I Bought An Old Computer For 10$!!

Lance1 · Sep 11, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
Nothing new! I have several old PC's that have AMD 64 bit cpu chips, but obviously a 32 bit BIos, and will have nothing to do with anything 64 bit.
No problem, I just load Windows 10/Pro/32 and life goes on.

The old HP laptop I'M on right now, falls into that category. Win 11, loaded but then took a dump!
Windows 10/Pro/32 is running like a champ, on a new SSD that I just installed today.

Properly set up, Windows 10/32 can be just as useful as Win-11.

Good find!
Good Luck!
TM

I have Win 10 Pro 32 bit on it now but still toying with Linux distros in VM.

bfunke · Sep 11, 2023

Lance1 said:
Yes that is my thought also. The BIOS at this time is F5 2008. I cant see it getting any newer then 2008. BUT! I'll look into it.

Gigabyte shows F10 from 2009 as latest

TM21 · Sep 11, 2023

Looking closely at the inside view of that case, it looks just like the PC I'm on right now, (Pac Man Case) with 5.25" drive bays at the top and 3.5" drive bays below. Different face plate! Lots of space to add extra drives. And room to work, without hurting yourself. The last Pac Man case I bought cost me $30, and it was the last one, so I smiled all the way home.

Getting the whole SheBang, ready to run, was a good deal. Max out the ram, and put in a nice SSD, and she'll make you a very nice PC.
I have 16 GB of ram in mine, with a 500GB SSD for my Win-11 OS, and two more HD's with Win-7 and Win-8.1 respectively.
and one more drive, a 1TB HD for backups. There's room for a lot more. Great Case!

Let us know, what you finally do with it. Eh?
TM

PS: Do you know, if that cpu/bios combo will run any 64 bit OS?
I just installed Windows 10/Pro/32 on a little HP Laptop with an AMD Athlon x64 cpu, that should run Win-11/Pro/64 just fine, but it won't.
Properly set up, tweaked and tuned, Win 10/32 seems to run just as good as Win-11. And, a plus, is that it takes up less HD space than Win-11.

FreeBooter · Sep 11, 2023

@Lance1 No need to install 64-bit Windows 10 as it uses more memory space which your computer don't have.

Scannerman · Sep 11, 2023

FreeBooter said:
@Lance1 No need to install 64-bit Windows 10 as it uses more memory space which your computer don't have.

He might be better off leaving it as it is with a PC that old. Flashing a BIOS on an older machine like that can be risky. Then again, paying ten bucks for a shot at experimentation and learning could also be a lot of inexpensive fun! No time like the present. A 64 bit OS will definitely want more RAM. My wife would tell me, "Why look a gift horse in the mouth? If it ain't broke don't fix it." That's probably why I still have an old PC in my bedroom running Win 8.1 on the same old 1TB mechanical hard drive it's been using for 10 years. Great for audio books and documentaries (my bed time stories).

Winuser · Sep 11, 2023

Scannerman said:
The empty case alone is worth ten bucks easy

It's getting harder to find a case that has external drive bays. That's the one thing I don't like about my new PowerSpec desktop. My old PowerSpec has external drive bays. I have a Blue-Ray drive and a 3.5' hot swap-able drive bay installed in it. I have two drive caddies but don't really need it. I use to use it instead of dual booting my computer. I have an older PowerSpec case with external drive bays that I have been toying with the idea of swapping everything from my new PowerSpec into. For some reason I keep getting this feeling that I should leave my new PowerSpec as it is. I guess it's because it's been so long since I've done a motherboard swap. I don't mind buying a new system because I want too but not because I screwed up my working system.

Winuser · Sep 11, 2023

Just out of curiosityI just took a look at the PowerSpec PCs available at the St. Davids Micro Center location that are in the price rang I would pay. To be honest the specs are OK but I don't like the cases. I'm glad I'm not in the market right now. These are the two desktops. https://www.microcenter.com/endeca/...0NDMrNjkyKzQyOTQ4MjA3NDEmTlRLPWFsbCZwYWdlPTE=

TM21 · Sep 11, 2023

I won't say I'd be lost, but I'd sure be unhappy with any case that did not have front panel access to a CD drive and maybe a Multi Card Reader.
All of my Desktop PC's, that I built myself DO have such things. I know there are external drives, that use USB ports. But that can be SO inconvenient.
Here's my own, Pac Man Case, with a DVD drive and TWO Multi-Card Readers. I use many different data cards.

I think many computers have used this case, but with different front panels. It's just a very Workable configuration.

If there was anything bad about this case, it's that it came with only a 300W PSU.

Berton · Sep 11, 2023

On Friday I gave a widow $50.00 for her husband's computer, got the machine, keyboard, mouse, speakers and 24" monitor, all Dell. It had 4GB RAM running Win10 Home which had been upgraded from Win7, quite a nice set for a non-gamer. I found another 4GB module in my parts drawer and now has 8GB total [I salvage parts I think I may use].

Wisewiz · Sep 11, 2023

Berton said:
I found another 4GB module in my parts drawer and now has 8GB total [I salvage parts I think I may use].

No problems with mismatched memory modules? You have both running in dual-channel?

Berton · Sep 11, 2023

Wisewiz said:
No problems with mismatched memory modules? You have both running in dual-channel?

No issue. Looking in the BIOS does not show dual-channel, it's a Pentium G3220 and RAM speed of 1333. Dell Inspiron 3647 at 3GHz.

Recently tried to replace a 1GB with a 2GB in an Acer Aspire, wanted to see if Vista could be upgraded to Win10. Mismatched and wouldn't boot so some mismatch will work and others won't, down to trial and error testing.

antspants · Sep 11, 2023

When someone tells me they are buying a new computer or just throwing one out, I beg them to give their old ones to me. I’ve rebuilt quite a few and donated them to individuals that just can’t afford to buy one. Mainly families in need with kids who are in school.

In Australia, the early learning education system leans towards portable devices, basically your child has to have one. As much as they have payment plans and discounts for welfare recipients, families still have to pay something, which leaves some of them having to discriminate between a loaf of bread or their fortnightly instalment plan for a device. More often than not, the parents have no idea how to use a device let alone a PC. What I can give them might be crap, but never the less.
I am in no way guilting you give it away

but you are looking for ideas on what to do with it. (Plus, you have a kind face)

Winuser · Sep 11, 2023

antspants said:
When someone tells me they are buying a new computer or just throwing one out, I beg them to give their old ones to me. I’ve rebuilt quite a few and donated them to individuals that just can’t afford to buy one. Mainly families in need with kids who are in school.

In Australia, the early learning education system leans towards portable devices, basically your child has to have one. As much as they have payment plans and discounts for welfare recipients, families still have to pay something, which leaves some of them having to discriminate between a loaf of bread or their fortnightly instalment plan for a device. More often than not, the parents have no idea how to use a device let alone a PC. What I can give them might be crap, but never the less.
I am in no way guilting you give it away but you are looking for ideas on what to do with it. (Plus, you have a kind face)

You should wokr where I work. I work for a local township (Public Works) and we get more throw away (recycleable) computers than you can shake a stick at. Most of them are Windows 7 or older. It's very rare to get anything newer. I'm sure at the least about 50% of them still work. A nother thing we get is still working TVs. When a resident brings their old TVs to us they admit that the TV works but they wanted a Larger screen. Another thing we have experienced, Totally working appliances that was replaced because the color didn't match the color of their remodeled houses. I don't live in a supper rich area but one that was snooty because a large number of residents worked for (at the time) a chemical company that paid to wages, the electric plant or the nuclear power plant.

antspants · Sep 11, 2023

Winuser said:
You should wokr where I work. I work for a local township (Public Works) and we get more throw away (recycleable) computers than you can shake a stick at. Most of them are Windows 7 or older. It's very rare to get anything newer. I'm sure at the least about 50% of them still work. A nother thing we get is still working TVs. When a resident brings their old TVs to us they admit that the TV works but they wanted a Larger screen. Another thing we have experienced, Totally working appliances that was replaced because the color didn't match the color of their remodeled houses. I don't live in a supper rich area but one that was snooty because a large number of residents worked for (at the time) a chemical company that paid to wages, the electric plant or the nuclear power plant.

I’d suspect because you work for the city, there would be some pretty stringent clauses in regards to what you can do with this stuff.

Scannerman · Sep 11, 2023

antspants said:
When someone tells me they are buying a new computer or just throwing one out, I beg them to give their old ones to me. I’ve rebuilt quite a few and donated them to individuals that just can’t afford to buy one. Mainly families in need with kids who are in school.

In Australia, the early learning education system leans towards portable devices, basically your child has to have one. As much as they have payment plans and discounts for welfare recipients, families still have to pay something, which leaves some of them having to discriminate between a loaf of bread or their fortnightly instalment plan for a device. More often than not, the parents have no idea how to use a device let alone a PC. What I can give them might be crap, but never the less.
I am in no way guilting you give it away but you are looking for ideas on what to do with it. (Plus, you have a kind face)

Brother, you just nailed what I do up here in Canada. You do Dumpster Divers proud. So often young families don't have the coin to purchase a PC and that's where I come in. My children are my informants and I tell them to get their friend to get their parent's permission and I build them a PC and drop it off at their door. It cuts down on ewaste and that PC is put to good use. Doesn't have to be anything fancy but in the meantime the family is learning computer skills and the children aren't being left in the dust. The cheap towers I build for these kids might be second rate but at least they'll beat a Chrome book every time hands down.

antspants · Sep 11, 2023

Scannerman said:
My children are my informants

Yes, I adopted this practice early. Plus my involvement in Fellowships is a bonus.

Winuser · Sep 11, 2023

antspants said:
I’d suspect because you work for the city, there would be some pretty stringent clauses in regards to what you can do with this stuff.

I had a long post but decided to shorten it. They are lenient if we only take something we need and that they have to pay to get rid of. When it comes to electronics the company takes them for free. The township doesn't get paid but at the same time they don't get fined for throwing it out on our county landfill.

antspants · Sep 11, 2023

Winuser said:
I had a long post but decided to shorten it. They are lenient if we only take something we need and that they have to pay to get rid of. When it comes to electronics the company takes them for free. The township doesn't get paid but at the same time they don't get fined for throwing it out on our county landfill.

Nice!
For insurance purposes. It’s generally frowned upon here, I believe. If someone was to take home an appliance that eventually electrocuted them, legally/potentially they could sue the city.

retiredat44 · Sep 11, 2023

i wouldn't even put linux on that.. need a bit more power... ddr3 and a 3ghz cpu, etc... ddr2 is just way too old for new stuff. IMHO. You can use the case...

Berton · Sep 11, 2023

I've also donated rehabbed Notebooks, sent 4 to Honduras with a missionary last year. Seems the school they went to had knowledgeable students but not enough machines.

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