My junker desktop collection

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charlie Wilkes
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C

Charlie Wilkes

I went through it today. Aside from my core system and my antequated
laptop, I have four complete, working boxes and parts for a couple
more.

I took some pictures and posted them here:

www.geocities.com/wilkes_charlie/box_collection.htm

One of these systems was built from a computer I replaced, but three
(including the "glamor box") are made entirely from free, discarded
hardware.

Charlie
 
Charlie Wilkes said:
I went through it today. Aside from my core system and my antequated
laptop, I have four complete, working boxes and parts for a couple
more.

I took some pictures and posted them here:

www.geocities.com/wilkes_charlie/box_collection.htm

One of these systems was built from a computer I replaced, but three
(including the "glamor box") are made entirely from free, discarded
hardware.

Charlie
Click to expand...

very good but what are the things on the right in each pic............one's
even got a face.
 
Very nice!! Good for you!!

I currently have about 7 PCs like these in various stages o
ressurection. It's great fun making Frankensteins from differen
puters no one wants or are "beyond repair"

Have you thought about donating some of these puters
 
I went through it today. Aside from my core system and my antequated
laptop, I have four complete, working boxes and parts for a couple
more.

I took some pictures and posted them here:

www.geocities.com/wilkes_charlie/box_collection.htm

One of these systems was built from a computer I replaced, but three
(including the "glamor box") are made entirely from free, discarded
hardware.
Click to expand...

Charlie,

Every once and a while, a bunch of my coworkers and I go through the
graveyard at work and harvest a bunch of parts, cases, etc. and build
about 10 fairly decent PC's for a local charity. (I'm always amazed
at what a large corporation discards).

They're extremely happy to get them, as most of what gets donated is
old junk that's of limited usefulness.

You may want to consider getting together with a few people once and a
while and doing something similar.

Regards,

A_C <w/glowing heilo>
 
Agent_C said:
Charlie,

Every once and a while, a bunch of my coworkers and I go through the
graveyard at work and harvest a bunch of parts, cases, etc. and build
about 10 fairly decent PC's for a local charity. (I'm always amazed
at what a large corporation discards).

They're extremely happy to get them, as most of what gets donated is
old junk that's of limited usefulness.

You may want to consider getting together with a few people once and a
while and doing something similar.
Click to expand...

Donating old PC's to charity is a very good idea. Unfortunatily all too
often legal concerns arise regarding whatever software you install on them
before you donate them. You need to be aware of the legal issues
'just-in-case', and do whatever you can to transfer the licenses AND the
install disks if you can.

One of the engineers at the company I work for, works with one of the local
schools. Each year, one of the classes at the scholl he helps out at, takes
donated working/non-working computer parts and lets the students take them
apart to learn how things work, and what they are. They get the biggest kick
out of dissasembling old hard drives to see whats inside. Take the cover off
an old hard drive, and hook it up to either just a PS or if you'd like do it
to a working hard drive in a working (not for long) system and power it up.
The students will watch for hours (well as long as the system lasts)
watching the heads fly back and forth as the system reads/writes to the HD.

The kids love it, and get to learn a great deal, and you get to empty out
your accumulation of Misc parts.
 
Very nice!! Good for you!!

I currently have about 7 PCs like these in various stages of
ressurection. It's great fun making Frankensteins from different
puters no one wants or are "beyond repair".

Have you thought about donating some of these puters?
Click to expand...

I pass them on when I run into someone who really wants one and will
use it. I charge a small sum, perhaps $25, for reasons of human
psychology, and I offer to help out with troubleshooting. I have
actually managed to place a couple of computers on that basis.

Various groups accept donations of old hardware and have programs to
turn them into useful machines, fleets for NGOs and 3d world
classrooms, etc. I like what they are doing. My own interest is
mainly philosophical... getting the word out to people that they might
not need a new machine... what they might really need is a soft brush,
a can of air, and a thorough cleaning of the hdd.

Charlie
 
Charlie,

Every once and a while, a bunch of my coworkers and I go through the
graveyard at work and harvest a bunch of parts, cases, etc. and build
about 10 fairly decent PC's for a local charity. (I'm always amazed
at what a large corporation discards).
Click to expand...

I understand why companies do it. IT salaries cost more than new
computers, and having a multi-generation PC fleet is labor-intensive.
But most machines that come my way have been discarded by consumers,
and I can see what must have happened... system kept overheating
because of dust in the CPU fan, OS corrupted with spyware and too many
startups, etc.

A PC can last a long time, but it's on a steep downhill slope if the
owner is afraid to pick up a phillips head screwdriver or learn basic
housekeeping for the OS.

Vista will bring the richest crop of discards yet, if people actually
do what MS wants them to, which is start over with completely new
hardware and software.

Charlie
 
Donating old PC's to charity is a very good idea. Unfortunatily all too
often legal concerns arise regarding whatever software you install on them
before you donate them. You need to be aware of the legal issues
'just-in-case', and do whatever you can to transfer the licenses AND the
install disks if you can.
Click to expand...

Point taken, but this is a division of Catholic Charities. I can't see
Microsoft of Symantec coming in and busting them for invalid software
licenses. It would be like the cops arresting old ladies for playing
Bingo.

A_C
 
Vista will bring the richest crop of discards yet, if people actually
do what MS wants them to, which is start over with completely new
hardware and software.
Click to expand...

I do the same thing. You made me salivate with this comment!

I love discards! You can always salvage *something* from them.

~e.
 
I do the same thing. You made me salivate with this comment!

I love discards! You can always salvage *something* from them.

~e.
Click to expand...
Yep.

After I posted today, I actually managed to give one away. Someone
dropped by and mentioned that a friend of hers needed a computer...
not much of one, just a routine word processing/web surfing unit. So,
I cleaned up "utility box," and out the door it went with a nice, free
17" CRT monitor.

The recipient wanted to know what sort of payment would be
appropriate. She is a nice looking single woman, so I declined cash
and said I would like to sleep with her. She thought I was joking.
Imagine that. From a newb who will need tech support, no less.

Charlie
 
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