Uses for an old computer

rmg1

It won't be on 24/7 (but probably most of thre day).
I'd also like to be able to use my current monitor/mouse/keyboard so that means I need a KVM.
Where's the best to get one from?
I used to use one at work which did the scroll-lock/scroll-lock/up (or down) arrow to change machines.
One like that would be perfect.

harvyedward

I am using the old monitor for more than 3 years. But there are more hackings and bugs. I am using free spy ware and also it expired just 2 days before. Their popup is asking me to buy for cash and also the pop is not removable. It is a great menace to me. Is there any idea to remove the popup please.

harvyedward

I want to change my present computer set. I don't want to upgrade it . Which one I could prefer for my work

gb12345

harvyedward wrote: »

I want to change my present computer set. I don't want to upgrade it . Which one I could prefer for my work

I'd recommend getting something with Windows 3.1 - it will be spamtastic and just what you need for upping your post count on forums.

esuhl

I set up an old PC as a headless print server. I set up ACPI so a tap of the power button shuts down the PC safely, and I can log in to the machine remotely via VNC. It works a treat and means I can easily print from any PC on the network.

Before I switched to Linux as my main OS, I used a PC as a test platform for testing out different Linux distros. When I inevitably screwed something up (or just got bored of one distro), it was no problem to just format the drive and start again. (Not something I'd relish doing on my main triple-boot PC with three different bootloaders to configure).

rmg1 wrote: »

It won't be on 24/7 (but probably most of thre day).
I'd also like to be able to use my current monitor/mouse/keyboard so that means I need a KVM.
Where's the best to get one from?
I used to use one at work which did the scroll-lock/scroll-lock/up (or down) arrow to change machines.
One like that would be perfect.

I just got a cheap one off eBay about 10 years ago and it's still working fine! Whilst ancient KVMs used to have a big box with buttons to select which PC to access, I'm pretty sure that all modern KVMs will utilise some kind of keyboard shortcut to switch between machines.

I've noticed that some PS/2 KVMs can be a bit funny about using a USB-to-PS/2 adaptor (if you want to use a USB keyboard or mouse). It seems to depend on the KVM and the mouse in question... :-/ I guess a USB KVM would make more sense these days...

The one I have at home requires you to hold down numlock, tap the minus key on the numeric keypad, then a number 1-4 to select the PC, which works well. BUT... the one I had at work switched machines using CTRL+ALT+Num (where Num is 1 to 4). That works fine on Windows machines, but Linux uses ALT+Num or CTRL+ALT+Num to switch between virtual consoles... which stopped working with this particular KVM :-/

As an alternative to a KVM, you could just connect to it remotely over the network (like I do with my print server) using VNC or Remote Desktop...