Hardware upgrade, home or game server, recipe computer or even to manage security, your old computer is entitled to a second life.
A hardware upgrade
In the year you bought the computer, it probably had a platter hard drive and only 4 GB of RAM. Upgrading an old computer is a great way to extend its life. Although many upgrades are possible, it is best to focus on RAM and storage, which are largely responsible for the speed of data exchange between components.
Check the manufacturer’s website or online hardware stores to find the maximum RAM (in gigabytes – GB) allowed by your system. If you can swap out the sticks to get 8, 10, 12 or even 16 GB, go for it.
Same observation for storage, an old mechanical hard drive greatly affects the performance of the computer; replace it with solid state SSD storage which will make your system more responsive.
Note that not all computers allow upgrades, so do your research before buying new hardware.
As a media server
Your photo and video catalogs can be managed by an old computer; after all, multimedia is not a recent invention.
You probably have hours of music and tons of photos and videos stored locally. And you’d love to access it on your PCs, game consoles, tablets, and phones anywhere in your home. For this you need a media server.
Before you start, to get the best performance, install everything on your old PC with a clean operating system, and dedicate the system to playing multimedia content, nothing else.
Compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux, the free Kodi server software is very complete and you can use the Kodi app as a remote control on your iPhone or Android. French can be added after installation.
There is also the Plex software which offers similar features. This server software can be installed on Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, and even NAS network devices. Playback software is available for just about every device you can imagine.
For the best performance, install either of these two server software on your old PC with a clean operating system, and dedicate the system to playing media content, nothing else.
Read: How to dispose of an old computer
As a camera security system
Want to use security cameras to monitor your home while you’re away? An old computer can help you.
Many security cameras can connect to a computer on your local network and record video there. Look for home security cameras called “IP cameras”. They connect directly to a local network or the Internet.
Reinstall the old computer’s operating system and download a copy of Agent DVR from iSpy. Once installed, access your cameras through a web interface in the browser – no need to mess with router settings. That said, this use of a PC as a camera isn’t as subtle as buying one of our best home security cameras, but it’s a lot cheaper, since it’s free for personal use and local.
This iSpy software is free for local and private use. You can add as many cameras as you want. However, remote access, cloud downloads (on the clouds) and other services that use the online platform require a subscription.
For hackers: an Ubuntu Linux system
You’ve heard of Linux and maybe you’d like to try it. But the idea of trying it on your main computer leaves you cold. From now on, you can experiment as you wish on your old box, obviously in French.
Ubuntu remains the most user-friendly Linux version that beginners and geeks love. The nice thing about Linux is the built-in support for older hardware, so installation is usually easy. Plus, there’s plenty of freeware for Linux just waiting to be tried.
And there are video tutorials online on YouTube. Some are English, but subtitled in our language.
Have fun !
The Ubuntu System GUI
Ubuntu