Yes, the shorter, smaller cables are for the phones. Helps to collect and keep a few of these also. Can also be given to others if the need arises.

They are likely Micro-USB though there are several small new "USB" connectors that are similar, bu different.
That is one of the biggest complaints about modern hardware; that the cables are NOT any standard and are expensive.

Yes, different kinds of cables can be charged a lot more for extras. Unique is expensive.
Hence, retro is good again.

http://englishrussia.com/2017/05/26/...eir-computers/

Never needed to cool my PC or laptop so far but fun ideas to see.

The phone industry standardized on microusb a few years ago so the cables that are not USB are likely for Apple crap.

Found a Compaq Presario AMD64 Core2Duo Computer SR2020NX
https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-com...0gb-hdd/specs/

Cleaned insides with hair dryer.
256 Mb *2 Ram was loose, no case fan, case has no side panel and also rear bottom support, so it tilts to the back when it is kept upright. Hence, I am keeping it horizontal for now.
Perhaps can be moved to another PC case entirely, will reflect on this and see. Also, very short power chord. Almost stumbled and fell down on it. Glad I quickly realized what it was and got it home. The HD is 160Gb Sata and the cables had come loose, had to replug them. It powers on well. Will test slowly if it works well and share updates here. Has no floppy drive.

Edited to add:
This PC beeped on boot but had blank display. Reinstalling the Ram
modules resolved the issue, it boots quite slowly for a C2D, perhaps this is due to low RAM. Now only need to check if the DVD writer works.

I am not terribly familiar with those, but it sounds to me like it is not that old. (Very badly treated, but not old.) Cheap, not a speed demon, but a fairly solid little box. You might search your parts box and see if you have a couple of 1G memory boards to max it out on Ram. It seems to me those would perform better if they have a lot of ram overhead to play with, and it maxes out at 2G.

Made for XP and intended to support up to VISTA (yea right, with 512M?) it should perform better with any light Linux distro.

512 Mb is more than enough Ram, created a 2G swap partition on HD and installed puppy linux 5.3.3 on it after testing it with live CD. Works like a charm. So dvd drive is in excellent condition for reading, need to test it for writing next.

The other side panel on the PC case doesn't open. So need to find out how to remove the drive bays etc., there is a special plastic latch on the drive bays, it is a two step process to remove it, there is a picture on it but it is not clear.

Updates on this recent abandoned Desktop PC I found:

Motherboard: AMB2N-LA
PSU: HP-D2537F3R
Need to learn to remove the drive bays next if I need to strip this PC.
Windows Vista was released in 2007 so this PC is from around that time.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00749174
Few hours after I got this PC, it rained a lot. Glad I found it
before that and got it home.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07110
Unable to find manuals for this PC online. No youtube videos also on this.
No Solution steps online
Tried to move the lever sideways, this doesn't work.
Tried to move the bay downwards and sideways, this doesn't work either.
When the front panel is move inwards, the lever seems to Click.
Unable to remove the front panel when the level is pressed down or in
normal position.
Perhaps the entire frame may move outwards must see if this works.

This PC had Win XP on it and still has the license sticker for it on the side
of the PC.
Ran hardware report and saved it to HD.
Had to change the CMOS battery as the old one was loosing info. on full power down.
Had to unplug power cable fully wait till it turned off fully for about a
minute or so, then do a hard reset for 20 seconds, then power
on again to check if time etc., were still saved.
BIOS is Phonenix vs. 3.0 from 2006.
USB legacy is Auto, so must try USB boot next.
So it appears that the HD and the DVD drive have screws on just one side of it and are
held in place by some other mechanism. Can try to remove the HD to confirm
it in future if needed.

In Summary things to verify on this PC:
1. DVD writer works,
2. removing HD needs the screws to be removed on just the one side.
If not learn to remove the HD and the DVD drive.
3. USB boot
Get: Case fan and side panel for this PC, also memory upgrade.

Edited to add:
Now I will collect PC Case side panels, never know they will be needed
and come in handy, besides they don't take up that much space. Regret deeply throwing out all the ones I had before. Don't find these that often.

I found a strange screen this morning. It has a built-in cable that branches into three: a usb plug, an audio jack and something I have never seen before with two sets of nine pins and one extra flat pin, all arranged in a row. I can't see anything that looks like a power input.

I thought maybe it powers off usb, but when I plugged it into one of my computer's usb ports, nothing happened and the kernel didn't even notice it.

PS: I found the third connector in Wikipedia. It's a DVI-D single link.

I've identified it! It had "Formac GmbH" inscribed on it, so I googled it. It really is "for Macs".
I think this is it.
The power connection must be the thing I took for an audio jack.

Thanks for sharing. I have thrown some very useful things like a monkey in the past and deeply regret it. Want those items back but they are gone and very hard to find. There is a fine balance between clutter and keeping useful items. Info. and experience are a great help in this regard. I am still learning daily.

This PC I got yesterday even has a dual layer DVD burner, first time I got one such in my life.

Here is something I found yesterday, a Lip Balm called EOS that has been recalled due to it causing skin burns etc., These are good to use on the screws and around fans of older PC,
where covers meet etc., good lubricant. )
Here is a related link:
http://urbansurvivalsite.com/20-surv...or-chap-stick/

As an aside, I really like the front cover of your Linux book, The Charm of Linux:
http://www.hrussman.entadsl.com/books.html

Wow Hazel, you are super advanced indeed, no wonder you got such nice ratings here, very deep experience spread over several years.

I found a lipstick pencil that can actually write onto CDs. Ballpoint pens can't, and I've discovered that sticky labels are not safe. They can come off inside the drive.
Thanks!

Thank for sharing this, never had it happen to me but there is always a first time and it
usually happens at the worse possible moment.

Look at giving away an older PC as giving away an old book or old tshirt, to charity to assist another needy person. Then it becomes a lot less dramatic. Down the road, the person who gets this older PC might even donate it to someone else, there by creating a positive chain. On the other hand, life will also give one more older hardware in future.