One of my contacts was upset that I am using an older PC with 256Mb Ram. I can even use a P1 with 4Mb ram. Very comfortable around the 32Mb zone but have not needed to work around those levels for over a decade now.

I have to backup this PC fast, time for this, if not I will be crying should it crash. This is one thing about older PCs, don't take too many chances. Better to be extra careful than sorry.

One of my contacts was unhappy that I am using an older PC with just 256 Mb Ram and wanted me to upgrade. I laughed to myself at this for I have worked with even 4Mb ram with P1 and am comfortable even with 32Mb Ram, however have not needed to go this low for a while now.

Need to backup this PC soon, if it crashes things will be very unpleasant. This is one thing with older PCs, better to be extra safe than sorry.

Note: Sorry for the duplicate post, this can be deleted.

[QUOTE=Doug G;5623453]Dell is very good at keeping manuals, etc. online. The computer should have a "service tag", usually on a white sticker on the rear of the chassis with 6-7 alphanumeric characters (in caps). Or, if you can get into the bios setup, the service tag should be displayed there.

Then visit www.dell.com, go to the support area, and there should be a place to identify the computer you're interested in by entering the service tag number. If you do, and all goes well, the site will show you links to the manuals and device drivers applicable to that machine. The Dell support site is one reason I have primarily used and recommended Dell computers since about 2000.
/[QUOTE]

Thanks for this info. Yes, the Dell Dimension 4300 is very well made and is sturdy. The parts are all setup well inside, the case is also good. Rested the desktop on my foot briefly and it is paining now, just that the case is super heavy. Else, all else is mostly good. Clearly beats me how such an old PC can be so good inside and work so well. Everything in those days was a lot more durable.

I was unable to sleep and am listening to some net radio now. Some folks may feel that we are penetrating with an older PC. However, I don't see anything to penetrate, I just use an old PC for what it can do and leave it at that.

World's smallest Linux Computer:
http://www.picotux.com/

This is brand new and so helps to put older PCs in perspective. Certainly lot less power consumption.

Someone asked me recently if I am a hacker ? This made me look up related info.:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_culture
http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

Based on the above two sites, I am far from a hacker, there is no need for me to hack anything.
Most of these older PCs work the same way they were designed to work. Taking parts from older
hardware, including screws is just practical. I don't know HTML etc., so I don't qualify as a hacker.

This is why most of my older stuff went away. I could do the same work on a raspberry Pi for less power. And with my hackish mini rack they take much less space

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...h_KIMG0433.jpg

The only old keepers now for me are a couple old laptops and the Amiga 2000

Look at something like rysnc or similar and setup a scheduled sync from one pc to another. This way you have a backup.

I went one step furthur and setup owncloud on one so I can backup my phone/tablet as well.
So one system acts as the cloud server where all the others sync to. Then all my important data is copied across multiple systems.

Today I found and donated 3 sacks of women's winter clothing and 3 pairs off women's shoes. Was rewarded with 2 USB mice, need to check and see if they are working, but they look awesome.

Edited to add: Tested all 3 mice I got recently just now. They all work fine.

Was wondering what the blue port on the sound card was far, came across this interesting link. The home page is also very helpful:
http://learning-about-computers.com/...ls/sound.shtml

Edited to add:
Setup the mic that came with the PC Headphones yesterday. Took a few attempts but figured it out. Now audio
recording via mic works on this PC. Thanks to dumpster diving and older PCs !!!

If you like an older OS, helps to make extra copies of it. Newer versions of the OS are slowly ending support for the older hardware and starting to support just the new hardware. Here is an example:

http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=09609

My objective now is to figure out approx. who is throwing: what, when, where, how, any other related info and seasonal trends of ups and downs also. If it is really down and I know in advance then I can do other things, if it is going to be very up then I can take extra rest, be ready for more trips, create more storage space etc., All this has to be figured out approx. per building in the local area that I can cover. This will be very helpful instead of a trial and error each week. Also, if I get better PCs, then those less desirable can be given away.

I was advised that not much is thrown away during the holiday season. However, I feel otherwise, as folks get gifts buy new items on sale etc., they will tend to throw away the older less desirable stuff. Also, in winter they can't carry things far. However, time will tell, so far have never done this winter, will be interesting to see this time.

Shortwave radio is almost dead, so is most of the hardware that came with it.

Other older forms of radio communication have also died, here is one such example:
http://englishrussia.com/2016/10/30/...mer-greatness/

Of particular interest for this thread is all this older radio hardware lying around:
http://media.englishrussia.com/newpi...37a39_orig.jpg

With the end of analog radio both FM and AM and the full move to digital radio, most older radio hardware will become
obsolete.

Similarly, if there is a significant change in internet technology, it might make older PCs almost useless. Already, folks who used DOS OSes with older PCs are unable to use secure and flash web etc., So nothing if forever, helps to enjoy the older PCs as long as they last before they become museum relics.

An older P4 costs about 35 bucks with tax locally. If the power bill to operate it costs more annually than the cost of the PC, then chances are that folks will get rid of it. No wonder we see so many older PCs being discarded. The way around it is to use the PC only when needed for one or two hours a day, this will greatly reduce the power bill and also extend the life of the older PC. If one already has a pi or similar device, then the older PC can be used to compliment such a device.

A nice free bonus to grab. Helps to be careful with those older PCs:
http://www.warp2search.net/news/stor...cuecd_490.html

Homeless ManFinds 30,000 Bitcoins on Hard Drive in New York Dumpster ( https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/c...on_hard_drive/ )

The above proves what I said wrong just a few days ago about not being able to find hard drives in dumpster. However, I will assume that this is a very rare incident unless there is further proof to the contrary.