What to make from a motherboard. We extract gold from motherboards (17 photos). place - scorpion made of resistors and microcircuits

External DVD drive with USB

2 Cordless DECT phone becomes a "baby monitor"

3 The router becomes a repeater

4 Turning a monitor into a computer

Computer at the lowest price

5 Search for extraterrestrial life

Research support

6 Turn your PC into a media center

Entertainment Center Full Kodi installation package provides maximum features

In desk drawers you can find a lot of outdated, but working components. On the one hand, it seems a pity to throw it away - considerable sums were once paid for these useless pieces of hardware. But today all this is unnecessary garbage, which belongs in a landfill.

However, there are people who do not see a problem in finding a use for an old disk drive or a non-working clock. They can be repaired, remade, restored. And if it doesn’t work out, just use it for beauty. This material is dedicated to the most interesting examples of “recycling” waste.

⇡ Music from trash

The first electronic musical instruments appeared long before Jean-Michel Jarre and the Kraftwerk group. For example, one of the predecessors of the synthesizer, the theremin, which musicians still use today, was created by Lev Sergeevich Theremin back in 1919. But it is no longer possible to find out who and when first came up with the idea of ​​using old computer components to play music.

Iron hit: hits played on computer hardware

Defining music is quite difficult. Probably its most successful and correct interpretation is harmony. Where harmony appears, we hear music. It can be caught anywhere - in the voice of a flute, in the strumming of a guitar, in the murmur of water, in the singing of birds or the sound of the surf. But the most amazing thing is when harmony is heard where you least expect to find it. For example, in the roar of machines in a factory or in the hum of computer coolers.

Do you think we're exaggerating? Hardly. Let's see what human imagination can produce if it is focused on creating music from noise.

One of the “pioneers” of computer music is James Houston. Moreover, when we say “computer music,” we do not mean electronic keyboard instruments at all. James was one of the first to come up with the idea of ​​using outdated computer parts to create tunes. A TV instead of a monitor, a cassette recorder for downloading data (yes, imagine, this was before disk drives), one of the first HP Scanjet 3c scanners, the first Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, an Epson LX-81 printer and other details.

This is what it looked like.

Not very impressive? Nevertheless, in 2008, this clip aroused great interest among Internet users. Within just a week of posting it on YouTube, James was inundated with thousands of reviews. Among the letters received was an offer to sign a contract to record this cover and a message directly from Radiohead - with an offer to post this video on the band's official website. For a student from Glasgow, this was great luck and an incentive to create in the future.

But this was only the first experience. James Huston has gained a huge following. And some of them were able to demonstrate “aerobatics” in creating music on computer hardware. One of these masters is a Canadian from Toronto named James Cochrane. He took this so seriously that his cover version of the legendary song The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals became a hit on YouTube for a while. It is performed by a whole ensemble of hard drives, an oscilloscope, a scanner and various computer components.

In addition to this piece, the Canadian music lover made versions of other famous compositions in a similar arrangement, for example "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen and the composition Gotye "Somebody That I Used to Know"

The modern computer is not at all like the cabinets and drawers that were there before. The appearance changes, the content changes. Some PC parts become outdated and in the finished package become an unnecessary addition, a kind of computer atavism.

For example, you can still see drives for floppy disks, or, simply put, floppy disks, in some computers. Those who were lucky enough to use this type of media should remember the characteristic sound that each time accompanied the reading head turning to the magnetic disk. This creaking sound could have a different tone, depending on the position of the sector being read. And if you choose such parameters for reading the disk drive so that it can play this or that note on request, it is quite possible to train the disk drive to play any melody.

Polish radio amateur Pawel Zadrozniak knows how to do this. Together with other students at the Krakow University of Science and Technology, Pavel developed a system of disk drives controlled by a microcontroller. Using this device, the Imperial March, the most recognizable tune from the Star Wars saga, was played on floppy disks.

Playing on floppy drives has proven to be a very popular activity, and the number of people wanting to get floppy drives to play has skyrocketed. There are even originals who are trying to sell recorded music through online services. For example, a certain MrSolidSnake745 put this idea on stream. He built an orchestra of eight disk drives, connected them to the Arduino platform and recorded a lot of popular tunes from games, movies, etc.

It is difficult to judge how much this business has enriched the “composer”, but if it is sold, it means someone is buying.

If suddenly you also have the desire to build a “music box” out of a disk drive, you can easily find guides and tips on how to do this on the Internet. For example, on the personal page of one of these enthusiasts, Michael Kohn.

Concert made from garbage with orchestra

If a desire arises in the soul to create real art, no life barriers or conventions can prevent this. The story below is proof of this.

In the far, far away country of Paraguay, where poverty in provincial towns coexists with dirty puddles and rickety shacks, there live people who cannot imagine their lives without music. But here’s the problem: how can you learn to play musical instruments if you don’t have a penny of money? There is not only no money for studying at a conservatory, but also no money even for the simplest cello or the cheapest clarinet.

But, as we know, when resourcefulness, creativity, passion and inspiration come together in one person, a miracle is born. This person turned out to be a teacher named Favio Chávez. In the small town of Cateura, Favio opened a music class, but there were too few instruments, much less than the number of people willing to play them.

Observing how his students were drawn to music, but did not have the opportunity to realize their desires, the teacher decided to provide everyone with instruments at all costs. One day, Favio Chavez met garbage collector Nicolás Gómez, nicknamed Cola, who at one time worked as a guitar maker. After consulting with each other, these two people came to an unexpected decision - to create tools from... garbage. Precisely from the garbage that is very abundant in the city landfill. Here, by the way, it would not be amiss to mention that the entire town of Cateura is one big landfill, and most of its adult population is busy sorting garbage and searching for something that may still be of value.

It turned out that it is not at all difficult to build musical instruments from materials found in a landfill. Favio's excellent hearing and the scavenger's ingenuity made it possible to create futuristic musical instruments from the most, at first glance, useless things. For example, an oil barrel turned into a cello, pipes into flutes, and shipping crates into guitars.

Favio's activities brought fame to the small town of Cateura. The music teacher's initiative was supported by sponsors, thanks to which a bank of used musical instruments was opened, but still suitable for teaching children.

And the children who were still able to learn music united in a group that received the quite expected name - Recycled Orchestra.

Recently, this team conducted a fundraising campaign on the popular Kickstarter service. Hoping for large fees, the garbage orchestra cherished Napoleonic plans - from filming a full-length documentary about the orchestra to creating a social movement in support of the poor.

But, despite powerful information support (all leading TV channels, including CNN and BBC, made reports about the strange musical group from Paraguay) and noble intentions, the musicians failed to realize most of their ideas. They managed to raise only enough money to organize a round-the-world tour for the Recycled Orchestra. However, this is also a lot - more than two hundred thousand dollars.

⇡ Masters of digital waste

What’s interesting is that the number of people who see beauty in the ordinary is increasing all the time. Probably, the classic was right, and you and I are simply witnessing how beauty saves this world. A world that turns out to be not boring and so diverse.

Gioconda from ASUS

The works of talented artists are sometimes so brilliant that if you try to repeat them, even their not very exact copy will attract attention. One such masterpiece is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. I remember, as soon as the first printing devices appeared, it became very fashionable in various research institutes to hang over the workplace a piece of a long roll of paper, on which the famous canvas, printed with ordinary alphabetic and numerical symbols, could be guessed. Whatever method the artist chooses to replicate the look of Mona Lisa, the result will almost certainly please many.

In 2009, the Taiwanese company ASUS contributed to the Mona Lisa once again experiencing reincarnation. One of the most amazing “remakes” of this painting was created. Moreover, fragments of ASUS motherboards were chosen as paints. To get the desired drawing, I had to very carefully work out the position of each detail in the “picture” - its orientation, color, and so on. With this unusual installation displayed in the office in Taipei, ASUS seems to emphasize that creating computer components and, in particular, motherboards is also a kind of art.

World on circuit boards

If you look at satellite images and then look at the printed circuit boards of some electronic devices, you will notice a lot of similarities. Roads, buildings, the topography of the earth's surface - all this resembles the layout of circuit boards with soldered elements. It was probably this analogy that gave Susan Stockwell the idea to create an entire map of the world out of motherboards.

To achieve the closest possible similarity, Susan used reclaimed components - connecting cables, coolers, cooling systems, etc. All this is not located chaotically, as it might seem at first glance, but in an orderly manner, so that the drawing of a real map is imitated. This project was created for the University of Bedfordshire.

Computer metropolis

Artists have a special vision, not the same as that of ordinary people. They are able to see completely unexpected pictures in unremarkable things. And the most talented of these people can show what they saw to everyone else. For example, Italian designer Franco Recchia creates his paintings using components from electronic devices.

For example, RAM strips, cooling radiators and all kinds of connectors removed from motherboards, in one of the artist’s works, make up the entire Manhattan, with skyscrapers and spiers.

Pictures made from wires and films

There are so many people who like to create sculptures from electronic components that even individuals with a characteristic “handwriting” have appeared among artists, such as Peter McFarlane. Peter makes pictures by laying them out with wires on a circuit board.

But surrealist artist Federico Uribe from Colombia uses wires as paints for his “canvases.” He simply “embroiders” pictures with wires with multi-colored insulation. Some of his works turn out to be voluminous, but Federico categorically objects to his creations being called installations; he considers them precisely paintings.

Erika Iris Simmons specializes in cassette tapes. In some amazing way, she can lay out any image using magnetic films. Erica's collection of works includes a large number of portraits of famous personalities - from the Fab Four and Bob Dylan to Lenny Kravitz and Nick Cave.

Moreover, for especially “ancient” celebrities (such as Marilyn Monroe or Alfred Hitchcock), Erica did not use cassette film, but magnetic tape from reels. Such paintings may well serve as, say, decoration for the interior of a rock cafe, and aged films will stimulate a retro mood.

In addition to “film” paintings, Erica also has drawings created using a cord from a Nintendo game console.

Laserdiscs are still around

Any digital media format sooner or later becomes obsolete. Floppy disks have become obsolete, and CDs have almost lost their relevance. But all this is an excellent “building” material from which you can make a lot of useful or simply beautiful things. For example, craftsmen have learned to make bags from floppy disks, and from a stack of laser discs you can make a beautiful lamp in a matter of minutes.

You can do even more rational things with old disks and combine beauty and benefit. In Madrid, on the wall of the Vincci Soho hotel you could see such beauty.

It took more than five thousand optical disks to create this almost thirteen-meter lizard. They are firmly attached to a special base and undoubtedly make passersby stop when they see the gecko for the first time.

This lizard was made last year by the design school iade, and the installation itself was called La Piel Cambiando (Changing Skin). According to the designers who came up with such advertising, the “animal” is looking for sunlight and symbolizes renewal, development and change.

Treasures from gears

Despite the abundance of electronics, we are still surrounded by many mechanical devices. Of course, they get old, often break down, and besides, they are being replaced by fashionable battery-powered gadgets. Many mechanical devices end their life in the same way - in the trash. No one will think about what to do with a broken wristwatch - repairing it is expensive, disassembling it for spare parts is pointless.

And yet there is a person who is convinced that it is not worth throwing away wheels and springs, even if they have ceased to perform their functions.

Justin Gershenson-Gates from the USA admires the harmony and coherence of the details of mechanical devices so much that he decided to prove to everyone that the gears and other parts of a mechanical watch themselves have a magnificent design and therefore can be used as jewelry.

According to the “mechanical jeweler,” his fate was predetermined in advance - his grandfather was a railroad worker, and his father loved to delve into various mechanisms. As a child, like probably many curious boys, he often took toys apart, wanting to understand how they worked. Moreover, as Justin himself admits, in most cases he could no longer put them back together.

Now he continues to do the same thing, but he is already dismantling “dead”, that is, broken mechanisms and for the benefit of business. By adding minimal changes to the design of parts and fastening them in a special way, Justin Gates creates pendants, cufflinks, pendants, earrings and other jewelry. The author of wonderful creations collects material for new steampunk jewelry, buying large quantities of old mechanical watches on Ebay and other similar services. The newly minted jeweler says his goal is to show the beauty of the mechanical world, to open up to others a place that is usually hidden behind a wall of metal and glass.

The author of jewelry gears even organized the studio A Mechanical Mind and periodically holds exhibitions showing his works. Those interested can purchase the items they like on the handicraft website ETSY, where the author displays his “jewels.”

⇡ Do-it-yourself: “garbage” transport and other crafts

Captain Nemo from Heaven

With his example, Chinese inventor Tao Xiangli proved that lack of funds and the absence of a wealthy sponsor are not a problem if there is a great desire to realize your ideas. You just need to take a closer look at recycling products, which in fact often are not such.

Tao Xiangli's inventions cost a pretty penny, however, given the scale of the projects being implemented, the inventor's costs can be considered symbolic. In 2009, this Chinese craftsman greatly surprised many experienced designers.

Having invested only about three thousand dollars, Tao made nothing less than... a submarine. When this became public knowledge, Tao became a celebrity and reporters from all over the world flocked to him. What Tao said in his interview shocked many. His last job was as a technician at a karaoke bar. He has no education. He studied only five years at school, and the last year was an “encore”. A repeat student with a junior high education, Tao never uses a tape measure or ruler. He selects all sizes intuitively.

His submarine turned out to be without European-quality repairs - rusty and 90 percent consisting of used parts. But it floats, although the first tests could have cost the inventor his life. According to the author of this miracle, he got many parts of the submarine practically for nothing - light bulbs, wires, switches, and so on. “Our country is developing very quickly, I would never have thought of something like this before,” laughs Tao. Now the Chinese submarine builder is plowing his underwater vehicle across the local river. Only one person can fit in a submarine, and only if his dimensions are the same as those of the chief designer.

Encouraged by the success, the Chinese Kulibin spent another year of work on a new endeavor. This time he decided to realize another childhood dream and make himself a robot. For the next project, the inventor had to invest more than $24,000. With this money, he purchased scrap metal, wires and electronic parts. From all this “trash” Tao built a huge robot monster, whose height is more than two meters and weighs 480 kilograms.

Bike decorated with trash

Many bikers strive to give their vehicle some special design. There are many bikers in the world who make high-quality “pumping” of a motorcycle beyond recognition. Mirrors are added, the appearance and filling are changed... But few can compare in this skill with the master from Bangkok. His name is Roongrojna Sangwongprisarn.

The motorcycles he created by hand are impossible to forget - they are true works of art. Colorful monsters hug the two-wheeled car and make it noticeable from afar. But the most amazing thing is that the author uses spare parts from discarded cars to create these bike sculptures. The creator of these masterpieces has his own chain of stores, Ko Art Shop, through which Roongrojna sells his creations.

Second life of the “iron horse”

Many things are disposed of by humans unwisely. At least that's what the employees of the creative agency Lola in Madrid think. This is especially true for cars. Old, rusty, worn-out cars are excellent material for further use. Employees of the mentioned agency have developed their own technology for converting discarded cars into bicycles. They called their project Bicycled - a play on the English words bicycle (bicycle) and recycled (recycling).

It turns out that this is not difficult at all. From almost every worthless car, with skillful hands you can create a high-quality two-wheeled vehicle that will serve its owner for a long time. The necessary elements are cut out from the doors and body of the car, and the frame and steering wheel are made by welding. Any “surviving” parts are used - from drive belts to door handles. Using a surviving fragment of leather from one of the seats, craftsmen create a saddle, and the signal lights removed from the car are attached to the bicycle. The result is a completely working model of two-wheeled transport.

But the best part about it is that cycling is an environmentally friendly form of transport. The amount of waste is reduced and people adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Home made from old cars

Bicycles aren't the only thing old cars are good for. If you have enough patience and inspiration, you can build an entire house out of old cars, like Karl Wanaselja did. He is an architect by profession, so performing a preliminary calculation of his future home was not a very difficult task for Karl.

Almost all the details of the home were taken from old cars. When the architect began construction of his house in Berkeley, he had to carefully study the California landfill, where he was able to obtain most of the materials. At the junkyard, he was looking mainly for the roofs and side windows of a Dodge Caravan minivan. The windows were turned into awnings, and fragments of the roofs were useful for cladding the upper floor.

According to Karl, he managed to create the illusion of a large space within a very limited scope, and he even jokingly compares his house to a telephone booth from the TV series Doctor Who.

King of Trash

If you call the next builder the king of garbage, he will not be offended. Moreover, he will take it as a compliment.

Each of us has our own world, and whether we like it or not, we subconsciously try to bring it into reality. Some people succeed easily, others never succeed. But this man could. True, he did not have the means to build his kingdom, with cathedrals and arches.

Therefore, Vince Hannemann from Texas chose garbage as a building material. He has been collecting junk since 1989. Thousands of discarded items - from damaged irons and televisions to outdated phones, broken furniture and electronics - everything will find a use in his wonderful cathedral, built from all this rubbish. At first, no one took this man seriously, but when in 2010 his cathedral reached a decent size, the municipality of Austin came to its senses and banned this construction, considering the idea at least dangerous. But it was not there. The future king of garbage, although he was forced to remove the sixty-ton garbage cathedral, did not want to give up. He called for the help of engineers to calculate a safe design option. When all the calculations with evidence of the stability of the building were in hand, the enthusiast was able to continue what he started.

Conclusion

Man lacks natural resources, and he strives into space to extract minerals. He is eager to find elusive particles to obtain cheap energy. At the same time, he does not pay attention to the fact that he has everything nearby to realize any of his ideas. We just need to use the existing potential more effectively. And of course, just have a good rummage through the trash.

After all, if someone alone can make a violin out of unnecessary trash, create a robot, or build a house, then what can we say about larger projects that can be completed together. In addition, consumables for these purposes are always at hand. Whatever, we still have enough garbage for a long time.

Many readers know that gold (chemical symbol Au) is used in the jewelry industry. But not everyone suspects that it is also used in the production of electronics (including computer components) due to its excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, resistance to oxidation (that is, to rust) and stability. The computer industry consumes several hundred tons of this metal annually (318 tons in 2003, for example).

The precious metal can be found in almost all computer components - processors, motherboards, expansion cards, memory DIMMs and so on. Of course, every component uses a tiny fraction of gold. But gold prices have skyrocketed in recent years, making it increasingly more cost-effective to extract gold from old components than to mine it the traditional way. That is why specialized companies have appeared on the market doing just this.

Today we will show you how you can make gold from old motherboards with your own hands. Please note: the chemicals we used in this demonstration are very dangerous, especially in the concentrations we used. Therefore, we do not recommend repeating this experiment at home.

The first stage of our experiment is to remove all these contacts and connectors. We will need wire cutters, pliers and a cutter, a flathead and Phillips screwdriver, as well as some time.

To carry out experiments, you need a large number of contacts - our “donor” motherboards provided them.

Chemical reagents and tools are also needed.

Electrolysis

To get a few micrograms of gold deposited on the contacts, we need an electrolytic cell. 95% concentrated sulfuric acid is poured into the bath. The cathode is made of lead, the anode is made of copper. The contacts (raw materials) are connected to the anode, which we made in the shape of a basket.

When we run electric current through the cell (we used a regular battery charger), the copper on the anode (and on the contacts) dissolves and deposits on the lead cathode. The gold, no longer bound to the copper, forms a sediment at the bottom of the cell. It should also be noted that during this process the temperature in the bath increases significantly.

After the gold has been separated from the contacts, the bath must be allowed to settle. You should then remove as much of the sulfuric acid as possible, after which you can begin to dissolve the residue at the bottom of the electrolytic cell.

Dilution

Be careful and always pour the acid into the water, and not the other way around! If you make a mistake, the first drops of water that come into contact with the sulfuric acid will instantly evaporate, and the acid may splash out.

We have a solution of sulfuric acid, various metals (including gold) and waste that needs to be filtered. Why not filter the acid directly, without diluting it? Simply because paper filters cannot withstand concentrated sulfuric acid.

Dissolution

A mixture of different metals and waste will remain in the filter. Now we will dissolve all this in a mixture of 35% hydrochloric acid and 5% chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite), in a 2:1 ratio.

2 HCl + NaClO -> Cl 2 + NaCl + H 2 O

Be careful! This reaction is exothermic and releases chlorine, a very dangerous gas. Chlorine was used as a chemical weapon in the First World War.

In fact, we will use the chlorine released as a result of mixing hydrochloric acid and chlorine bleach to dissolve gold in the form of gold chloride III.

2 Au + 3 Cl 2 -> 2 AuCl 3

Filtering again

Now we need to filter again. The filter will retain all waste, leaving only the gold chloride solution III.

Precipitation

To obtain metallic gold, we need to precipitate it in solution. For this purpose we will use powdered sodium metabisulfite. In the presence of water, sodium metabisulfite gives sodium bisulfite.

Na 2 S 2 O 2 + H 2 O -> 2 NaHSO 3

It is sodium bisulfite that will allow us to precipitate gold.

3 NaHSO 3 + 2 AuCl 3 + 3 H 2 O -> 3 NaHSO 4 + 6 HCl + 2 Au

We need to let the solution settle, after which we will get a gray powder at the bottom of the beaker. Don't lose a single grain - it's metallic gold!

Melting

Now we need to melt the powder in a crucible.

The melting point of gold is 1064°C, so we will need an oxy-butane torch.

We ended up with a nice golden pellet!

Can our process be called economically justified? Definitely not. It only makes sense on an industrial scale. The small gold pellet we received is worth only two or three dollars at today's prices. And, frankly, the companies that extract gold from old computers use other technologies and chemicals that are even more dangerous. But, you see, it’s still interesting to know that you can get gold from your motherboard at home.

You can also get gold from expansion cards, processors and chipsets. But this is a topic for another article.

If you decide to buy a new computer or it is broken and cannot be repaired, and you do not know where to put it, this article is for you. Adapting an unnecessary processor and monitor requires a little imagination and effort. Let's look at some options for transforming old iron.

Brazier from the body

To build a barbecue, it is enough to separate the side panel of the system unit and take out the insides. This grill is great for barbecues in the country and is very functional. You can put not only skewers on it, but also a bowl for fish soup. It is also easy to place a barbecue grill on it.

To transform the monitor into an aquarium, you need to remove all the components from it, leaving only the plastic case. Place a glass aquarium in it. The monitor can be left in its usual form or decorated with stones, rhinestones, and sequins. Such an element of interior decor will express the originality and extraordinary thinking of the owner.

For the monitor house you only need a plastic case. Its filling depends on what kind of animal will live in it. For a hamster, it is filled with dry grass or sawdust; instead of a screen, a metal mesh is stretched in the form of a door. If the monitor will serve as a bed for a cat, the inside is covered with soft fabric and a mattress is placed on the bottom.

A sharpening machine requires a hard drive chip, a part with disks, a motor and a read head, and sandpaper. Sandpaper is cut to the diameter of the disk, fixed with glue and connected to the motor. When using such a device, do not press the knives too hard against the disk.

For original clocks with a pendulum, the motherboard and hard drive are removed from the system unit. The clock mechanism is attached to the textolite and the numbers for the dial are glued. A hard disk is used as a pendulum, which is mounted on a long perch. Such wall clocks will not go unnoticed by guests.

This is a convenient compact thing that allows you not to clog up your computer with thousands of photos from your mother-in-law’s birthday or New Year’s corporate party. A data storage server can be designed in the form of a fairy-tale casket by placing the hard drive of an unnecessary computer in a wooden openwork box. On the back side of the casket, make holes for the output of wires for connecting to a PC.

This accessory will become a unique item, making the image of its owner unique. Keys can be matched with letters that form a word. To assemble the bracelet you will need fishing line, keys and an awl. Using a hot awl, holes are made on both sides of the keys and they are threaded onto a fishing line, connecting its free edges.

For earrings you will need keys and fastenings for them. You can select buttons with first and last name initials. A hole is made in the upper part of the button into which the metal hooks of the earrings are inserted. Such decoration will definitely attract attention and admiring glances to their owner.

The ego can be used as an element of interior decor or to play a joke on a work colleague. To create such a lawn, you need to disassemble the keyboard, lay out a layer of cotton wool, and place grass seeds on it. It is necessary to water such a lawn in the morning and evening, and within two days the first sprouts will be visible.

An original mailbox will delight all neighbors and highlight the imagination of its owner. The old system unit must be freed from internal contents and the drive must be removed. The hole from it will serve as a place for immersing correspondence. This structure needs to be secured to a post and installed near the house. For a more attractive look, the box can be painted in a bright color and written with a cheerful inscription.

To do this, you need to remove the processor, motherboard, and video card from the old computer and connect them to the TV.

Get gold

Gold is contained in small contact elements of the motherboard. You can extract it from there using chemical reagents. To do this, they are removed from the board and a series of chemical procedures are carried out. It is worth noting that you can get very little gold, and the procedure itself is very dangerous.

For such an invention, you need to purchase a TV tuner, connect it to your PC and install a suitable operating system.

To use the cooler on hot days, you need to disconnect it from the system unit, leaving the red and black wires, install it on a stand and connect it to the trigger mechanism with a motor.

To make a wall shelf, you need to unscrew the side panel of the system unit and screw in the loops to attach such an original piece of furniture to the wall. The shelf can be painted in your favorite color.

Such simple transformations will allow you not to throw your old non-working computer into a landfill and find new, original and useful things in everyday life.

Work and leisure time for every user turns into a headache when his old computer is not able to work with a new operating system or updated software, including games. In fact, there is nothing wrong with this, and there are many ways to correct the current situation. True, this will require a small investment. From this article, the user will learn about many ways to make an outdated electronic friend work faster.

Secrets that the processor hides

Firstly, we are talking about crystals that have an unlocked multiplier, otherwise it is unlikely that anyone will be able to increase the core performance. Any Windows operating system for older computers, be it version 7, 8 or 10, requires a processor speed of at least 2 GHz for single-core systems and 1.2 GHz for chips with multiple cores. Therefore, you need to focus on these indicators.

It is better to start overclocking the processor from the BIOS interface, because it has ready-made and free equipment. By going to the “Power BIOS Features” tab and finding the “CPU Configuration” menu, you can step by step increase the processor frequency “CPU CLOCK”. You need to start small - 33 MHz in one step is a serious increase for any processor. You can also play with a multiplier (if its menu is active). Naturally, this parameter needs to be changed step by step (one unit).

There are also many overclocking utilities. They can be found on the motherboard manufacturer's website. However, their effectiveness is often reduced to zero due to the inability to determine the installed processor, because, by the manufacturer’s standards, the crystal is obsolete and is not supported by software.

RAM capacity

Many online publications note that two gigabytes of RAM are enough to install Windows 7 on an old computer, but few clarify that all this resource is needed only for the stable operation of the system itself. The user has nothing left for his programs and games (even a regular antivirus will not be able to work fully). The PC owner needs to figure out at least 3-4 GB.

You can determine the possibility of improvement programmatically, without disassembling the system unit. You will need a specialized program (AIDA, SiSoft Sandra, etc.). By launching the application and going to the “Summary Information” menu, the user will be able to find out how many RAM slots he has, the number of installed modules, their capacity and the capabilities of the motherboard for the maximum amount of memory support. Based on the data received, the owner will understand whether he has the opportunity to increase the RAM resource.

The weak link of any productivity system

It may seem strange to many, but it is the hard drive that can slow down the operation of any PC, especially if the computer is old. There is only one solution: replace the hard drive with a more powerful device. In most cases, judging by numerous user reviews, the problem is solved by installing an SSD drive.

However, to install a solid-state drive, you need to worry about connectivity, because the device operates via the SATA II/III interface. If your old computer only has an IDE connector, then you can forget about the upgrade. Many experts claim that old-style motherboards have a PCIex1 slot, but a drive with such an interface is comparable in cost to that of a new computer. By the way, when disassembling the case you need to be extremely careful and remember what is connected where, otherwise the owner will have a new problem - how to reconnect the old computer so that it works. Many inexperienced users forget about this.

Software part

In addition to the hardware, the problem with system braking can be solved without replacing computer parts. Very often, users complain about the slow operation of programs for surfing the Internet or when communicating on social networks. There are actually a lot of such requests, and only a browser for older computers can solve the problem. The applications QtWeb, BrowZar and K-Meleon have proven themselves well.

The only negative that is often found in user reviews is the lack of forms for saving passwords. As a result, every time a person enters a social networking page, a person must constantly enter a login and password. But it’s still better to work comfortably than to wait several minutes for each page to update.

Caching issues

Sometimes, in order for the browser to work more efficiently on older computers, you also need to disable indexing of hard drives. It's easy to do:

• open “My Computer”;
• place the cursor on the system drive (default “C”);
• press the alternative mouse button (right for right-handers);
• select “Properties”;
• at the bottom of the window that opens, uncheck the box next to the inscription: “Allow indexing”;
• Click the “OK” button.

On slow computers, the procedure for canceling indexing may take more than one hour, but the result after disabling the function will be noticeable immediately. Also, to improve the performance of the hard drive, it is recommended to constantly clean the system of unnecessary files - drive “C” should have a lot of free space (a fifth of the total capacity exactly). Defragmentation, which can be done using the same menu where media indexing was disabled, will not hurt the user. The “Service” tab contains a useful function.

Problems with power supply of the system unit

Often when upgrading a system, especially when adding new components, the old ones are not able to supply the required voltage. The best option for the owner would be to purchase a more powerful power supply, but sometimes the problem is solved in a slightly different way. Unused components can be connected to power: a cooling system fan, an FDD magnetic drive, a non-working CD-ROM, a sound card, a TV-Tuner - anything.

Naturally, the user has to decide which component he needs to get rid of. The FDD drive has fallen out of favor in the last decade; it needs to be disconnected first. With additional fans in the case, if you do not want to turn them off, you can do it differently: switch the cooler consumption from 12 to 5 Volts. This is easy to do: the red cable from the fan must be installed in the terminal opposite the red wire of the connector coming from the power supply (by default, contact is made with the yellow cable).

Is everything really bad?

Many owners, when thinking about where to sell their old computer, miss one interesting feature - the cost of working elements for old PCs, even used ones, on the secondary market is quite high (for example, for old-style RAM, many sellers ask the same amount , how much does a modern one cost). This is the main feature of the secondary market, because many owners find it easier to purchase one spare part rather than spend money on purchasing an entire system unit.

Therefore, before giving away your obsolete PC for next to nothing, many professionals recommend reading advertisements in the media (section “Buy”). Perhaps you will be able to profitably sell your “iron friend” in parts. Of great value is a motherboard with an installed processor, RAM, a discrete AGP video adapter and a hard drive with an IDE interface. Naturally, all of the listed elements must be in working order.

Specialized companies

If a user is interested in where to donate an old computer, then the recommendations include a specialized workshop or a similar store, of which there are countless numbers in every city in our country. However, before going to such a company, the owner needs to know some of the features of such organizations.

1. If we are only talking about selling an old computer, then you should not count on a large sum. In fact, such a solution will be completely unprofitable for the user.
2. In workshops that improve weak computers, things are better. The user will have a more efficient part installed, minus the cost of the old one. Sometimes workshops offer the same used spare parts. You should not refuse if the seller gives a guarantee for at least 1 month.
3. There are also organizations that take spare parts for sale (thrift stores). Out of ignorance (or unwillingness to read the contract), many owners simply donate their old computer to the company. After all, the user has to pay to rent a shelf in such stores, and the cost is removed from the price of spare parts.

can not be

There is no point in sending a PC that is not of interest even to specialized organizations to a landfill, because there are many interesting solutions that suggest what to do with an old computer. First of all, the steel case of the system unit (without spare parts) is actively used by the owners as a home grill (you can even fix the pot). There are few valuable materials in the block, but it will be possible to collect 200-300 grams of aluminum or copper. Work fans can also be used in everyday life. You can come up with anything: an aquarium, a terrarium, a cage for rodents, a bedside table - there are many options.

Finally

If the computer is old, this is not a death sentence, but rather the emergence of a new and interesting hobby, which many owners lack in their lives. If only you had a little imagination, everyone could find a use for their favorite PC without outside help. It is better, of course, that the computer does not break down and is always in working order. The main thing is that the reader understands that there are no hopeless situations.