Old PC's--Anything Worth Salvaging?

[Qs Laptop]

I'm a homebrew PC builder so I hate to throw components away.

I've got a couple of old Dell computers that were running Windows XP. They were middle of the road machines, had separate video and sound cards, expanded memory, CD-ROM drives, etc.

I can't think of anything to salvage. The memory sticks are of low capacity and too slow and incompatible with anything of recent vintage. The CD-ROM's are obsolete. The video boards are laughably anemic. Sound boards don't change much but onboard sound is more than adequate on new machines. The power supplies are likely 400 watts or less and probably not compatible with newer motherboards.

Other than keeping the hard drives, is there anything in these old boxes that would be worthwhile saving?

 

[Car-Guy]

I have a bunch of "older stuff". Complete and functional desktops and a couple obsolete laptops, extra HD's, floppies, all sorts of special cards, CD drives and even a few old CRT's. Total value is probably almost nothing. They are out of sight in one of my overflow sheds at this time so they will be taken to the dump at some point.

I do save most of the interconnecting cables. (Power cords, Cat 5 stuff, etc) They come in useful "occasionally" but the rest of the stuff is junk.

 

[Aerides]

Check your area for charities that recycle the copper and components

 

[COcheesehead]

I have a bunch of "older stuff". Complete and functional desktops and a couple obsolete laptops, extra HD's, floppies, all sorts of special cards, CD drives and even a few old CRT's. Total value is probably almost nothing. They are out of sight in one of my overflow sheds at this time so they will be taken to the dump at some point.

You may have to pay to dump those types of items, FYI.

 

[TripleLindy]

Given that everything is from the XP era, it’s highly unlikely that there’s any use for it. I’d just take it all to an electronics recycle center.

 

[CRLLS]

I built several PCs back in the day. 10MHz XT clones w/ 20mB HDs, a 286 w/10 MB HD and a couple of 386 machines. I no longer build machines. I am not a gamer. Unless you are an electronic experimenter there is nothing of any value IMO. Even used HDs of yesterday's machines are too small for new builds. I erase, then take a hammer to the drives and it all goes to the recycler. I really need to clean out my stash of loose DVD drives keyboards, etc.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Unless you are an electronic experimenter there is nothing of any value IMO. Even used HDs of yesterday's machines are too small for new builds. I erase, then take a hammer to the drives and it all goes to the recycler.

I want to keep the hard drives because there might come a time I would want to take some data off of them. I have a PC I built that has a hot-swap external hard drive "bay" which allows me to take the hard drive and plug it into this bay and access the contents.

I really need to clean out my stash of loose DVD drives keyboards, etc

You and me, both.

I had to replace my furnace last week and clearing out the utility room reminded me of all the crap I've got squirreled away in there that I haven't touched for at least 10 years.

 

[jollystomper]

There is a recycling business not too far from us that pays cash for old PC and networking components, particularly the motherboards, cards, cases, power supplies, and power cords. Not much, but it is something and much better than tossing in the trash. Check if there is something like that in your area.

I still build, but not at the same rate I used to. Every January/February I go through the older stuff and batch it up and take it to the center. At the moment I'm going through the stuff, hopefully to take them over by Monday.

 

[Qs Laptop]

There is a recycling business not too far from us that pays cash for old PC and networking components, particularly the motherboards, cards, cases, power supplies, and power cords. Not much, but it is something and much better than tossing in the trash. Check if there is something like that in your area.

Just did a search in my area for PC recycling facilities and there are several. So far none pay you for old PC's, but neither do they charge you for dropping them off. One place requires $10 to dispose of TV's and/or monitors.

 

[Midpack]

I just took my last (ever) PC to the recycling center, they segregate everything including computers/peripherals. All I care is they dispose of it correctly, if someone makes a buck, OK with me.

 

[Car-Guy]

You may have to pay to dump those types of items, FYI.

Nope, my county has an electronics free "dump day" twice a year... I just need to catch them when they are open. I'm sure (?) they recycle the stuff and/or dispose of it properly.

 

[easysurfer]

As the saying goes, "One person's junk is another person's treasure."

 

[bloom2708]

If you save anything long enough it might be worth something to a collector.

I'd pull the hard drives, drill through them and then recycle the rest.

 

[Gotadimple]

All old electronics: pc's, fitbits, tablets, personal devices (Alexa etc) contain components that hold rare earth materials. Most counties have a list of places that take these devices. Some are free, others not. But, what is important is that those strippable components don't end up in a land fill.

 

[ERD50]

Maybe install Linux and donate it?

Even old machines run well with a basic Linux install. I use Xubuntu, which is fairly lightweight, but offers tons of configurations options that allow me to make it fit like a glove. But a straight default install is fine for most people too.

-ERD50

 

[easysurfer]

I'm an old PC [-]hoarder[/-] user.

Not counting the ones in closet not used, I have an old Dell Tower as my main PC (running Windows). Then I have another Dell Tower running Linux Mint.

Have one main travel laptop on MX Linux to remote into the home PCs.

Plus have another laptop I use now and then with a linux distro aimed at privacy security.

Oh, then there's a mini pc hooked up to a webcam for my cats.

Now, all I need is an old Mac then I'd be set .

 

[jim584672]

I'm on my "new" refurb i7 8700 circa Q4'17. Makes no sense to buy overpriced new when benefits are so minor. I'm actually throwing out the Core2Duo at this point.

 

[Jerry1]

I'm on my "new" refurb i7 8700 circa Q4'17. Makes no sense to buy overpriced new when benefits are so minor. I'm actually throwing out the Core2Duo at this point.

This is my “problem”. I want a new computer but, for my needs, my 10 year old computer works just fine. It won’t upgrade to Windows 11 so when they stop supporting Windows 10, maybe that will be the push to get me to buy a new one.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

After about 5 years, I don't see any value in trying to save/reuse electronics components. They are mostly outdated by that point.

In my location, we have to pay a recycle company to take our electronics devices. It's not all that cheap, but it's also not all that expensive. It's better than cluttering up the house. I take stuff there once a year or so. Just before Covid, they set up a drive thru drop off in a local parking lot. You still had to pay them to take the stuff, but they were doing it for 20% off their normal charge. The line was about 1/4 mile long to drop off. I wish they would do that again. I have a few things built up.

 

[Winemaker]

My Dell desktop from 99 blew out the video card beginning of December. I use it for my Quicken99 and is not hooked up to internet anymore, it runs on XP. I had my son's zombie desktop, and cabbaged the card.

I still have my 16 laptop as well as a 22 laptop.

 

[youbet]

I always save the fans. Very handy to have around. I'm using two for auxiliary cooling for a large RF amplifier that needs to dissipate over a kilowatt and I use two to improve cooling for the evaporative refrigerator in the camper.

These so-called "muffin fans" used to be available at electronic flea-markets and surplus outlets very cheap but have escalated in price lately so well worth salvaging.

 

[statsman]

I used to use old PCs as Internet firewalls, running off of streamlined Linux software. It was a pretty handy use for them. But at some point, the age of the hardware made them rather inefficient to run (from an electricity standpoint).

Nowadays, if the older hardware isn't capable of running a Linux distro as a backup PC (occasional need for DW), the hard drive gets thoroughly erased, and the hardware gets dropped off for electronic recycle.

The latter has worked well as I am now getting comfortable with Linux, especially for online account accessing. I figure once Windows 10 is EOL, that will be my last Windows PC, and it will be retained to run certain Windows applications I am unable to find Linux replacements for.

Finding a way to run software like TurboTax in the future is going to be a challenge when they eliminate Windows 10 as an option, as they did for Windows 7 several years back.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I always save the fans. Very handy to have around. I'm using two for auxiliary cooling for a large RF amplifier that needs to dissipate over a kilowatt and I use two to improve cooling for the evaporative refrigerator in the camper.

These so-called "muffin fans" used to be available at electronic flea-markets and surplus outlets very cheap but have escalated in price lately so well worth salvaging.

This is a good idea. I might be able to add a fan or two to my existing computers.

 

[calmloki]

Funny - on Monday I just stripped three old units - two Dells running Windows 7 and one Emachine Vista. Ended up keeping a couple neat looking finned aluminum heat sinks from the CPUs, 4 4Gb ram sticks and two hard drives. We found that B*st B*y accepts electronic waste for recycling - free.

Would like to screen and pull data and pictures from the two 1 and 2Tb disk-type hard drives and transfer same to our two new-to-us SSD Lenovo Tiny Thinkcentres. Have a cable that goes from the HDs to a USB port on the Lenovo, but I can't open the data files or even see them. Scared I'll wipe out the Windows 10 on the Lenovos or over-write them if I go into Bios. Can anyone suggest how I can do this - freebie software?

BTW - the Tiny is just about exactly 1/8 the physical size of the old Lenovos and thus way easier to move north and south when we snowbird away.

 

[Beldar]

Even though I am a MAC person, I still have 2 XP machines and one Windows7 laptop that I use for Ham Radio applications. The older software runs just fine and I don't need to have them connected to the internet for time synchronization ( I use a GPS puck for that).

Maybe someone local could use them for similar purposes. I have, however, placed similar and older machines in the dumpster.

_B