I did an error yesterday, did not think creative enough. There were two old mother boards in the pile of electronics. I must have grabbed them. Could have helped upgrade the retro PCs that I have already. Next time if I see stuff, will grab and keep for 3 days to a week and reflect on its use a bit instead of missing opportunities. I also read that the parts on the Mobo like the capacitors and others can be used individually if needed. So, thinking deeper helps, mustn't ignore the use of the last piece of wire. It is not everyday that one comes across such opportunties, two retro mobos just for the taking and I missed it !!!

I also read a bit about the different kinds of PSUs. In general if used for 16 hours or so straight daily, a PSU lasts approx. 7 years on average from what I read. PSU and HD are the two components first to break in a PC. So having spares for these helps. Also, minimising retro PC use to 6 to 8 hours a day max. will help extend its life. No need to keep it on all the time if it is not being used, helps save power also.

32 bit i486 kernels still used in

http://linuxbbq.org/

Citation: http://linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2395

Came across this site below, helps to know what is going out, specially in the used market:
http://www.networkworld.com/article/...graveyard.html

Amazing project, thanks for sharing. Strongly encourage all to read the link below:
http://linuxbbq.org/about.html

Guess for really old hardware, it will be console only perhaps and not graphical.

So far as old hardware goes, this thread seems to be the lowest point on LQ.

I have a feeling where all those older cards I got from dumpster diving recently came from. Perhaps, it might be worth it to contact that store directly and offer to help them get rid of their unwanted hardware periodically. Atleast worth thinking about it.

Why don't we see P3 and earlier model used LAPTOPs being sold ? They can be used to stream net radio, use IRC, read PDFs etc.,

Preparing Old PC for Disposal:
http://www.howtohaven.com/system/pre...disposal.shtml

Old PC to Powerful Router Video (seems worth watching)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcqus9n_MOw

How to use old PC parts:
http://lifehacker.com/5972503/what-s...computer-parts

The same at distrowatch.com:
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=linuxbbq

Links about Worth of Old Computers

Most Collectable PCs of all times:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/136242/article.html

Vintage Computers Collection:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/electronics/computers

Determine Value of used Computers:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6347365_dete...computers.html

Vintage Mac Worth
https://turbofuture.com/computers/vintagemacintosh

[quote]Links about Worth of Old Computers[/qauote]I wish you hadn't brought this subject up, one real regret I have is that in the late 80's I took my first home computer, a complete DEC PDP-8/E with 2 removable hard drives, ASR-33, 2 VT05 terminals and other peripherals to the landfill. The entire system was working fine at the time. My estimate of the value today is close to 10K US.

I'm still sad about that dumb move, and I did it only because it was taking up too much space in the garage, snd I didn't need it at the time. Of course, at that time PDP-8's didn't have much value, VAX's were in and PDP-11's were entrenched. 8's were kinda obsolete.

[QUOTE=Doug G;5589671]Hindsight is always 20/20. I am sure you are not alone with such an experience. Thanks for sharing.

Some people really have over-inflated ideas about what PDP-8 systems are worth: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEC-PDP8-I-M...QAAOSwCQNWdaCF

Over the years I've picked up a few old computers that were put out to graze. None of them had an empty disk. There was always Windows and some data. Being a good girl, I don't read that data; I just use dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda to zero it out. Quite apart from anything else, I feel safer after that. No viruses!

I've just put together a system for a friend, mostly from stuff I found. The actual computer was bought for £10 via Gumtree. The seller had removed the hard drive for his own security, and that's actually the first time I'd ever seen that done. He installed a hard drive for me from a computer I'd found that I couldn't get to work. That one wasn't wiped either. I had to wipe it myself. Again.

It has AntiX on it now and works very well. I was amused to see that rvijay's link recommends Linux as the best OS for a recycled computer, even though it was obviously written for Windows users.

I was looking at the old-computers.com and those computers reminded me by my first PC, which was an 386i (somehow the first version of 486).
I remember that had a floppy disk drive, a small space and a very small memory. He came with Windows 3.1 installed and looks like a toy today...
I remember that i was trying to increase the processor's frequency, after reading a few forums that this could be done, by making some manual adjustments in hardware configuration.