A common problem a lot of people have is no computer to use as a basic tool. Let's be honest, without a computer writing becomes a lot harder, and there is no internet.
A more rare problem is people like me, who have been into computers forever, and have a garage full of old machines and associated hardware. These machines are not power houses, merely functional (or could be made so with a little work). I have enough hardware to provide 3 or more functional fully complete computers with printers and CRTS (yes, the old displays). I want to get rid of all of it, but the fact is I have a bad case of the pack rat gene.
So, my thought is we can use this thread to offer any computers, or to post a request for some. I do not want money for this old stuff, and you may need to buy ink for the printers. They practically give printers today to get you hooked on their ink, so you may not want a printer at all.
All transactions, once a need or request has been posted, should be done via PM. I would strongly discourage any money changing hands, the idea is help our fellow travelers. I am without a job at the moment
Erin and the other mods may not like this idea and nix this thread, but I figure it is worth a post.
I will install Linux on an old machine, and basic tools like Firefox and Libre Office. The machines are not working (I want to blank them first). They will likely have a network card, but if you need a classic modem I can manage that too.
If you've got a Mac...
That has a hardware issue and you're out of warranty, I'll be happy to fix it. I used to be an Apple certified tech, but that was a few years ago, and my certs have lapsed. That said, I still have my tools and am willing to help anyone out.
Send me a PM if you need something.
Once I have some money, I'm going to be looking into getting some broken down Macs and fixing them. Sell a few, donate a few. I'll probably try to scrounge up some iPads as well.
~And so it goes...
If you've got an old monitor, mouse and keyboard..
YOu should also consider downsizing to a Raspberry Pi (about £30 or $50), add a 1 or 2 GB SD card (£5 - £10) and connect it up.
You can get a Linux distro with the core tools like Firefox, Thunderbird and Libre Office for nothing.
:)
Persephone
Non sum qualis eram
I've got an old tower computer,monitor, and keyboard
they need to be fixed, but I'd gladly give them to a good home
Miscellaneous bits
I've got at least one keyboard and a couple of Mouses if I can remember just where I've put them. Out in the garage, there's probably CRT that weighs a ton. Also a parallel port flatbed scanner and a printer, not sure anymore what brand, but if there's an interest.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
I have some computational devices.
I also have some older computers. But I'm not a position right now to see if they work. Still unpacking stuff from my move. I don't have any extra peripherals or monitors. I think I have three old towers. I'll post back in a few weeks when I get that part of my stuff unpacked and organized if they're viable for use.
Internet High Fives All Around
Stardraigh
( •_•)>⌐■-■
My Deviantart
(⌐■_■)
Shipping
Last time I tried to ship just a tower case they wanted $300 for the slowest kind of shipping. Plus a fee to be a customs agent on your behalf for international shipping.
$600 if I wanted two day express.
Please check your local shipping options before committing to sending a computer anywhere in the USA.
Dayna.
Houston
If you're in or around Houston, TX, I'm a consultant/tech. Basically, if it beeps, I can usually repair or service it.
I have at least four systems with little or no purpose, and they're fully functional (other than monitors right now).
I also repair LCD monitors, and some TV's.
Anyway - if you're nearby, I'll offer my services to repair/replace/upgrade (or just plain give you one).
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
laptop?
I actually have 2 extra laptops, both need power supply. [ available from Laptop Vancouver at $40 CDN each ]
right now, there is no operating system installed, but I can drop PCLinuxOS on them. [ I have a 3rd that uses the same power supply unit so I can power up, charge battery ect. ]
one is an Acer Aspire 4530 [ came with win vista ] 2GB ram, dual core internal cd/dvd rw is glitchy
the other is and Acer Aspire 9300 [ came with xp media centre. ] 2GB ram dual core [ 17" display ]
if you are in the Lower Mainland it will be easy to get to you. shipping is still pretty costly even for laptops.
Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.
So we zone areas,
I would cover the Dallas / Ft Worth area and surrounding metroplex. In extreme cases, where people live in the far away places, I could cover a few. If everyone does something like that then we could have a loose network help those who need it.
There are a lot of good sites for computer help too. One of my favorites used to be Major Geeks (google it). It may not exist, but I suspect it does. It is a lot of very knowledgeable people helping other people. I kinda lost touch when I became a moderator for an electronics forum.
Also...
iFixit is a good site for gadget teardown and repair how-tos. They do have more than just Apple stuff as well.
~And so it goes...
I hear you on that.
If it wasn't for my truly infinitesimal income on Canada Pension Plan for Disability I could buy the power supplies and cd/dvd rw and have both lappy's working.
both towers work, the desktop works, and the two other lappys work, even the ancient 386 lugable notebook works [ with win 95 and a 600 by 400 b&w display ]
I have seriously reduced my count, it was at 32 working systems a few years ago.
Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.
If I can Help
I know it is not easy to help other people at times, such as when we can barely help ourselves. Having said that if you have or own a PC running windows 7 or vista that is giving you grief, send me a PM and I will do all I can to help you out in any way I can. I did tech support via the phone and internet for some time, before I retired. if you are a member here writer or reader there will be no charge for basic clean up, speed up and fix up. Granted your expectations verses what your system will actually do, or is capable of doing may not be the same. Just to give you an example. the last system I cleaned up and fixed on-line took four hours and thirty eight minutes. When I was done the computer owner said,"it's never worked that good." She was pleased even though she trying to run windows 7 on 1meg of ram with a slow processor. I'm not a magician but if I can help you know where to send the PM.
Thanks to all and have a great day. Bamajoe
P.S. I live in the central time Zone of the U.S.
Thanks BC....hope I got it right this time...lol
Old PCs
If an old PC needs an OS, 1 of several Linux distributions will do the trick. Ubuntu has its following, but I prefer Fedora. In any event, play safe and install a 32 bit Linux. 64 bit code could give you grief.
If a really old machine, with a small amount of memory, needs to be pressed into service, use Puppy Linux. Its footprint is tiny.
G/R
puppy? DSL!
DSL [ Damn Small Linux ]
even smaller footprint. ;)
but then, it is not something for a Linux Noob to work with, 2.4 kernel, and the old live install model that can convert itself to using debian repos.
ugh, fedora and ubuntu, the worst.
fedora defaults to the software raid on partitions, and gnome is as unusable a gui as macos classic [ only newer windows and osx are worse ]
and when I looked at ubuntu, besides the baby cr@p brown colour scheme, the gnome desktop, it setup and automounted partitions in the root, WHEN I HAD EXPLICITLY TOLD IT NOT TO MOUNT THEM.
that epic fail makes it 100000% unusable
then the idiocy of targeting a distro for typical end users and using the typical end user WEAK password for admin access with the sudo config.
[ specially as typically, that same password is used for everything, including web logins, 99% of which are NOT secure Socket Layer logins. ] talk about an extremely poor security setup.
Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.
*sigh* Castigating all of
*sigh*
Castigating all of Ubuntu for the Gnome desktop is absurd.
I use Kubuntu for all of my daily needs(KDE), plus servers. They also have Xubuntu, which is XFCE as I recall, plus Edubuntu, and a variety of other GUI and non-gui installs.
Automounting partitions? There's a setting to turn off automounting. (What you're referring to as 'automounting partitions in the root', I have _no_ clue what you're talking about. By default / is root. So all partitions would have to be mounted _under_ /, or 'in the root', such as /backup)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
autop=mounting in root
literally, during install ubuntu made mount points in / for each partition I told it to not mount, then it mounted them and set fstab to do so on every boot.
mount points like
/hda4
/hda6
/hda7
...
and the serious SECURITY FLAW in the sudo config is why NONE of |Cannonical's releases, NOR the respins are worth using.
Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.
I've never seen any of my
I've never seen any of my *buntu installs do what you're mentioning, and I've been using it for servers and my workstations/laptops for years. None. The only mounting like that has been in /media, and not 'automount', unless you meant 'automount by clicking on them'.
I'm also not sure what 'sudo flaw' error you're thinking of; all of my linux boxes, *buntu or not, operate with about the same sudo configuration. (Except for my main workstation at home, where I've disabled the 'demand the password' for my main user. I still have to use sudo, it just doesn't ask)
I don't doubt that you've seen what you're describing - I just think it's not so much the distribution.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Writing is harder?
Well yes and no. There are old timey writers who don't use a computer to write. In a way it forces one to concentrate and think a bit more before putting pencil/pen to paper. Yes, it is harder on the hand in that sense and probably takes a bit longer but ....
I remember wayyyy back in the seventies I wrote an extensive high school research paper for biology and it required full scale research and the like with footnotes, at least 10 primary sources etc. There was of course no internet back then so, yes, going through library stacks was the way to go. The first draft was written in pen/pencil and the second and final draft was typed (yes my dears a Typewriter with a correction ribbon I grant you) directly from the first draft, making corrections to what I had written as I typed. I got an A on the paper.
I just can't imagine that happening today. I am no Luddite as I am a software engineer by profession but I firmly believe that the process of doing writing can have an impact on the creative process and marshals thought. Obviously I don't do that anymore but having had done that before, even to this day forces me to think a bit more before typing, instead of slapping down a random thought and then rearranging things quickly.
old timey?
I look at an empty doc on a screen and can't get started at all, but I pick up a pen and paper, the words just fly.
It isn't age, or even a lack of comfort / familiarity with the tools, it is the way you find that works for you.
I write longhand, then transcribe, or I sit with an empty document and mind.
Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.