Posts Tagged ‘Hardware’
What to do with old computer parts…..
October 8th, 2009
I have a lot of old computer parts and don’t know what to do with them.
Items include:
- keyboards
- old computer towers
- old HP printer
- old dial up modems
Is there a place to recycle this items? Do you get a price for giving them to companies who may want to recycle them? I doubt anyone would want to buy them on an online auction site (eg eBay) unless I am wrong… Basic keyboards now you can get for 5.99 and mother of the bride dresses starting at 190.00. Dialup modem, if in working order, you can still sell for probably 5-10 dollars�new is about 35 bucks, internal and about 40 bucks external.
Towers, if the power supply is higher then 250 volts you can get for it maybe 10 dollars�I say maybe because with all the gadgets today attached in the computers, specially if people play games with a powerful chip and video cards needing good cooling, everyone needs 300 to 350 power supply, maybe even more. Old Hp if not used by now has blocked jets by dried out ink.
Try giving it to Salvation army, they sell keyboards and some other electrical appliances�they might take it. Or just take it to your local tip�now all the tips have section where they separate parts for recycling�they should know what to do with it. Local computer clubs usually provide systems to the poor families, children, schools, and charities.
Many clubs, plus the charity thrift stores, put a very fast operating system, like http://www.mepis.org on the towers, and set up a full system to donate or sell cheap. Otherwise, you will be drinking the 8 pounds of toxins, cadmium, lead, that leach into water shed, from the land fill, from each tower and monitor that is dumped!
Many of us recycle the stuff we can’t use or sell, dismantling old plastics and metals, and getting paid for the steel, copper, aluminum, and the GOLD that fills old computers! Some professional recyclers have found tons of money in some of the chips on the boards!
No money, often, if you don’t dismantle them down to the recycle material! You usually get naught, or even pay, for them to take the entire lot! Many of us use towers and desktops of 100mhz to 800mhz speed without any monitor, as a hardware firewall/router, for upto 36 networked clients. http://ipcop.org has the FREE program with instructions.
Many of us find that 400mhz and faster units work well as a network file server in our home or small office networks! The secret is to run one of the 800 FREE fast OSes! http://livecdlist.com http://distrowatch.com
Getting Started with Windows 7 XP Mode
May 16th, 2009
To install XPM, you’ll need the right combination of hardware and software. Your hardware must include a CPU and motherboard that supports Hardware Virtualization Technology, sometimes known as VT-d, AMD-V, or Vanderpool. If your motherboard is less than two years old, you’re probably safe, though you may need to find a Hardware Virtualization option in your computer’s BIOS and switch it on. If you’re not certain whether your system supports Hardware Virtualization, visit this Microsoft Web page and download and run a CPU-identification utility from Intel or AMD that can tell you. The same page tells you how to switch on the necessary technology in many standard BIOSes.
Your operating system must be Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate. The currently downloadable Release Candidate installs Windows 7 Ultimate, so the RC version is ideal for testing XPM. Next, you’ll need to install a small 5MB update to the RC version, which you can find by visiting this Microsoft update page, where you can download Windows Virtual PC.
Finally, from the same Web page, you’ll need to download Windows XP Mode, which is a 445MB installer that expands into a 1GB virtual XP system. With both downloads, make sure to download the 32-bit or 64-bit version, depending on whether you’re running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7.
Your next step is to run the small Windows Virtual PC installer and, when prompted, restart your system. After that, you install Windows XP Mode. The installer will present you with a screen that says your XP Mode username will be “user” (you can’t change that) and prompts you to create a password. On the same dialog, you should mark a checkbox labeled “Remember credentials (recommended)” so you won’t be prompted to retype the password when XPM starts up. The next dialog will prompt you to turn on Automatic Updates, which you definitely should do, so that XPM will update itself without your intervention. Finally, after about ten minutes of background activity, a virtual Windows XP desktop will open in a window.
You’ll probably want to customize the desktop and Start Menu of your virtual XP system. For example, you’ll probably want to open the Control Panel, then Folder Options, and the View tab, and tell XP not to hide the extensions of known file types, so .DOC files will display in Explorer with the .DOC extension. You’ll probably also want to open the Display Control Panel, go to “Appearance,” then “Effects,” and turn on ClearType to smooth screen fonts.
You’ll also want to install a printer so that applications running in XPM can print to the same printer you use for Windows 7. If your printer is attached by a USB cable, all you need to do is go to the top-line menu of the virtual machine, click USB, and then click the line that reads “Attach” followed by the name of your printer. XP will need to install drivers for your printer, which you’ll provide either by inserting the installation CD that came with your printer, or by running the Internet Explorer browser in your virtual XP system, and finding, downloading, and installing the XP drivers for your printer.
