uses for an old computer?

[stringcheeseincident]

today i picked up an old, but semi decent computer from a guy i know. it's got around a 500mhz chip, a cheap video card, 2gb harddrive, cd-rom and floppy. i need to get some ram, and maybe a network card, but i want to put this system to good use. i have an old 15" monitor i could pair it with, but no keyboard or mouse. i'm sure i could get something cheap locally, and maybe that's an option. is a kvm switch worth it for only 2 computers? can i network it with my current rig and use a vpn client to control it? my closet is only a few feet from my desk and i'm thinking i want to keep it in there...running only an ethernet cable and a power cable out of it would be easy.

i also picked up a copy of red hat 6.0 that i want to try my hand at on this rig, but what else can i use it for? maybe get a big harddrive and serve some files? is there a folding client for linux? maybe get open office and use it to type papers? any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[nick1985]

have it run a DC project.

 

[jme5343]

Not sure about the other DC projects, but I know FAD www.find-a-drug.org has a client for linux...

 

[cronos]

there are some cheap kvm switch for two computers, i am using the linksys one. it's really nice and very handy, and you can save some space too..

redhat 6 is from like 4+ years ago, find something newer in linuxiso.org and you can have fun playing with it...

 

[MDE]

Slap another network card in it and use it as a firewall\router or a file server.
EDIT: Yes there is a F@H Linux client, I've never used it though. Post in the DC Forum for help on that.

 

[sparkrainfire]

like mde said above, turn it into a router...

http://www.smoothwall.org/

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: sparkrainfire
like mde said above, turn it into a router...

http://www.smoothwall.org/

If you want to maintain the level of your current electrical bill... DON't.

If you want to learn something... DO.

 

[Schadenfroh]

firewall

 

[MichaelD]

500MHz? It's probably a P3. You'd be surprised how snappy a fresh install w/ a decent amount of ram is on a 500MHz system. Just don't try to game or rip Gigs worth of movies and you'll be fine.

Surf/email/office apps will do nicely on there...assuming you get a real HD in there, of course. Older motherboards like that typically have a 512MB ram limitation, which is plenty, for what you'll be doing on there.

Is it a home-built PC or a name-branded?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Firewall running a DC client.

I use "extra" machines at home for basically education. I run webservers, mailservers, fileservers, a firewall or two, and whatever else I can find that seems interesting.

 

[vegetation]

P3-500 isn't even old. If we were talking about a pentium classic, then...

 

[mechBgon]

Hop it up with some side windows and cold-cathode lights, LED fans, a fan controller/temp readout, etc. If your apartment gets broken into, guess which PC they'll steal, if they can only carry one.

~ decoy!


You can control it by means of VNC, I've got one at work that I run like that. If you want to do a DC project, some guy with too much time on his hands cooked up some DC FAQ's a while back: article

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Hop it up with some side windows and cold-cathode lights, LED fans, a fan controller/temp readout, etc. If your apartment gets broken into, guess which PC they'll steal, if they can only carry one.

~ decoy!

I like that idea.

You can control it by means of VNC, I've got one at work that I run like that. If you want to do a DC project, some guy with too much time on his hands cooked up some DC FAQ's a while back: article

That FAQ looks to be pretty out of date. The DC forum has whipped a few more recent ones

 

[jhurst]

Old PC's are good for old people (perhaps a grandparent), they do not feel overwhelmed when they see an old beige case. My old folks won't step within 10 ft. of my new computer, with all the UV sleeving, LED fans, UV cathode tubes (2), huge Zalman HSF (looks really cool lit up).

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Hop it up with some side windows and cold-cathode lights, LED fans, a fan controller/temp readout, etc. If your apartment gets broken into, guess which PC they'll steal, if they can only carry one.

~ decoy!

Lmao

 

[mechBgon]

That FAQ looks to be pretty out of date. The DC forum has whipped a few more recent ones

I know ECC2 is over, for starters. But I did the best I could, at AndyHui's request.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

That FAQ looks to be pretty out of date. The DC forum has whipped a few more recent ones

I know ECC2 is over, for starters. But I did the best I could, at AndyHui's request.

We'll just blame AndyHui.

 

[jagec]

Use it to run dedicated game servers for you and your friends. You'd be surprised how well those servers run on low-end hardware with just a few people.

n0cmonkey, your sig: Untrue! If Mozilla and Firefox were chicks, Mozilla would be the fat one (with all the additional crap like their email client bundled in), and Firefox would be the sexy one who makes ugly, slutty Explorer look even LESS appealing.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: jagec
Use it to run dedicated game servers for you and your friends. You'd be surprised how well those servers run on low-end hardware with just a few people.

n0cmonkey, your sig: Untrue! If Mozilla and Firefox were chicks, Mozilla would be the fat one (with all the additional crap like their email client bundled in), and Firefox would be the sexy one who makes ugly, slutty Explorer look even LESS appealing.

No, I'm right.

 

[jagec]

how so? explain.

(at the very least I'm sure we can both agree they're worlds better than IE)

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: jagec
how so? explain.

Firefox was eating up 15-20% of my CPU consistently. Mozilla nibbled on 2-5%. 20% CPU is too much for a browser when I'm not using it.

(at the very least I'm sure we can both agree they're worlds better than IE)

Yes.

 

[DotheDamnTHing]

im using firefox right now.... between 1-3% of CPU

 

[Calin]

Originally posted by: DotheDamnTHing
im using firefox right now.... between 1-3% of CPU

Firefox here, 0% processor use in task manager, while not using it (just looking at it).

However, for an old computer... you might try to do a very silent PC, use it as movie player or mp3 player. Try other operating systems (like BeOS, I just loved it when I saw it). I agree with game server, also for your parents it will be good. They will learn quickly to use it (a limited use, probably).

Calin

 

[Sunner]

I agree in the firewall/router thingy.
And I also agree with n0c on OpenBSD

 

[HappyCracker]

I just set up an old Dell XPS-R450 as a router. Just slap a couple of NICs in it, install Gentoo, emerge iptables, bind, and dhcp, setup and go. If you want to do Folding at Home, emerge foldingathome.