids from church, etc... There's always some kid who wants to take them apart and learn... That's how I learned!

 

[msdos622wasfun]

I tend to donate my old PC's to neighbor kids, kids from church, etc... There's always some kid who wants to take them apart and learn... That's how I learned!

That's a good idea ... of course, there was this one time when I put an old Pentium system out on our driveway with a sign that said "FREE," and nobody even took it!

But come to think of it, I'm not even sure if it worked anymore...

 

[LetMeIn]

Best Buy has free recycling and may give you a credit on future purchases... Trade In & Recycling - Best Buy Also you can freecycle just about anything these days... The Freecycle Network

 

[Lee]

You can buy a disc or usb fer under 20 but try a linux forum site to get the proper linux for your pc . There's hundreds of choices. I like Linux Mint but not sure it's right for your ole pc. DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

All good ideas, however, if it even had a USB port it would only be 1.0 or 1.1 (damn that would be like watching a turtle race across a six lane freeway). Also it would not surprise me if it didn't have a CD drive.

 

[msdos622wasfun]

All good ideas, however, if it even had a USB port it would only be 1.0 or 1.1 (damn that would be like watching a turtle race across a six lane freeway). Also it would not surprise me if it didn't have a CD drive.

Very close, it actually did have a CD drive, but no USB port! And a 2 GB hard drive, and 800 x 600 screen.