Recycling old computer hardware with Ubuntu.....
Three months ago, a member of my church gave me a Gateway MA3 laptop that needed fixing. The connection to the power supply was broken, or appeared to be broken. I couldn't fix it; I couldn't get the plastic cover off. I took it to the local laptop repair place and they said that this was a common problem with that model, and that it would take $150 to repair. After consulting with the laptop owner, I kept it for spare parts.
Last month, athenawindsong gave me her old Compaq Presario M2000 laptop, after experiencing a BSOD caused by a disk crash. Thankfully, she was able to salvage her data, with the help of her local Geek Squad. But the Windows OS was damaged, and she didn't have the CD as it was a pre-installed system. After this bad experience with Windows, she chose to get a Mac.
And so, I took the hard drive out of the Gateway, placed it in the Compaq, and installed a copy of Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (aka "Karmic Koala"). And voila -- a new laptop for me to use. I just installed LogJam (an LJ client for Linux) and am posting with it now.
I seem to have "the knack" with old hardware. Now if I can only make that talent and skill pay off.
Last month, athenawindsong gave me her old Compaq Presario M2000 laptop, after experiencing a BSOD caused by a disk crash. Thankfully, she was able to salvage her data, with the help of her local Geek Squad. But the Windows OS was damaged, and she didn't have the CD as it was a pre-installed system. After this bad experience with Windows, she chose to get a Mac.
And so, I took the hard drive out of the Gateway, placed it in the Compaq, and installed a copy of Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (aka "Karmic Koala"). And voila -- a new laptop for me to use. I just installed LogJam (an LJ client for Linux) and am posting with it now.
I seem to have "the knack" with old hardware. Now if I can only make that talent and skill pay off.