New pc/old pc mind meld?

Volcano

I've just bought a new pc and wondering what to do with the old one which is 2.4Ghz/1mb/60Gb.

I think I read somewhere about connecting pc's together for extra processing power? I'd only use any extra gains for gaming really.

Slightly paranoid about reselling due to personal info on the hard drive (even with the disc wiping software you can get).

Any other ideas before I take a hammer to the hard drive? Use the monitor as a spare TV? Bird bath? Paper weight etc?

Thanks in advance.

Joe_Bloggs

@Volcano
You could use your old PC as:-
A server for your games.
A personal video recorder .
Somewhere to back up files.
A spare PC when your new PC plays up.
J_B.
PS what PC specification did you get.

Aliktren

offer it to a friend/neighbour/local club/school if Joes suggestions are not of interest, spoeaking of which *eyes old PC sitting under a pile of paper in the corner*

Volcano

Thanks Joe, that's a few ideas there I'd not considered. New one is 3Ghz core 2 duo/4GB ram/500 gig/geforce 9600.

Marty_J

Volcano wrote: »

Slightly paranoid about reselling due to personal info on the hard drive (even with the disc wiping software you can get).

I wouldn't be too paranoid; with a proper low level format, it's unlikely that anyone would be able to recover any data from your old HDD.

Regardless, there are much easier and less time consuming methods of illicitly getting credit card numbers and the like.

Belnahua

Take the HDD out and give it to a charity?

Joe_Bloggs

@Volcano
You can try out other operating systems, when you have a spare PC. You have the security of being able to experiment with the old computer. Whilst the other computer remains untouched.
You can learn networking skills when you have two computers. You can experiment/learn and test ideas.
I did manage to get a steam server running under the ubuntu (linux ) operating system. Unfortunately I scared myself by the amount of time I could have spent working in a fantasy world instead of earning a living.
J_B.

fwor

Something else you might consider is community grid computing.

If you download BOINC and attach to the World Community Grid you can contribute it's processing power to projects such as Human Protein Folding, Rice Genome analysis, and AIDS research.

I've got an old PC with almost exactly the same spec as yours sat in the corner at 100% CPU day and night doing that. It churns out a bit of heat, but I just turn the central heating down...

KathysBoy

Volcano wrote: »

I've just bought a new pc and wondering what to do with the old one which is 2.4Ghz/1mb/60Gb.

I think I read somewhere about connecting pc's together for extra processing power? I'd only use any extra gains for gaming really.

Slightly paranoid about reselling due to personal info on the hard drive (even with the disc wiping software you can get).

Any other ideas before I take a hammer to the hard drive? Use the monitor as a spare TV? Bird bath? Paper weight etc?

Thanks in advance.

I agree with the above quotes about anyone finding data on the disk, particularly if you format using a high security level deletion and reformat a few times. Assuming you can sort this, don't discount being able to sell it on Ebay. I bought a new one about 2 years ago, and I was going to toss the old one out. I then decided to put it on Ebay, thought I might get about £30 for it. It eventually went for £185 plus postage. I was amazed. Posting is not a problem as you can send it parcelforce anywhere for about £25. You just box it up and book it online, they will collect and you can track. I just weghed it in a box and checked the cost on Parcelforce and quoted that as the delivery costs. Check on Ebay how much yours is currently going for. It may even be worth buying an old drive on ebay and putting this in if you are worried about the data.

I think mine was bought by a dealer who stripped it and sold the parts seperately.

Joe_Bloggs

@fwor
I agree with contributing with scientific endeavour if it keeps your house warm as a by-product. However in our Spring/Summer it is time for those in cooler climates to take up the burden.
@all
My electricity bill is an example of extortion as it is. To pay for another's protein study with my overpriced electricity is too much to pay.
My views are my own , they are not fixed in stone. I welcome debate.

J_B.

fwor

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

@fwor
I agree with contributing with scientific endeavour if it keeps your house warm as a by-product. However in our Spring/Summer it is time for those in cooler climates to take up the burden.

I'm one of those that got caught out by the BBC Climate Change Experiment fiasco a couple of years ago, where some unnamed researcher c0cked up one of the final model config files and trashed several hundred million (IIRC) hours worth of volunteered computer time - I'm a bit more cautious now.

I only run it when I need to have the heating on, so it's probably costing next to nothing.