While desktop PC sales have been steadily declining, sales of laptops have continued to increase over the past few years. However, although a PC can usually be given a new lease of life by easily upgrading its core hardware, the same is not usually true of an old laptop.
There are certain parts of a laptop that can be upgraded, if your laptop is over a certain age, but it will be difficult, and in many cases impossible, to do much with it to improve its performance. As such, you may feel it's time to consign it to the bin.
But wait, don't give up on it yet, as there are plenty of ways you can turn your old laptop into something far more useful again. The easiest way to get the most from your old system is to recycle the internal hardware, such as the memory, hard drive and, in some cases, even the processor.
However, this isn't the only thing you can do, as your trusty portable can even find a new lease of life when used alongside other devices in your home. It can bring improved usability to games consoles in your living room, or even be used to enhance other PCs that you or your family use. Whatever the case, there's no need to get rid of your old laptop just yet.
1. Salvage the hardware
If your laptop has fallen down the stairs, simply doesn't work, or you don't have the inclination to upgrade it, then you could instead salvage some of the parts. The hard drive is a logical choice, because with a USB caddy, which you can pick up on eBay for a few pounds, it is possible to quickly create an external, portable hard drive.
Depending on how much RAM is fitted, you may also be able to remove the memory sticks and use them in another laptop, or simply sell them on eBay. Both the hard drive and memory are easily removed from most laptops, with the use of a screwdriver, so even the least advanced user can get them out.
Another option is your laptop's optical drive. This could be used in a home theatre-style PC case that requires a slimline optical drive, converted to an external drive with a caddy, or sold as a spare part.
Finally, if you really want to tear the laptop to bits, you could try removing the CPU and monitor. You can sell both of these components as spare parts, but if you don't fancy getting rid of them, you could even make use of the monitor yourself (see tip number 2).
2. Reuse the monitor as a second screen
While it's technically possible to remove the screen from a laptop, all the electronics required to make the screen function as a monitor are built into the laptop's motherboard. To use it as a separate monitor, you would need to purchase a controller board, and connect this to the screen and your laptop or PC.
It's beyond the scope of this article to run through the procedure, but a MP3Car.com has good guide. If you're technically minded, it's a fun project.
The alternative is to use software to share your graphics card's output over the network. To do this, you can use a free piece of software called ZoneScreen.
3. Upgrade the hardware
While you might see a laptop as essentially non-upgradable, there are actually a number of things you can do to breathe new life into an old machine. If your laptop is simply struggling to run some of the latest programs, than a RAM upgrade may be in order.
Adding more memory to your laptop is one of the most cost-effective ways of giving it a real performance boost, and is also a very simple task to perform. Depending on the laptop model, you can install up to 4GB of RAM if using a 32-bit OS.
The memory is usually found under a panel on the laptop's underside, and there should be a couple of slots to hold the chips. Use a memory checker, such as the one at www.crucial.com/uk, to find out how much memory your laptop can handle, and what type you need.
Upgrading the hard drive will not only give you more storage space, it will probably speed up Windows and your applications, due to the faster speed at which drives now spin. You will need to back up all your data, or create an image of your drive beforehand; Paragon's Drive Backup 9.0 Express can do this for free.
You can also often upgrade your optical drive, if it's broken or you simply want to add a drive with more features. Even if you can't find an internal one to fit, external drives are relatively cheap and the portable ones are fairly unobtrusive. While it is technically possible to upgrade the CPU and graphics chips in laptops, they were never really designed with upgrading in mind.
You will need to take the entire laptop apart and find a suitable upgrade part. Not only that, but the cooling hardware for your current CPU may not be able to cope with an upgraded CPU. Still, you'll find plenty of laptop CPUs on eBay, should you wish to give it a go.
4. Replace Windows with Linux
Windows demands a lot from a laptop, especially Windows Vista, and many of the latest software applications will also struggle to run on older hardware. Linux is a lot less demanding, however, as are the applications that run on it.
A laptop that takes an age to boot Windows will seem like a thoroughbred racehorse in comparison when running a lightweight Linux installation. While Ubuntu may be the flavour of the month, it's starting to get a bit bloated, so why not try some slimline alternatives, such as Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux or for the ultimate diet OS, give gOS a try.
5. Turn it into a home automation server
Hollywood loves the idea of the computer-controlled home, where you walk into a room, tell the house computer to turn on the lights, make some coffee and open the curtains. While this might seem like a fantasy, a degree of automation is possible, and you only need a low-powered computer, or an old laptop, to control it all.
One of the best known systems is X-10, which uses your home's mains wiring to control light switches, plugs and motors to open and close your curtains as well as activate a whole host of other devices. The system is controlled by software installed on your laptop, and a master unit which plugs into a wall socket and a USB or serial port on your laptop.
The software enables you to set up scheduled events, take control of any device and, if your laptop is connected to the internet, you can even control your automated devices when you are away from home. Yes, there is even a voice-control option, although it does require some training and persistence to use.
But because the software is very undemanding, it is especially suitable for old laptops and, because they consume so little power, you don't need to worry about your electricity bills. You can find out more at www.domialifestyle.com.
6. Use it with an external monitor
One of the most common ways laptop screens become damaged is when something like a pen is left on the keyboard and the screen is closed. It's expensive having a laptop screen replaced, but just because the screen is damaged, it doesn't mean you can't use it, as most laptops have a port for an external monitor.
As it's not very handy having a broken screen in front of you, you can treat the laptop like a PC, but plug in an external keyboard, mouse and monitor, and hide the laptop out of sight. One idea is to use a mesh document holder, which is screwed to the back of your monitor, using the wall-mount screw-holes, and then place the laptop in the document holder. Some laptops can also be switched on using an external keyboard or mouse, if the option is turned on in the BIOS.
7. Give it to a worthy cause
As long as your laptop isn't actually broken, there are plenty of people who may be able to make use of it. While a charity might be the obvious choice, many charities end up being lumbered with old, unusable hardware, donated by well-meaning people, which they can't actually use and which they then have to pay to dispose of.
In the same way, many schools don't want to be given out-of-date hardware, as it serves no practical teaching purpose for them. Still, there are plenty of organisations that will take old laptops, so check out www.donateapc.org.uk and www.itforcharities.co.uk/pcs.htm for a list of organisations.
Since many people don't need a high powered, do-it-all laptop for email and the internet, why not give an old laptop to a friend or family member that only needs a basic machine? A laptop loaded with gOS (see tip number 4), makes an ideal choice.
8. Turn it into a server
We tend to think of servers as huge, noisy boxes living in air-conditioned rooms, but home servers can be amazingly low-powered devices. This means that even a fairly low-powered laptop has the potential to be used as a basic server, with only a minor bit of tweaking.
A laptop also has the advantage of not occupying much space, so it can be tucked neatly away from sight. Most laptops also usually have some good power-saving features built in and, if it doesn't have built-in wireless, it's easy enough to add with a USB or card-bus adaptor.
Plug it into your printer and an external hard drive for additional storage, turn on Windows File and Printer sharing, install the latest version of Windows Media player, and you have a low-profile file, print and media server you can tuck away in a cupboard somewhere that the whole family can use easily and safely.
9. Turn it into a wireless bridge
You may find that you have several devices around your home, such as an Xbox 360, a media centre or internet radio, that have an Ethernet port, but no wireless connection.
Microsoft charges a lot of money for its proprietary Wireless adaptor for the Xbox, but using your laptop's wireless connection, you can create a bridge between your wireless network and a wired device.
To use your laptop as a bridge, you need to connect your laptop to your Xbox or other device with an Ethernet port and share the wireless connection. A full tutorial can be found here.
10. Make a digital photo frame
If you've ever looked at digital photo frames, but been put off by the price and you're prepared to do a little DIY, then you can make your own.
The basic idea is that you remove the frame from your laptop screen, strip the laptop down to basics, and mount the whole thing in a custom frame. There are several ways you can display your pictures, depending on what OS you choose for the laptop and whether or not the laptop has a working hard drive, floppy drive, optical drive or wireless connection.
If the hard drive still works, then the easiest choice is to install the OS on this, and store the pictures in a specific folder. If you have a working wireless connection and use Windows as the OS, you can use a great application called Slickr, which displays photos from your flickr account as a screensaver.
If the hard drive doesn't work, but the optical drive does, then you can create a bootable CD or DVD with the pictures on it.
For ideas on how best to convert your old laptop, have a look at this project using Slickr, or go to this site, which has a huge list of conversion projects, using a range of different laptop makes and models.
There are certain parts of a laptop that can be upgraded, if your laptop is over a certain age, but it will be difficult, and in many cases impossible, to do much with it to improve its performance. As such, you may feel it's time to consign it to the bin.
But wait, don't give up on it yet, as there are plenty of ways you can turn your old laptop into something far more useful again. The easiest way to get the most from your old system is to recycle the internal hardware, such as the memory, hard drive and, in some cases, even the processor.
However, this isn't the only thing you can do, as your trusty portable can even find a new lease of life when used alongside other devices in your home. It can bring improved usability to games consoles in your living room, or even be used to enhance other PCs that you or your family use. Whatever the case, there's no need to get rid of your old laptop just yet.
1. Salvage the hardware
If your laptop has fallen down the stairs, simply doesn't work, or you don't have the inclination to upgrade it, then you could instead salvage some of the parts. The hard drive is a logical choice, because with a USB caddy, which you can pick up on eBay for a few pounds, it is possible to quickly create an external, portable hard drive.
Depending on how much RAM is fitted, you may also be able to remove the memory sticks and use them in another laptop, or simply sell them on eBay. Both the hard drive and memory are easily removed from most laptops, with the use of a screwdriver, so even the least advanced user can get them out.
Another option is your laptop's optical drive. This could be used in a home theatre-style PC case that requires a slimline optical drive, converted to an external drive with a caddy, or sold as a spare part.
Finally, if you really want to tear the laptop to bits, you could try removing the CPU and monitor. You can sell both of these components as spare parts, but if you don't fancy getting rid of them, you could even make use of the monitor yourself (see tip number 2).
2. Reuse the monitor as a second screen
While it's technically possible to remove the screen from a laptop, all the electronics required to make the screen function as a monitor are built into the laptop's motherboard. To use it as a separate monitor, you would need to purchase a controller board, and connect this to the screen and your laptop or PC.
It's beyond the scope of this article to run through the procedure, but a MP3Car.com has good guide. If you're technically minded, it's a fun project.
The alternative is to use software to share your graphics card's output over the network. To do this, you can use a free piece of software called ZoneScreen.
3. Upgrade the hardware
While you might see a laptop as essentially non-upgradable, there are actually a number of things you can do to breathe new life into an old machine. If your laptop is simply struggling to run some of the latest programs, than a RAM upgrade may be in order.
Adding more memory to your laptop is one of the most cost-effective ways of giving it a real performance boost, and is also a very simple task to perform. Depending on the laptop model, you can install up to 4GB of RAM if using a 32-bit OS.
The memory is usually found under a panel on the laptop's underside, and there should be a couple of slots to hold the chips. Use a memory checker, such as the one at www.crucial.com/uk, to find out how much memory your laptop can handle, and what type you need.
Upgrading the hard drive will not only give you more storage space, it will probably speed up Windows and your applications, due to the faster speed at which drives now spin. You will need to back up all your data, or create an image of your drive beforehand; Paragon's Drive Backup 9.0 Express can do this for free.
You can also often upgrade your optical drive, if it's broken or you simply want to add a drive with more features. Even if you can't find an internal one to fit, external drives are relatively cheap and the portable ones are fairly unobtrusive. While it is technically possible to upgrade the CPU and graphics chips in laptops, they were never really designed with upgrading in mind.
You will need to take the entire laptop apart and find a suitable upgrade part. Not only that, but the cooling hardware for your current CPU may not be able to cope with an upgraded CPU. Still, you'll find plenty of laptop CPUs on eBay, should you wish to give it a go.
4. Replace Windows with Linux
Windows demands a lot from a laptop, especially Windows Vista, and many of the latest software applications will also struggle to run on older hardware. Linux is a lot less demanding, however, as are the applications that run on it.
A laptop that takes an age to boot Windows will seem like a thoroughbred racehorse in comparison when running a lightweight Linux installation. While Ubuntu may be the flavour of the month, it's starting to get a bit bloated, so why not try some slimline alternatives, such as Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux or for the ultimate diet OS, give gOS a try.
5. Turn it into a home automation server
Hollywood loves the idea of the computer-controlled home, where you walk into a room, tell the house computer to turn on the lights, make some coffee and open the curtains. While this might seem like a fantasy, a degree of automation is possible, and you only need a low-powered computer, or an old laptop, to control it all.
One of the best known systems is X-10, which uses your home's mains wiring to control light switches, plugs and motors to open and close your curtains as well as activate a whole host of other devices. The system is controlled by software installed on your laptop, and a master unit which plugs into a wall socket and a USB or serial port on your laptop.
The software enables you to set up scheduled events, take control of any device and, if your laptop is connected to the internet, you can even control your automated devices when you are away from home. Yes, there is even a voice-control option, although it does require some training and persistence to use.
But because the software is very undemanding, it is especially suitable for old laptops and, because they consume so little power, you don't need to worry about your electricity bills. You can find out more at www.domialifestyle.com.
6. Use it with an external monitor
One of the most common ways laptop screens become damaged is when something like a pen is left on the keyboard and the screen is closed. It's expensive having a laptop screen replaced, but just because the screen is damaged, it doesn't mean you can't use it, as most laptops have a port for an external monitor.
As it's not very handy having a broken screen in front of you, you can treat the laptop like a PC, but plug in an external keyboard, mouse and monitor, and hide the laptop out of sight. One idea is to use a mesh document holder, which is screwed to the back of your monitor, using the wall-mount screw-holes, and then place the laptop in the document holder. Some laptops can also be switched on using an external keyboard or mouse, if the option is turned on in the BIOS.
7. Give it to a worthy cause
As long as your laptop isn't actually broken, there are plenty of people who may be able to make use of it. While a charity might be the obvious choice, many charities end up being lumbered with old, unusable hardware, donated by well-meaning people, which they can't actually use and which they then have to pay to dispose of.
In the same way, many schools don't want to be given out-of-date hardware, as it serves no practical teaching purpose for them. Still, there are plenty of organisations that will take old laptops, so check out www.donateapc.org.uk and www.itforcharities.co.uk/pcs.htm for a list of organisations.
Since many people don't need a high powered, do-it-all laptop for email and the internet, why not give an old laptop to a friend or family member that only needs a basic machine? A laptop loaded with gOS (see tip number 4), makes an ideal choice.
8. Turn it into a server
We tend to think of servers as huge, noisy boxes living in air-conditioned rooms, but home servers can be amazingly low-powered devices. This means that even a fairly low-powered laptop has the potential to be used as a basic server, with only a minor bit of tweaking.
A laptop also has the advantage of not occupying much space, so it can be tucked neatly away from sight. Most laptops also usually have some good power-saving features built in and, if it doesn't have built-in wireless, it's easy enough to add with a USB or card-bus adaptor.
Plug it into your printer and an external hard drive for additional storage, turn on Windows File and Printer sharing, install the latest version of Windows Media player, and you have a low-profile file, print and media server you can tuck away in a cupboard somewhere that the whole family can use easily and safely.
9. Turn it into a wireless bridge
You may find that you have several devices around your home, such as an Xbox 360, a media centre or internet radio, that have an Ethernet port, but no wireless connection.
Microsoft charges a lot of money for its proprietary Wireless adaptor for the Xbox, but using your laptop's wireless connection, you can create a bridge between your wireless network and a wired device.
To use your laptop as a bridge, you need to connect your laptop to your Xbox or other device with an Ethernet port and share the wireless connection. A full tutorial can be found here.
10. Make a digital photo frame
If you've ever looked at digital photo frames, but been put off by the price and you're prepared to do a little DIY, then you can make your own.
The basic idea is that you remove the frame from your laptop screen, strip the laptop down to basics, and mount the whole thing in a custom frame. There are several ways you can display your pictures, depending on what OS you choose for the laptop and whether or not the laptop has a working hard drive, floppy drive, optical drive or wireless connection.
If the hard drive still works, then the easiest choice is to install the OS on this, and store the pictures in a specific folder. If you have a working wireless connection and use Windows as the OS, you can use a great application called Slickr, which displays photos from your flickr account as a screensaver.
If the hard drive doesn't work, but the optical drive does, then you can create a bootable CD or DVD with the pictures on it.
For ideas on how best to convert your old laptop, have a look at this project using Slickr, or go to this site, which has a huge list of conversion projects, using a range of different laptop makes and models.
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