The days in which computers were said to have a lifespan of two to three years have passed. Today, computers that have attained venerable old age can still function well and provide most of the basic needs of the average home user. Even if your old computer is a Pentium 2002, you can find many things to do with it, even without upgrading the memory.
TheMarker investigated what can be done with your old computer, aside from storing it in the attic, and came up with the following answers.
Advertisement
Shareware software such as eMule or BitTorrent often has a queue for downloading. Sometimes the waiting time for a certain file can be hours or even days. Thus your old computer can be used for shareware: It can be left on round the clock without delaying other important tasks. At the end of the downloading, you can of course scan the files or transfer them from the old computer to the new one with a mobile memory device.
The computer can be connected to the television and stereo and used as a media center. That enables you to see the films you have downloaded on a large screen and listen to digital music files. It is important to remember that playing video and music files requires a relatively strong computer, but a three-to four-year-old computer should be up to the task.
In any case, if you plan to turn your old computer into a media center, we recommend purchasing a wireless keyboard and mouse for it.
The old computer can be used as a teaching and play device for the children. For example, the computer can be used for learning piano: All you have to do is connect a special keyboard that simulates piano keys.
If you are parents of children aged two to five, you can purchase Comfy keyboards. These are special keyboards for young children that come with games and teaching software that are adapted to the keyboard. The games and the teaching software do not require the system resources used by advanced games, so you can definitely operate them on an old computer. The price of a Comfy keyboard ranges from a few dozen shekels to NIS 300, depending on the type of software and keyboard.
When a number of computers operate on a small network, it is necessary to organize the flow of information between one computer and the next and among all the computers and the Internet. If you have several computers at home or in your business, you can use an old computer to run the local network. It can be used for software such as NetLimiter, which allocates a bandwidth to each user, as well as professional firewall software and other needs. In that way, the other computers can be freed from this task. Moreover, you can use the computer as a file server.
If you run a business and privacy of information is important to you, you can set up an internal e-mail server with the help of the old computer. Administering the organization's communications will enable you to prevent mail from leaking to the outside.
Setting up an internal e-mail server is not simple, but one can find guides on the web that explain how to assemble servers based on Linux. There is a good guide at the following site: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MailServer.
If you have an old printer and scanner that still work, you can turn your old computer into a fax machine. All you have to do is connect the old computer to a telephone line with the modem and operate the fax software that comes with Windows XP.
Your old computer can provide spare parts for a new computer, and even save money in the purchase of internal parts such as a hard disc or an optic disc. In addition, the old computer's internal memory can be used, but you have to make sure the card is technically compatible with the motherboard.
In addition, you can purchase a container for an old hard disc and thus turn a standard disc into a mobile disc. A container for a hard disc is not only a strong aluminum box but also a supplier of current and a USB converter.
There are many groups that specialize in collecting old computers and donating them to schools or charity. One such association is A Computer for Every Child. David Weissberg, who works with the organization, explained: "We upgrade 60 to 70 percent of the computers we receive; the rest of the computers serve as spare parts for existing computers." For details see http://computer.org.il.
If your computer is really old and you have found no use or new owner for it, you can always give it to a company that specializes in recycling electronic waste. This field is very underdeveloped in Israel and there is only one company that does it. In Europe, in contrast, there are already laws requiring the recycling of electronic waste.
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
