Comments on: OT: What not to throw away - old hardware http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/ Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 14 May 2008 04:09:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: admin http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-407823 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:56:50 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-407823 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. 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.

]]> by: IncrediBILL http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-407454 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:57:59 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-407454 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. 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.

]]> by: WillMacc http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-372974 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:56:47 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-372974 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 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! :) )

]]> by: NotNot http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-372731 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:05:24 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-372731 three words come to mind ...... High temp smelter. turn it all to liquid and everything works itself out :-) three words come to mind …… High temp smelter. turn it all to liquid and everything works itself out :-)

]]> by: Matthew Carrick http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-367066 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:28:45 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-367066 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? 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?

]]> by: Paul http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-365393 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:03:19 +0000 http://spamhuntress.com/2008/03/15/ot-what-not-to-throw-away-old-hardware/#comment-365393 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. 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.

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