If installing to a HDD to be used on old hardware, likely it would be best to use a 486 or 586 image, as sometimes a 686 image won't be supported.

You are likely to have some problems with the 'X' drivers on older machines also, there were just so many different drivers needed for the various makes available, also sound card drivers may cause some problems finding the right ones, probably will need to search the internet for some.

You should be able to do a headless install by using a serial cable, a 'null modem', to another machine with a keyboard & screen & see what is going on. (Not done that in a long time, so search the internet for a 'howto'.)

To clean up contacts on plugged in cards, just remove & insert them a few times until the contacts look a bit shiny, same with jumper cables, etc.

Learning how to use the command line will bring an awful lot of old computers back to life, you don't need the 'X' windows system for most things.

Good luck with your recycling projects. :)

Today I found a DVD player first, decided to come back and collect it as I had other things. However, on return it was gone.
Best find of today was an AOC monitor, checked now and it works fine, found this instead when I came to collect the DVD player. Had I initially collected the DVD player, I would not have found this one. Also found a special more, modern modem without power cable, mouse(not sure if this works) and network cable.

If you were referring to my post about needing networking, I was talking about pre-windows DOS and DEC systems with no built-in networking capabilities. Networked machines were rare in the early/mid 80's. Getting a network to work in early DOS was an adventure when Novell was king, and Microsoft Networking was pretty flaky. Lantastic was another alternative. In the early 80's we were reselling Novell based network systems for some proprietary software apps, and tweaking high memory usage was kind of an art form. Microsoft sold a Unix-based Xenix in those days, but although networking was easier it wouldn't support dos-based application software.

Oh, an many computers in those days flat-out refused to boot without a keyboard, so your headless machine had to have a physical keyboard hooked up, and then of course someone would plop a book or a box of donuts or something on that keyboard, and the computer would do something unintended. It was fun, though :)

This response made me reflect. My comfort range for retro PCs is from P4 to P2, can stretch to P1 if needed.

Thank you for reminding me. I had almost forgotten those.

Little-Big-Lan (and the $25 network) worked over serial or null-modem cables - parallel cables (null-printer) and ARcNet. Later they added Ethernet using packet drivers. It was actually far easier (for me) to make that work than Novell 3 or Novell 4 with TCPIP extensions. The memory came out a better fit if you had the QEMM memory manager, and as long as you had that why not add DesQview for multitasking. Windows and Microsoft networking was quite a step backwards at first.
Compared to current ones, the keyboard connector was HUGE. The machine would boot without a mouse, but the keyboard HAD to be plugged in or you got nothing but beep codes. Some of them needed a working video card and a monitor (that at least responded as IF it was working) or it would detect THAT and fail to boot.

I had to support one Xenix system for a pharmacy office. Compared to AT&T SYSV or HP-UX it was sad. Very sad. But we did not have Linux in those days either. The world is so EASY today, but we did have fun!

Yeah, but getting coax cables run for an Arcnet network, or thick ethernet network, didn't exactly qualify as "fun" :)

In the 80's I was faced with getting a few mb of text data off a PDP-11 and into a PC. There was no feasible way to network them, I had to cobble up a working Kermit on the PDP, which was running a little-known OS DSM-3.0, hook up a serial null modem cable to pcanywhere for DOS, and copy 10mb over serial. The PDP side didn't support flow control, so I had to slow down the baud rate to I think 2400 baud so I didn't overrun and lose data. Took over a day to transfer 10-ish MB. :)

Found an abandoned store built PC today.
CPU - 1200 Mhz AMD Duron 6.7
Ram - 132 Mb + (256 Mb added today)

Case seems ok
PSU TigerPro TP-300
Opened CPU to verify, it is clean inside
PSU gets hot and fan stops spinning sometimes.
Tapping on it, starts the fan.

LG 52x CD-Rom - CRD 8522B - Seems to work ok
Floppy Drive -Not Tested

Inside case says tested in 2001
So probably a p2 or p3 upgrade.
Only 2 USB ports on Mobo.
Mobo has a port for midi plug - this also indicates old Mobo.
System fan is missing.
2 Capacitors on mobo have brown marks on top, hard to
say if they are leaking or if it came from screw driver head,
dust etc., before.

Lots of dust on CPU fan only, quite a bit of this was cleaned.

First time it booted ok with puppy linux live CD, then it shut
down randomly. Once it hung soon after boot started. Twice it
hung before starting X windows.

Will reflect on what to do with it a bit. Wonder if I can try this PSU on
a C2D PC. Atleast it works somewhat, but is unreliable if the fan stops
and it heats up, perhaps a fire hazard even.

Edited to add:
K7S5A is the motherboard, got its manual.

Was advised to remove CPU heat sink and apply fresh CPU paste on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfUJx3jQBoM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g
However, unable to remove the CPU heat sink clip.
So I used a tiny screw driver to remove all the thick dust deep inside the
heat sink and now the fan is spinning well inside the PC.
Will see if this helps.

Was also told to change the PSU fan as it is old. This will involve
soldering it off and I don't have a soldering iron etc.,
The alternative is to buy a new PSU, not worth it for this PC.

Edited again to add:
With Puppy Slacko 4.4 it said mouse device not found and hung, x didn't load. Mouse light was off. Kb also was off. Replugging mouse helped. Replugging Kb didn't help. Unable to go to command prompt. Tried puppy 4.3 from 2013 or so, it booted ok and worked ok, even connected to net. But then in about 30 mts, PSU got super hot and shut down. Don't think having a case fan will help in this case. PSU fan needs to be replaced for sure on this one. No other choice.

Edited again to add this link, glad I looked for it, worth a try:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fix-...wdri/?ALLSTEPS

Edited again to add:
I opened the PC, then the PSU, not much dust on the fan, still oiled the blades and inner sides
a bit with mineral oil using a tooth pick dipped in mineral oil. Only super tiny amounts were needed. The fan center is all enclosed in plastic, so it is not as shown in the picture at link
above. However, I have nothing to loose, so took a chance and oiled with toothpick again tiny
amounts INSIDE the fan center where a central inner pole meets the outer revolving central fan surface. Did this a few times and then turned on the PC, being very careful. Something touched
the fan blades and it didn't spin. Held it up and the fan started spinning slowly and then got faster !!! I was quite glad, let it run for a few minutes. Then put everything back together and
even closed the PC. Now will run a one hour power on test of this PC to ensure that it will work consistently, will also touch the PSU externally every 15 mts. or so to see if it is heating up on not.

Really glad I stuck thru all this. Took like 4 hours or so in all, including getting the PC home, cleaning it, checking everything, hooking to PC, then thinking thru the issue, chatting with others and trying out solutions. Next time, hopefully can do this faster !!! Will share update here about the outcome in an hour or so. Thanks again all. :))

Edited again to add:
The test failed but really glad I tried it. The PSU fan got slower with time, tapping on its
center from the outsides make it faster but then it slowed down again more and more, finally
after an hour it stopped. Looks like this fan is really tired out and needs to be recycled.
I am thinking of cutting off the PSU fan wire closer to the fan, getting a replacement fan,
and just connecting the wires of the new fan to the old fan wires on the PSU and then covering
it up with electrical or duct tape. Can even try getting a PSU fan from another PSU that is not
working. Worth a try but will reflect on this and save it for the future. Put too much time into
this for now. This is still a good PC to try other hardware experiments.

On a different note, this free USB mouse I found, is getting disconnected on boot on my working server also. Replugging it helps. So rather than OS or PC, this is an issue specific to this mouse.

Edited to add yet again:
One of the screws on the PSU fan had been screwed in wrong thread and would't come off. Also, the
grooves on the screw head have worn off a lot. So guess this PSU is toast. The case is really
nice as are rest of the components. This stuck screw helped me come across this thread:
http://diy.stackexchange.com/questio...ly-stuck-screw
Was informed about screw extractors:
http://stanleyindia.in/mech_specialt...ractor_big.jpg

It is frustrating but glad I got this PC, great learning experience. Even if I have to ditch the PSU, I can use all the screws in it, perhaps the PSU mobo can be stored for capacitors. Will reflect on this a bit.

A used C2D is 100 bucks with tax. approx. locally, goes on sale for 60 even sometimes. Considering
that price and the time involved, no wonder a PC as this one is tossed out easily. This is something to strongly consider. Getting a used PC working must be kept more at a hobby level while trying to keep the efforts and resources involved in doing this to a minimum. At the same time,
one must not get side tracked too much for all the other more important objectives in life.
But still glad it works on replugging.

On further reflection I have two options
1) Use this PSU to test the other older PCs without PSU that I have and also may get in future.
2) Cut off the plastic part of fan that the stuck screw goes into and then remove the screw.
This fan is already damaged, so cutting it is not a biggie.

The first option seems better for now but will see, time will tell.

Nice general read on replacing PSU:
http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/choo...wer-supply.htm
If there was an older PC one really liked and if it came to that, then replacing PSU
is a good option if possible.
Moreover, as per site above, random PC reboot is due to PSU not being powerful enough in
most cases. I had this issue with my Pentium 1 PC and this is very good to know after almost
20 years !!

From now on, if I get a used PC, first I will:
1. Power on and see if the PSU fan starts. Then disconnect it.
2. Open the insides, clean well if needed, including the CPU fan, sink, opening the PSU.
3. See if any parts are missing, specially HD and Ram.
4. Note down the name, model # of mobo and PSU and research them a bit. This is the core of the PC.
5. If it boots, see if a Linux Live CD will run on it.
6. See if any screws are missing and if the sockets need any cleaning.
7. Then, if it is not worth keeping the PC and trying to get
it to work, then need to map a good plan to strip the PC of the good things that are worth keeping
and throw the rest for recycling fast.

Must do all the above fast and efficient.

The PCI slots and bays of a nonworking desktop can be used to store other drives and cards.
This will be efficient. Mobos can all be stored in one box together. If PSU is not working
then grab as many parts as possible from it, fans, screws, capacitors, any wires etc., before
recycling the rest. Fans are not available in all places at a good price. Besides, better to
recycle and reuse fans if possible.

Back to Basics:
1. Linux Command to get Mobo info.: dmidecode | more
2. MoBo Parts and Function: https://blog.udemy.com/motherboard-parts-and-functions/
3. How to find what Mobo you have: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000504.htm

This post lead me to You Tube Videos Regarding Old PC uses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPuoR1r00y4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2XQIcfqFH0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihVYDRF4610
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdfFpGhoOqk

To Watch yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCqQCDh4wCI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=207G26bIFGw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7_NnyKa5QM

Other interesting related Videos:
Clock Radio Teardown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_FlSzwDKC4

10 Electronic Items Teardown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpAk2FHEw2Y

Fixing Household Electronics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joLgIulldbI

What to desolder from old Electronics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb78wF1Tkwc

Article: Good to know article: How to discharge a capacitor
http://www.wikihow.com/Discharge-a-Capacitor

Using LCD screen of Laptop as a monitor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTltZI4XyIM

All this may seem like a lot in one shot, but if learned and practiced slowly in bits and pieces like a puzzle, will become second nature with time, like in a month or two even.

Two things to watch for:
a. I cut my right thumb when handling the PSU. So be careful around sharp edges
b. There is more static in winter, specially in cold climate, so better to work with hardware
in late spring, summer or be super careful to avoid the static.

Edited to add on Oct. 16th, 2016
The wrongly threaded screw was actually being unscrewed by me in the wrong direction as I had
flipped the PSU over for convenience. Once I realized this, getting that screw out was easy. I have
left all the fan screws, screwed in a little bit only and left it at that. Will replace this PSU fan asap and see, have nothing to loose.

The main limitations of older PCs are limited graphics, limited/slow video, lesser hardware
upgrade options as if too much upgrade is done, the PSU will run out of juice. Also, they may not
work with SATA. So if one wishes to use older PC as such, be content with a little video, little basic browsing and retro simpler games, then old PC is quite good.

Someone told me yesterday that Apple is the best OS that helps the handicapped including blind.
I shared the following with them:
https://opensource.com/life/15/8/acc...blind-disabled
It will be nice if I get a chance to assist the needy with some older PCs and support a few others
to do the same. This will be a good practical application of all I have learned inregards to retro PCs. Here are some organizations that already do this on a much larger scale:
http://www.freebyte.com/free_computers/#freecomputers
http://www.littlegeeks.org/content/need-computer
http://www.freebyte.com/free_computers/

A lot has been shared on this thread. Must revise this sometimes to help recollect and use all the helpful info.

Here is a small freebie for this thread:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATXjqMhv568 - Tearing apart a microwave oven
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFwUHdUElv0 - Repairing a music organ
Once one is good at using, repairing and recycling, older PCs the same skills can be extended
to other discarded electronics. In this regard I am pleased to share that with perseverance I was able to get better screw driver and remove the motors from the printer I was trying to disassemble. If a part is hard, keep it and reflect on how to solve the issue for a while, don't discard immediately. I did this mistake for a while before thinking of alternatives.

It is very easy to go to store and buy a used PC etc., However, there are benefits to looking for
abandoned PCs on street. First is exercise, walking is healthy. Second, if one is friendly with
others one meets during this walk, greet them, be nice and share a few nice statements briefly then there is a chance to make nice local contacts. Third one can find other items of interest, for eg., yesterday I found a pair of poor quality binoculars. No one wants these, but I was glad to bring them home and try. They are ok to see within city for end of street. On busy days this will be good to spot a PC from far on street. It helps to be selective and gather more vital things first to bring. Later on if the other items are still around then one can bring them in.
Fourth donate any excess finds that you don't want but can be used by others to charity. For eg., I found winter clothes and used women's shoes. These I promptly donated to a local charity that helps the homeless and needy. This way things going to landfill are reduced and helps others also.
I am on foot and have no transportation, can only walk and carry stuff few blocks, so this part of the post may seem very limiting. If one has a car then it adds a huge leverage to all these efforts. It is not really convenient to carry an old PC on a bicycle, or other heavy items in bulk, so not including a bicycle for these efforts.

Now my personal challenge here is to see what else I can do max. to benefit from old abandoned PCs, learn from this concept and expand more to other areas. The things that hurt me more are missed opportunities. One thing I miss now is a soldering iron for a reasonable price. Who knows, perhaps I might find one of these abandoned in the future during one of my walks.

Today is tuesday, the 18th of Cotober 2016.
It is very grey, wet and rainy outside. Almost nothing on the streets. So brain stormed
and decided to share these bonus tips.

1. Learn in general about life hacks from youtube videos and frugal living from stretcher.com
Think of how folks survived in prison camps like Russian Gulags for eg., with limited resources or after natural disasters. Connect the dots from other areas of bottom heaps of life. Using an older PC with limited resources is very similar then and will get to be more easy then.
2. Try to figure out what the bosses and employees of electronic recycling firms are thinking.
Even if it is very rough it is ok, this will yield some new ideas.
3. Everyone has a USB flash drive in their mind with some info. A little of this info.
will be really good and helpful. So, get others talking and don't interrupt. Take notes.
4. If one can create an older PC that runs just one app but it is very useful and others
will benefit and pay for it, then it will be a winner.
5. Try to do shorter walks in bad weather when others will not go out. There is lesser
competition out there then.
6. Locally, there is competition among those who try to sell cans, bottles for recycling
to make a small buck. Sometimes they become agitated. I tell them that I am mostly looking
for old books, used printers etc., and to please tell me if they come across such items.
In turn I tell them if I spot big collections of bottles or cans. So far this tips
exchange has worked out very well, built minor contacts and avoided unwanted conflicts.
7. If a contact is very vital, then even buy a few small items or if it is on freecycle, then
try to collect one of the items they give, use this chance to have a chat, build a relationship
and create a positive image of yourself in their mind. Down the road, this will be very valuable.
8. It is interesting that this thread was moderated a lot before its subject was changed. In real
life most pass by older electronics and don't care about those who collect them. So, this is really low profile and helps to keep things as such. Become a smooth operator, think about
possible old PC related future conflicts and learn to handle them smoothly in a friendly manner
proactively in advance. This is one of the skills that I am still learning. Make an inperson deal involving a used PC like asking for an eraser from a buddy, make it this smooth flowing.
9. If someone is complaining about an electronics or IT items then see if they are going to upgrade. Make friends with those who upgrade often. Help them by offering to make it easier for them to get rid of their older items.
10. Art of Barter - These older electronics and IT items have no real monetary value mostly. Some may not be interested in talking about them even. So, if you know they have something good, get their interest and barter with them a product or service that you can offer in return. At these levels, learning to barter is very helpful.
11. Mini Paintings
Try to make mini abstract paintings and keep with you. This helps to create a chat, break the ice and build contacts.
12. Never touch or carry alcohol openly around. Once I saw half a bottle of wine that I carried along with me when dumpster diving. One of my vital Janitor contacts saw me with it, he told me alcohol is very very bad, looked at me like I had back stabbed him and stopped offering me items or chatting with me after that. Best to avoid such negative impressions.
13. Matt Malone Article High End dumpster diver:
https://www.wired.com/2015/02/high-e...g-matt-malone/
Lots to learn from others like him. I reread this article sometimes for fresh ideas.
14. Learn about salesmanship and some of the methods salesmen use. Sometimes, concerning older PCs, one will even have to interact over the phone. Here is a site that gives tips about doing business over the phone: http://businessbyphone.com/
With older PCs while usually there is no monetary value, it still is a business transaction of sorts.
15. One of my neighbors has a super nice core2duo that he absolutely doesn't need. It is a PC that any older PC lover would love to have, custom built with good hardware not much used. I wanted it but got too tech greedy, over excited, he clearly felt this, became defensive and now will not part with it. What is done is done, I built great resistance in him and gave him many reasons not to part with it, all my alternative methods with him have failed, he sees me as a greedy geek after his older PC. So, trying to learn from it. Try to wipe out the words geek and nerd in regards to older PCs and linux. Offer friendly support and solutions with technology for fun to meet the needs of others. Don't try to fit people to linux and older PCs. A good aim is to get older PCs and linux to help people in small ways.

Every time I think I am done with older PCs and this thread, I seem to get fresh ideas.

Today's finds, (1) Under the counter kitchen clock radio and CD player, very nice sound but time can't be set
Edited to add:
This is the one - https://www.cnet.com/products/ge-spa...adio-cd/specs/
Learned to set the time. Only thing is appears there is no battery backup in case of power
loss. Also, there is no alarm feature. It is good for what it is, to use as such.
(2) a speaker outside its case, magnets exposed, will be nice to remove the magnets and learn about their uses,
can use this experience with PC speakers, they will have smaller magnets likely inside them
(3)a very nice monitor that powers on and flashes white constantly but no display.
Edited to add:
Everfocus EN7519S - was advised to watch these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPhgZxLTjoQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgMUpqTBLuA#t=66 . Now I am glad this monitor is not working, cause if it works I would have never learned to open a monitor. Got the spec sheet for the monitor, it is a BNC monitor for mostly security cameras etc., but must work with VGA also, perhaps was used for bldg., security.

Research lead me to the following links, don't think will do these but good to know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q6_TgNJvQw
https://www.techwalla.com/articles/h...from-a-speaker
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/14-...r-magnets.html

Few Bonuses I found along the way as an aside
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-...g-cartons.html
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-...ton-balls.html
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/15-...or-apples.html

I found a nice HP printer/scanner yesterday which I would have liked to give to a friend but it had no power connector cable. I believe that these transformer/connectors are model-specific so what is the point of not including them if you are putting something out for recycling?

Lots of useful parts inside a printer. Today closer to late afternoon I found an epson printer on top of a dumpster. Got it home and just finished tearing it apart. The people who saw me take the printer told me I am crazy and this will never work. Removed the motors and most of the screws, some cables. Ready to throw out the plastic pieces for recycling. Very little metal inside this printer. This is the second printer I am tearing apart, did this a lot faster in about 90 minutes or so. missed 2 side screws so broke this part, next time will look more carefully. For now hopefully, I have all the screws that I need. Always better to have more than to have less. From a printer/scanner the following are salvagable:
1. Screws 2. Motors 3 Cables/Wires 4. Power Adapter 5. Partially used toners in some cases and metal pieces for recycling. Leave out the very hard and tiny screws as they damage tips of screw drivers.

Real life with used and abandoned IT stuff is far from perfect, poorly maintained, dirty, missing
parts, handled bad, etc., etc., Sometimes out of the entire item only 25% is useful but this can't be ignored. Accepting this reality and dealing with it practically gives peace. I am still learning this.

Basic learning about Capacitors:
http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~reese/electrolytics/

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/captest.htm

Today's find a very cheap adsl modem without power adapter. Perhaps can use this as a hub also. No manual and no other info, no name or model # on it, seems to be a very cheap make. Still decided to bring it home and play with it when time permits. White top with black sides.

Just tested this, it works ok with PPPoe. Was informed before that windows PC is needed for the
web interface to load, so will leave it as such for now. Glad I decided to get this home. Free modem+router is great deal :)

Previously a few weeks ago, I found a router and couldn't get it to work as it needs a 5V adapter. I tried it with a 12V adapter briefly and it worked very well, web interface loaded with Linux. However, it was suggested that I don't use it as it will likely burn the router with time and perhaps even cause a fire as all router components are getting over double the voltage. So I turned it off. Then I tried my very old PURCHASED router, the web interface for this also worked quite well and I set this up. So it helps to be patient for sometime and try. Glad I didn't myself throw these things away fast.

Considering that data is sensitive and personal, it will be very hard to find hard drives and data storage devices of any kind abandoned such as USB flash drives, external HDs etc., Flash cards are quite small so will be even harder to find them.
Even if found, chances are that they have stopped working.

Present older PC related issues I am facing:
1. Opening very small screws. Have a Jeweler's screw driver set but fail miserably with smaller screws.
2. PC not recognizing router immediately on boot. Network interface light not lit. So have to connect modem directly to PC initially. Have to figure a way out of this.
3. Unable to open heat sink clip for older PCs
4. Failed at securing the Mobo panel for the case before.
5. Router web interface is not loading after PC hard reboot. Was suggested to try this:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index

Russian computer from the 1970s:
http://media.englishrussia.com/newpi...7ffa93d_XL.jpg