If you have an old laptop dusting down in the corner, you know what I’m talking about. Just starting the thing up is so slow that it’s unbearable. So, should the good, old friend finally go to laptop heaven, or is it possible to squeeze some more joy out of it?
What do I do with an old laptop?
Besides just throw it in the trash, you could install a less heavy operating system on it. I use Linux mint on an old Lenovo laptop here. It was completely unusable with Windows 10. It takes around half an hour to get Linux Mint going including downloading it and putting it on an USB stick, and very little skill is needed to get it done. If you know basic stuff about computers, you are all good.
Are old laptops worth anything?
Yes. As long as it works. Of course, it also depends on what you need it for. For a graphic designer doing a lot of GPU-intensive work, it’s probably not worth much. For a student using it for general tasks, it can be priceless. In my own case, I use it to keep an eye on my crypto holdings on Binance. It’s very practical to have my wallet open on a separate screen. In order to use one keyboard and mouse for two computers, I use a little piece of software called Synergy. It works pretty smooth most of the time.
Can a laptop last 10 years?
Absolutely. But it needs to be taken well care of. By taken well care of, I mean it needs to be regularly checked by a tech-guy. Bring it to your local tech-repair shop and give it a good cleaning. Especially the fans needs to be regularly cleaned. Constantly overheating of the processor can damage it.
Also you need to have the hard drive checked regularly for bad sectors as well as the RAM needs checking.
What to do with an old laptop that doesn’t work?
First of all get an idea what is wrong with it. Is the battery dead? Does the screen work? Is the keyboard okay? Bring it to a PC repair shop and get an assessment what it will cost to find out what exactly is wrong with it. Don’t just leave it in the shelf. It could be something very simple and basic that needs fixing. For example the internal battery (a tiny little round battery found on the motherboard) could be ready to get changed. If that is the case, it costs close to nothing to change it. If it is the internal battery, you will find the laptop to seem like it’s completely dead.
The important thing here is to act and get it looked at as soon as possible. If it turns out it’s gonna be very costly to get it repaired, then at least you know what’s going on.
What do you do to keep your old laptop alive and well?
Let me know in the comments. I will update the article with your best tips.