how to rehab old laptop

One of the best things you can do to make your old laptop fast and efficient again is to upgrade its RAM. Sometimes, a computer’s slowness is not because of its age (new machines commonly feel slow right out of the box), but because of a lack of memory. Luckily, you can repair this by installing more RAM.

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What to do with your old laptop?

5 Ways to Improve an Old Laptop. Get as much life as possible from your system with these five quick tips: 1. Give it a Complete Clean. It doesn’t matter how frequently or infrequently you use your computer: it’s bound to collect dust, dirt, and oil …

How do I restore my old laptop to a new computer?

Jun 18, 2008 · Step 1: Add memory One of the quickest, easiest and least expensive ways to improve a notebook's performance and reliability is to put in more system memory. Five years ago, the 256MB of RAM that...

How to install the software on an old laptop?

Step 3: Getting the OS. OK, now depending on how old your computer is you might need a different OS. If your laptop has 512mb or more of RAM you can probably put Ubuntu on there. Ubuntu is extremely user friendly and has TONS of free downloads for it. If your laptop falls short of that mark you will probably want to put Puppy Linux on your ...

Is it possible to revive an old laptop for free?

Jan 18, 2017 · There are lots of online tutorials devoted to this subject; I recommend the aptly named Digital photo frame from laptop on Instructables. It's pretty straightforward: take apart the laptop, put the...

How to bring an old laptop back to life for free

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How to bring an old laptop back to life

Neverware, an operating system developer, now offers a free software called CloudReady — which can turn about 200 old PC and Mac computers into usable machines again. CloudReady is a version of the same operating system found on Google Chromebook laptops, and it’s lightweight enough to be compatible with older, slower computers.

Step 1: Evaluate the Laptops Capabilities

If you've found a laptop you think is a good candidate for repair you should think about it's potential capabilities.

Step 2: Evaluate the Laptops Physical Condition

So you have determined that the laptops specs meet your needs. Next you should try to make sure the laptop is not broken beyond reasonable repair. If the case has major damage, the screen or screen hinge is broken, the power jack is loose/missing or the keyboard is missing critical keys I would probably not try to fix it.

Step 3: Get the Tools and Parts You Need

So now that you have decided to fix your laptop, you need to find the tools and parts to do it.

Step 4: Put the Parts in the Laptop

Next we need to clean the laptop up. If it's dusty, use canned air to blow the dust out. Put the new parts in it. Fix anything that needs fixing. Most laptops you would have to remove the bottom of the case or a small plastic cover to get access to the RAM and hard drive. This one is a bit different in that the RAM is under the palm rest.

Step 5: Install the Operating System

So we got the parts in the laptop. Now we need to install an operating system to make the computer usable. I personally like Linux for these kind of projects. I know it’s not for everyone though. If your laptop has a windows key sticker on the bottom you might be able to use that to install Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Step 6: Lets See What It Can Do!

Now that the laptop is up and running lets see what it can do! Ubuntu Studio comes with a bunch of Useful programs; It has Libre Office for word processing and spread sheets, Firefox for browsing the web, GIMP for editing photos, Audacity for recording audio and a bunch of other programs!

Step 1: Things You Will Need

here are some things you will need to do each step of this project.#N#For painting you will need spray paint, a exact-o knife, card board, construction paper, masking tape and (if you want a design on it) the design.#N#For a new OS you will need the OS on a CD, a CD drive, some time, and popcorn.#N#If your computer is lagging even on a minimal OS you probably will need some more RAM.

Step 2: Painting

OK, first get all of your supplies. Got 'em? OK, now start by covering all parts you don't want to be painted by construction paper and masking tape, and taking the battery out of the laptop. Now you need to spray in a well ventilated area.

Step 3: Getting the OS

OK, now depending on how old your computer is you might need a different OS.#N#If your laptop has 512mb or more of RAM you can probably put Ubuntu on there. Ubuntu is extremely user friendly and has TONS of free downloads for it.#N#If your laptop falls short of that mark you will probably want to put Puppy Linux on your laptop.

Step 4: RAM

OK, now to get ram first you need to know what model your computer is. Now that you know that go on to Google and search Ram (insert computer name here) and go to a site and see if at the bottom it has a Copyright or Mcafee protected logo of some indication that it is a viable source.

Step 5: Boot Up Your Beast

now you have a less scrappy laptop and you did something productive! Yay! now boot it up and see f it works or not. If you need help you should go to the home pages of your OS#N#http://www.ubuntu.com/#N#http://www.puppylinux.org/#N#http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Is Chromium a good browser?

Indeed, if all you want from your old PC is a web browser and cloud apps, Chromium might be your best bet.

Is Linux a Windows or a Linux?

In its place is a fast-booting, virus-resistant, Windows-like environment capable of just about anything. In case you're unfamiliar with it, Linux is an open-source operating system that can run thousands of programs -- including, notably, office suites like LibreOffice and OpenOffice.

What to do with old laptop?

10 ideas to do with your old laptop. 1. Install Linux. 2. Use it as a Secondary Monitor. 3. Create an Ultimate Privacy Device. 4. Turn it Into a Security Webcam.

What is SETI at home?

SETI@Home is a scientific experiment which involves computers all around the world connected to their network. It uses the power of the laptop’s processor to help any analyze radio telescope data. Might not be the most useful tip you were looking for, but you still have a way to use your old laptop to help. 10.

Do laptops decrease in value?

Laptops decrease in value as they age, just like vehicles or any other products that are made to last for long. With that being said, you might not get as much money by selling it as you’ve expected.

Is Linux an open source operating system?

If you aren’t familiar with Linux, it’s just another operating system that’s based on open-source code, so there are many different versions (we recommend going for some of the most popular ones).

Does my old laptop have a webcam?

Just like the screen, your old laptop probably has a webcam. Depending on the quality (if it’s anything better than VGA), you can use it as a webcam and set it anywhere you’d like.

Verify the hardware

Step one is to verify that your hardware all works. Overlooking a problem here could cause you big headaches later.

Select the software

The key to refurbishing is to install software appropriate for the hardware resources you have. The three essential hardware resources are:

What can your refurbished computer do?

We're talking dual-core machines dating from about 2006 to 2013, especially Intel Core 2 CPUs and AMD Athlon 64 X2 family processors. Most have a CPU Mark of between 1,000 and 4,000. You can often pick up these machines for a song, yet they're still powerful enough to run lightweight Linux software.

Limitations

What can't these older computers do? Their concurrency is less than state-of-the-art machines. So run a fast browser and block ads, because that's what slows down web surfing. If your virtual private network (VPN) can block ads for you and offload that work from your processor, that's ideal. Disable autoplay of videos, Flash, and animation.

Which distro?

Assuming Linux is the OS, you need to select a DE, browser, and applications. The easy way to do this is to install a distribution that bundles everything you need.

Go for it

Will you be happy with your rebuild? The computers I've been using lately are both over a decade old. One has an Intel dual-core processor ( eMachines T5274a) while the other features an AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor ( HP dc5750 ). Both have 2 gig memory. They're as effective for my office workload as my quad-core i5 with 16GB RAM.

About the author

Howard Fosdick - Howard Fosdick is an independent consultant who works hands-on as a DBA/SA. He's written several technical books, many articles, and is a popular conference speaker.