what to do with old pc
so today, our new pc just arrived and so our old pc has to be retired.
it's been around for 7 years, so i feel quite attached to just throw it away.
i'm thinking of upgrading it by adding extra RAM, maybe a bigger hard disk.
some of my plans:
a)install damn vulnerable linux and learn exploiting b)make it a multi-boot machine with all sorts of operating systems. c)turn it into a file server d)turn it into a firewall.
what do you think is the best plan?
I'd use it for testing new or interesting techniques in a network. Just set up a network containing your current box and some older ones with linux on them and try things out. If nothing works on these machines, then you could use them as a testing-environment for various malicious tools(like virii, trojans, …) you've written yourself (they have to be disconnected from the internet and of your box, of course!).
If you have a strong desire to destroy something, build a virus, which destroys the machine's hardware. Someone told me that there was a show where some hackers and virus specialists destroyed the hardware of some boxes completely only using viruses. He only couldn't remember the name of the show, even a hypnotist couldn't help. So…, that are my ideas what to do with a really old box at home - don't take them too seriously ;)
mmm…fried.
but seriously, i would recommend doing what i have done with some scavenged parts. basically, the innards of a computer are actually pretty interesting when you get up close and personal with them. just open the bugger up and take a long hard look. maybe replace some parts and see how it goes. i used old parts that some guy didnt want any more and turned in into a damn usable machine…if sometimes slightly temperamental…but still worth the time. if you check out www.freecycle.org there are usually loads of randomers wanting to ditch their actually not so bad shiz.
note to self never say "shiz" in public ever again
BUT…as i was saying, i now use mine for pretty much general use and had ago experimenting with beowulf clustering…failing appropriately pathetically. none the less, nice thought to possibly be able to start a tiny bedroom "super computer".
you could use it as a media centre thing. maybe use something like http://www.mythtv.org/. might be worth investing in a TV card and reasonably large HDD for that use though.
anyway, good luck! and here's to old technology!
yours31f wrote:
actually there was. what it did was it would change you system settings and basically stopped you fan thus fried your mother board.
That "myth" Was proved wrong many times. You can't shut off a cpu fan via the bios or os. The mobo will always have power to these ports. Even if you were a dick and unplugged someones fan the mobo would warn you it wasn't working and if temps got to high shutdown. Most gaming towers like mine run big heatsinks with 2 fans powered right off the Psu. And your not shutting down just the 12 volt reference on any given Psu, Sorry. Myth busted again.
Old computers are like pokemon cards; no matter how pathetic anyone tells you they are, you will never be able to burn them :D
You can still use it to look at an older kernel or solve backwards compatibility issues. Security wise, it might be lacking because it physically can not use decent encryption, etc. As far as cracking hashes, it might be a little slow…. But if anything happens to your computer, you have a backup. You can use it to run programs that you downloaded from sketchy web sites too.
I think the most interesting idea was setting up a network. You can boost your recourses on your main system, test vulnerabilities, or test your own code. I use my old computer to run anything that might have something I don't want. You can also test other peoples virii/malware and remove it too (it's good practice, and shows you around the system).
EDIT: if you sell it, buy a new hard drive or thoroughly wipe your current one. There is sometimes a lot that can be found on an old computer.