Older computers (Windows 98 vintage, etc.) can be brought back to life using open source (free!) software. Aidan Rooney shows how. Althought not everyone has an inner geek brave enough or smart enough to try his approach it is something that some of your nephews and neices would love to try. It might also be an idea for SVDP Thrift Shops that have inventory of older computers.He writes…
Don’t throw out that old laptop yet!
I got and old PC notebook back in service to be used as a back-up machine and presentation device at the the (USA and Canada)Vincentian Family Gathering 2006 this year. Presentations were run using OpenOffice.org’s “Impress” presentation software, easily superior to MSPowerPoint and compatible. You can do it, too! But there’s even better news! Now there are portable applications which can be run from USB memory sticks as small as 128MB (which cost less than $15USD these days)!
Re-using hardware, especially Windows hardware built for Win98, when the Windows OS just about to launch (Vista) has grown to behemoth size (at least 3-5GB hard drive space, 512MB RAM for standard installations), is easy with a portable Linux OS called “puppy.” You can run your PC (FAT format — NTFS will not work) from the CD-ROM drive (or from a USB drive with certain motherboards), or from only 60MB of space on your little 2GB hard drive!
Don’t be afraid/embarrassed if you don’t know what a motherboard is or the difference between FAT and NTFS. Most computer users don’t. I’m just a little geeky, so I thrive on this stuff. You can always find some young person at a secondary school or at university for whom this would be a simple task to master — it’s almost second nature to them!
This is especially useful for folks who upgraded their OS (from MAC classic to OSX, for example) and can’t use previously purchased software. Also, if you run a machine with a small HD, you can keep several memory sticks loaded, or, pay a little more ($40USD) and load up a 1GB stick with the equivalent of $1000 worth of software! For you traveling presentation types, wouldn’t it be nice to feel safe and carry both presentation files and software for MAC and/or Windows on one little USB stick?
Have a look at these links, or get some smart kid to look at them:
MAC: http://www.freesmug.org/portableapps
If you have an old machine and are daring, or have a daring new friend, Puppy Linux is available for download at http://www.puppyos.com! I’ll bet if you put out the call, you could get a usable older notebook computer for every kid who wanted one but couldn’t afford it, and, with these few additions, turn a Model T into a BMW!
All for you, from the open source world, with free upgrades FOREVER.
This document was produced on a Dell Inspiron 5000, 96MB RAM, with a 2GB HD, running Puppy Linux, using an open source word processor called AbiWord.
Tags: Aidan Rooney
