Sorting Old Computers

[Zee09]

Assembling computers for years was an overindulgence for me... I started sorting some out and this one was put together in 1/29/2013. Shelved around late 2015. Unplugged since.
I fired it up and it spooled for a long time so I just let it go and a few hours later I checked it out and a few tweaks later it ran great and so I put W10 on it and it is actually very nice. I figured the SSD was toast as I had a few of these fail early in the day. I will give it away as it is solid and the PSU is quality as well.

 

[benjy]

surely a good talent to REALLY get into repairing older units! have 3 older laptops windows 7 my fav + 2 with wind 8.1 tried to download windows 10 with no luck! not much stored on them + "looks" to be enough "room" not a techy guy for sure but can replace parts. EZE hard drive on oldest 17" Dell but "touchy" on a 15.4 inch also a dell with having to lift + disconnect to install + thanks to a great youtube "goterdun'!! with crazy overpriced repair shops its DIY or the trash!!! would like to install a SSD on my newest 17" HP BUT concerned for loosing my Vag-Com software as Ross-Tech allowed me one reload when my oldest 17 HDD needed replacement. i enjoy DIY but i know my limitations + dont want to kill anything thats working for an upgrade, thought about another cheaper 17" HP with a SSD for about $500 + contacting Ross-Tech to see if they let me activate my present Vag-Com on another computer

 

[Paco Pena]

Despite not being the IT guy in the office I end up rebuilding all the staff's home PC's and refurbing all the old office PC's. Just built up 3 XP gaming rigs for old school lunch time lan games.

Paco

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Unless you want to be generous and give that away to someone who really needs it, it's worth at least $100 on your local Craigslist or whatever.

 

[Zee09]

I kept all my old computers since the mid 90s.
The issue that got me digging was I owned the first Sony Mavica floppy drive cameras.
I have about 300 floppies with pictures I would like to look at but now I can't.
Any ideas?
I get not supported messages etc. I am using an external drive to read them and I guess I will have to go to W7 or W98???

Any ideas..
I can see them on the old Mavica but I can't send them or upload to another device.

 

[Zee09]

I have a bunch of old Linux computers which I wonder if they will read them...Mint was a favorite then

 

[sk_pete]

I kept all my old computers since the mid 90s.
The issue that got me digging was I owned the first Sony Mavica floppy drive cameras.
I have about 300 floppies with pictures I would like to look at but now I can't.
Any ideas?
I get not supported messages etc. I am using an external drive to read them and I guess I will have to go to W7 or W98???

Any ideas..
I can see them on the old Mavica but I can't send them or upload to another device.

usb floppy drives could be bought years ago, maybe still somebody has it

 

[blufeb95]

I get not supported messages etc. I am using an external drive to read them and I guess I will have to go to W7 or W98???

Either the floppies are toast or the heads on the drive are dirty

 

[Zee09]

usb floppy drives could be bought years ago, maybe still somebody has it

I do have the drives and I heard W8 will open them but it won't.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I converted 3 old laptops to Linux a couple years ago - maxed the ram and swapped in SSD's. Was less than $100 per unit and it was a fun project. The best of the 3 my daughter still uses to code on. The other two collect dust mostly - just too many around here.

 

[Zee09]

Either the floppies are toast or the heads on the drive are dirty

I did get a new external USB drive and the floppies were stored in a dark closet but maybe they just failed from age???
Not sure what is going on.

 

[blufeb95]

I did get a new external USB drive and the floppies were stored in a dark closet but maybe they just failed from age???
Not sure what is going on.

I don't think the Mavicas ever used 2.88MB floppies, and I know Windows 10 can definitely read and write to USB floppy drives, I've been through hundreds playing with older computers. Since you said the Camera reads them then the disks shouldn't be bad, Is your USB floppy a Noname brand or a good Sony, TEAC, or Panasonic drive or their computer manufacturer branded equivalent.

 

[97K15004WD]

Did you do a disk scan?

 

[97K15004WD]

Also, they will degrade over time and lose their data. Seems early, but no different than any other magnetic media. VHS tapes are doing it too. A sign of old age and entropy.

 

[Zee09]

I don't think the Mavicas ever used 2.88MB floppies, and I know Windows 10 can definitely read and write to USB floppy drives, I've been through hundreds playing with older computers. Since you said the Camera reads them then the disks shouldn't be bad, Is your USB floppy a Noname brand or a good Sony, TEAC, or Panasonic drive or their computer manufacturer branded equivalent.

No not 2.88
Yes I have a no name Amazon Special. I have old computers I need to dig up with quality drives like you noted. Sony..Teac etc. Thanks I will try on a better reader.

 

[Zee09]

Also, they will degrade over time and lose their data. Seems early, but no different than any other magnetic media. VHS tapes are doing it too. A sign of old age and entropy.

I am sure some may be toast but the camera has showed the ones I tried..but that doesn't allow me to copy them..

 

[blufeb95]

No not 2.88
Yes I have a no name Amazon Special. I have old computers I need to dig up with quality drives like you noted. Sony..Teac etc. Thanks I will try on a better reader.

My USB drive I use is a Dell branded drive I think it's actually a TEAC or Panasonic drive, do you have a cable to hook the Mavica to a computer, I thought you could use them as USB floppy drive, but maybe that was only the very late models with the 2x or 4x fast drives in them.

 

[Zee09]

My USB drive I use is a Dell branded drive I think it's actually a TEAC or Panasonic drive, do you have a cable to hook the Mavica to a computer, I thought you could use them as USB floppy drive, but maybe that was only the very late models with the 2x or 4x fast drives in them.

Yes I actually have two of those cameras but need to find the cables. I did buy fresh batteries a couple years ago.
Yes these would download directly but in the day the floppy was far less hassle.
I need to dig them up.. thanks

 

[kebabaluba]

I have a bunch of old Linux computers which I wonder if they will read them...Mint was a favorite then

I clean installed Linux on my aging small laptop, it was painfull to use with Windows 8.1 because it was so slow. Linux improved this machine so greatly, less lag and more performance. I used Pop Os btw.

 

[blufeb95]

I clean installed Linux on my aging small laptop, it was painfull to use with Windows 8.1 because it was so slow. Linux improved this machine so greatly, less lag and more performance. I used Pop Os btw.

I bought one of those el cheapo $100 laptops with the garbage Atom like Celeron, 4GB ram (soldered non-upgradeable), and 64Gb of eMMC, Windows 11 is total dogs**t on it, Debian or Ubuntu (and likely whatever distro of your choosing) with the Mate desktop works great, although 4GB of RAM isn't the most compatible with my habit of opening like 50 tabs.