computer hard drive question

[rfuerst911sc]

I have a home PC that I don't use anymore, mainly because my wife and I each have laptops and the PC developed a sick hard drive. It chatters and clicks out what appears to be morse code. The computer is aprox. 7-8 years old and other than that it works/worked fine. I have removed the hard drive and may sell the PC at a garage sale as is. But I was wondering if I could install a cheap hard drive maybe I can donate it to a local school and get better use out of it. So the question is how do you install a new hard drive? I know how to mechanically install it and how to wire it but how do you install the operating system? Is there already a bare minimum of software loaded into the hard drive and it will prompt the user to do the correct stuff to install the O.S.? You can tell by my questions I'm not too computer savvy Any help out there guys?

[Neilk]

Honestly....., I don't think schools would be interested in a 8 year old computer... but if they did, you would just install the hard drive and start it up with the installation CD in the drive. The computer should start from the CD and you'll be prompted to begin the installation process.... that's how it should go when everything works right.

[cstreit]

Yep... Schools only want the newest stuff these days. Nice thing to do might be to buy a basic HD, $40 and then donate it to the Salvation Army... That's what I did with our last stockpile of equipment. Still good stuff, just a bit dated.

[stomachmonkey]

I'd hang a big a55 HD off of it and use it as a media/file server for your house.

School won't need/want it.

[Zeke]

Why not put it in the garage? Play CD's, monitor Pelican, install PET. That would be with a new HD, the most basic you can find.

You've got one old computer? Jeez, I can see 3 from where I sit.

[Paul_Heery]

I had about 20-30 old computers in my garage that were in varying state of repair. I put an ad on the"free stuff" section of the local Craigslist. My ad was very descriptive regarding the equipment and its operational state, as I didn't want to be answering questions over-and-over again.

After a couple of days, I had gotten about a dozen inquiries to my ad. One really stuck out. It was from a gentleman who told me that he was a disabled veteran. He had taken on a mission to provide computer equipment for other disabled veterans so that they could keep in touch with families and friends. I had never heard of this guy, but the interesting thing was that he provided a list of references to prove he was for real. I happened to know one of the people that he listed from the local VFW. I contacted that person and was told that everything was on the up-and-up.

I invited the gentleman over to my place so he could inspect what I had. He said, "I don't need to inspect anything. I'll just take it all. If something doesn't work, I'll just scavenge the parts." He also told me what he does with the computers. He:

• Builds the best possible configuration with what he has available
• Installs Linux on the PC
• Gives the PC to the next vet that he has on his list
• Sets up the machine (including dial-up Internet access)
• Trains the vet in its use

We set up a time the next day for him to come over and pick up everything. In the meantime, I decided to go through what I had and built about 10 complete systems according to his specs.

He pulled up at my place driving an old, beat up Caddy. I watched his practiced precision as he opened the door, threw his wheelchair to the ground, and moved into it using only his upper-body. He came into the garage and was genuinely thrilled about the prospect of helping out so many other vets so quickly.

Over the next few days, he would stop by and load up the Caddy until he had cleaned out all of the equipment. I wound up giving him about $200 to pay for Internet access for a couple of people for a year. It felt good to pay a couple of hundred bucks to give stuff away for free.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

I'd hang a big a55 HD off of it and use it as a media/file server for your house.

School won't need/want it.

Bingo! Put a nice new hard drive on it and use it to back up your laptops.

Cost would be less than $100.

[id10t]

Get 2 new hard drives in it and install Linux and setup a home backup server, use software raid to mirror the 2 new drives so they are redundant as well..

[azasadny]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

I had about 20-30 old computers in my garage that were in varying state of repair. I put an ad on the"free stuff" section of the local Craigslist. My ad was very descriptive regarding the equipment and its operational state, as I didn't want to be answering questions over-and-over again.

After a couple of days, I had gotten about a dozen inquiries to my ad. One really stuck out. It was from a gentleman who told me that he was a disabled veteran. He had taken on a mission to provide computer equipment for other disabled veterans so that they could keep in touch with families and friends. I had never heard of this guy, but the interesting thing was that he provided a list of references to prove he was for real. I happened to know one of the people that he listed from the local VFW. I contacted that person and was told that everything was on the up-and-up.

I invited the gentleman over to my place so he could inspect what I had. He said, "I don't need to inspect anything. I'll just take it all. If something doesn't work, I'll just scavenge the parts." He also told me what he does with the computers. He:

• Builds the best possible configuration with what he has available
• Installs Linux on the PC
• Gives the PC to the next vet that he has on his list
• Sets up the machine (including dial-up Internet access)
• Trains the vet in its use

We set up a time the next day for him to come over and pick up everything. In the meantime, I decided to go through what I had and built about 10 complete systems according to his specs.

He pulled up at my place driving an old, beat up Caddy. I watched his practiced precision as he opened the door, threw his wheelchair to the ground, and moved into it using only his upper-body. He came into the garage and was genuinely thrilled about the prospect of helping out so many other vets so quickly.

Over the next few days, he would stop by and load up the Caddy until he had cleaned out all of the equipment. I wound up giving him about $200 to pay for Internet access for a couple of people for a year. It felt good to pay a couple of hundred bucks to give stuff away for free.

Very cool story. Thanks for your compassion and generosity!

[azasadny]

I'm typing this on an older PC that I have installed in my garage. Extra PCs always come in handy.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by azasadny

I'm typing this on an older PC that I have installed in my garage. Extra PCs always come in handy.

I recycle my old laptops by putting one of them downstairs to use on the internet. Am always downstairs doing something and a thought pops into my feeble mind to look up, so have to head upstairs.

Now keep one on in the den and hooked to the WiFi so I can access the net at anytime without the trip to the office upstairs.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by azasadny

Very cool story. Thanks for your compassion and generosity!

+1.

[Steve Viegas]

The computer has a BIOS. This is the basic input output system. This is what allows the computer to do very basic things without an OS (think breathing). This BIOS will allow you to install the OS.

I have tried donating old computers to schools with zero success. I have also found that they want newer stuff.

e-Cycling seems popular in my neighborhood. Schools are running drives to pick up any electronic waste. Generally it would cost me money to bring this to the dump, but the school will send someone by to pick it up and I assume they get money for the parts.

Now that I have heard about helping the veteran, this will be my next first step when the time to comes to 'upgrade'.

[RickM]

I may donate a couple older, working PCs to underprivileged children.
You know they're out there. Problem is support and possibly liability.