OT: What not to throw away - old hardware
I’m sure most of you geeks have been through a number of periods when you should throw away some old stuff to get room for new, right? Old computers, old whatever.
I won’t even mention the name of a friend who just recently threw out a computer (no, not a PERSONAL computer) the size of a small refrigerator. You know who you are…
Anyway, it dawned on me that sometimes you could throw out too much.
When I throw out an old computer I’ve used, I normally store the harddrive, even if I copy out the contents. The old harddrives are too small to be used in a new computer, and it’s extra backup if it still works. It’s easy to remove harddrives even from laptops. Just something to keep in mind. Don’t forget to remove the password off the users on winxp installations before taking out the harddrive, otherwise you’ll need some extra help when accessing the files.
I have one computer that I don’t see myself throwing out any time soon. It isn’t in use all that often. But it’s the only notebook I have that weighs in at about 3 pounds. By now it’s ancient - windows 98 first edition! But even first edition can be made to work with even a wifi card, as long as you know what you’re doing (it’s a rather complicated install, it isn’t supposed to work). And while travelling that thing is incredibly handy, if I should need more than what an Ipod touch offers of functionality (granted, if you have a server with desktop software where you can log on via safari, you could theoretically get away with ONLY using the touch!).
But the old notebook came in handy today. I have a fairly new scanner, but after trying it out, it just isn’t up to the standards of the old one. So I thought I’d hook that one up again. But wait, that’s from the era of windows 98. I don’t want to install that on windows xp - although it’s usually fine, you should think twice before installing very old programs and drivers. I’ve still kept an overspecced windows 98 computer (256 MB RAM is plenty for win98), just in case. Now I’m glad I did.
Trouble is, the scanner software was asking for the windows 98 CD. I don’t have it here. But the notebook had that software installed once. It’s got the file.
Second hurdle. Getting it out of that computer. I can upload it on the net, or I can use a usb thumbdrive. Guess what, windows 98 needs a driver, and most new usb thumbdrives don’t have drivers for windows 98. So if you keep a windows 98 machine, keep an old thumbdrive as well… There’s one still for sale here in Norway that still has a win98 driver. Sandisk cruzer micro 512 MB.
Is there anything else we should definitely keep, and for what reason? Depending on individual circumstances, of course.
Update - old software: I was thinking about writing about accounting and how it’s often on old software that requires old hardware. I decided against writing about it, because the last case I’d heard of was late nineties. But I heard of another case just recently. A devotee of OS2 had to ditch that operating system when nobody would support it anyway - and the accounting files are all left on the old system. The only way he knew of to keep them accessible was to keep one of the old computers.
Another wake up call was when I was setting up a new computer recently (I do that often, I always have more than one active computer), and thought I’d look for a new version of a specialty software I use frequently. After I’d installed it, I realized it had changed beyond usefulness. I’m sure I have an old copy somewhere, but managed to find one floating somewhere on the net.
Some of us have software that we absolutely need, and you can’t always be sure it’ll stay available. Always keep a copy locally, and keep in mind what kind of operating system it requires - you may one day find a newer version of windows breaks it beyond repair. New hardware may one day be incompatible with old operating systems. The list goes on. The best thing is to upgrade software along with hardware, of course.
As I was working on the new computer, I realized incrementally all the stuff I’d forgotten to remove from the old computer. It’s still intact, but I’m afraid the harddrive might be failing soon, so I’ll need to keep my options open as long as possible.
I guess what I’m saying is, plan ahead when upgrading!
You didn’t mention what model your old scanner is, but you might look at VueScan as an alternative to your ancient program and drivers - here is a list of supported scanners:
http://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/vuescan.htm#supported
The author has researched the chipsets used by various scanner manufacturers, and VueScan can drive a ridiculous number of scanner models - over 750 - including many whose makers stopped supporting them years ago. A further benefit is that VueScan may let you access sophisticated features that your scanner is capable of, but that were never implemented in the (often dumbed down) original software. If you use more than one scanner, you can control them all with VueScan instead of learning the quirks of different interfaces - even if the scanners are from different manufacturers.
That may allow you to use your old scanner hardware with your new computer hardware.
Throw out old hardware? Are you people on drugs
Why, that’s just plain wrong! What if one needs to install Windows 3.1 on a x386? Huh? Well? And don’t get me started on throwing out old software! Anyone need Bitfax on a 3.5 floppy?
three words come to mind …… High temp smelter. turn it all to liquid and everything works itself out
I have a whole out-building nearly full of old computer parts and old software.. :))
You never know when you’ll get the bug to throw together an old DOS machine! :))
I’ve heaved so many machines in the refuse it would make you cry.
TRS-80 Model I & III, in the heap, drives and all
COMMODORE-64, drives, monitor, on the pile
ALTOS-580, terminals, modems, OKIDATA printers, in the bonfire
IBM-PC/AT/XT, and all their gear on the pile as well
x386 box with 15″ and 17″ monitors, off to the bin
Gateway x286 laptop now a dumptop
That still leaves me with 1 win95, 2 win98, 1 winXP, 1 win2K laptop, and 1 vista laptop sitting around.
The win95/98 boxes are slated for the heap next along with a 19″ monitor, a fax machine, an old laser printer and 2 inkjet printers, all ready to go back into the landfill from whence they came
However, I always reformat the drives and then zap them with a big magnetic bulk eraser before they go in the junk yard. Doesn’t matter if the low level format leaves any crumbs because the bulk eraser renders the read/write head on the drive completely useless.
Hi Bill,
My boss’ son uses a sledgehammer on the old harddrives. His eyes light up when there’s another harddrive to bludgeon!
I’d say win95 is probably useless by now. win98 is much better since it has USB support. Still, it’s old software and hardware.
Oh, we keep everything… We still have a Commadore 64 florting around somewhere. And something with windows 95 and 4 mb of ram.
That reminds me, I still have some 5.1″ floppy disks lying around somewhere, I need an old 80286 box to view my Turbo Pascal 4 programs on it. Ah well…
Reminds me of the good old days when an entire compiler and the operating system used to fit on 360 KB floppies.