Interested in learning how to resurrect an old computer as a media center, download center or just for web browsing and some instant messaging for FREE? Read on as this article should hopefully enlighten you…
Well then, lets address what really is an old computer. In this day and age a two year old PC is described as out of date but in reality its not too old in the grand scheme of things. I’m talking about a computer that you can count the Gigabytes of storage on two hands. Something that could quite possibly still be beige in colour. Don’t get me wrong, you can use the following information on any computer including the ones on the store shelves today but its more likely you have an old computer lying around at home, doing nothing other than taking up cupboard space and collecting dust. Personally I have 3 laptops that weigh as much as a modern desktop PC that have been stacked in a pile for as long as I could remember.
There are plenty of tutorials and ideas for making use of these aging beasts all over the net, I personally made use of this article at PCMAG.COM and tried out a couple of the suggestions it gave and now I make it my hobby to take old PCs off peoples hands and bring them back to life for personal use or more often to pass on friends and relatives.
FREE, that’s the word that no doubt caught your eye and it really is free to do this as we will use a operating system called Linux. It is based on the UNIX system and really is free to get hold of, install and use for as long as you like and on as many computers as you want. The Linux OS is released in whats called a Distribution or Distro and there are easily more than 250 different distros available all over the web. They come in all shapes and sizes, some for specific uses such as password retrieval like Ophcrack and for use on tiny USB memory sticks like DSL (Damn Small Linux). Other distros actually take the place of full operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Mac and really can do as much and usually more than their expensive and limited rivals.
For this article I will concentrate on the Ubuntu distro which I am most familiar with. Taken from the What is Ubuntu? page.
“Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you’ll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools.
Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.”
Ubuntu is in the middle ground for the system requirements it needs to run. I you have 4 GB of hard-drive space and 384MB of Ram then your PC should be fine to work with, (more in depth specs can be found here). For lower spec machines then take a look at some other distros like Puppy Linux, Slackware or DSL. My favorite thing about Linux is that nearly all of the distros I have tried this last year run off a Live CD which means that nothing has to be installed to your PC until you have really tested it (completely free of risk) and are happy to go ahead.
Lets Begin. To get underway with your install you will need: Access to the World Wide Web, access to a working PC with a CD Burner, a blank CD and cup of coffee or tea.
Head to the Ubuntu download page and pick the download you want, at the time of writing this the current flavour is known as 8.10 Intrepid Ibex but this changes every 6 months so head for the latest release. Then use the drop down below and select a location to download from, usually closer to you if possible. A file called an ISO will now download, sit back, drink your drink and relax. Once the ISO has downloaded it is time to burn…
The ISO file is an image of the CD which means all you have to do is burn it to the disc as a single file and there is no messing aound to be done at all. Use a program such as InfraRecorder which is a free disc burning solution for Windows, make sure you select the Write Image option in program, select the ISO file you just downloaded and burn it to the blank CD you have. Again sit back, relax.
Now the fun part. Well nearly. Take the disc to the old PC you want to fire back up and put it in the disc drive, now you need to make sure the computer will boot from the disc. This is done by pressing F12 or sometimes F2 right at the beginning of the BIOS loading screen or when prompted at the bottom of the screen. You will need to adjust the settings here to make sure that the PC will boot from the CD drive, once done it will reboot and hopefully the next screen you will see is the Ubuntu boot options screen.
ISSUES: some PCs will not boot from CD, there are work arounds using USB flash drives and network installs so please don’t give in yet, take a look at the USB Install page and Google any issues you have as there will no doubt be someone else in the same position.
For in depth installation and documentation take a look at this page. The basics of it are that if you select the Try Ubuntu option it will not install on your system but will allow you to try everything it has to offer. I guarantee that you will be blown away by how easy it is to use the desktop and applications on Ubuntu without ever seeing it before. Once you have fallen in love with it, you can decide to install it permanently to your PC. To do this simply click the install icon on the desktop. Follow the instructions and be shocked at how much easier and faster it is to install then any Windows OS has ever been. ( The only complicated bit could be with hard drive partitioning but if the PC has no data you need on it and you don’t need windows anymore then just select the whole disk).
The first question everyone normally has is what, does this and what does that, like in Windows, well luckily there is a great page showing the equivalent programs and their uses. For a web browsers then Firefox will easily cover your needs without the security flaws of IE. There are a couple of instant messaging solutions available but Pidgin is awesome and really covers every angle you could want. Have a play around, add any new programs you think might come in handy, here are a couple of suggestions for you from Lifehacker.
Hopefully you should now have a Ubuntu install running on your antique PC. If you need any help installing programs or further information feel free to contact myself or look through the support pages. If you still think your old PC will not be used, or is too old to even begin fighting with then consider donating it or even selling it on eBay if you are feeling lucky, just make sure you actually strip all your personal information from it first using shredder programs like Darik’s Boot And Nuke.
I hope this sheds some light on computer resurrection for you, enjoy.
