Most of us have old and outdated laptops lying around our house. You might have saved them for sentimental values, or you could not sell them because of low resale value. Laptops get outdated very soon, and with the newer versions costing hundreds of dollars, it can seem a bit frustrating to keep buying new ones. Since the old ones have outdated hardware, they cannot run the recent Windows versions.
But what you did not know is that there are many ways to salvage those old laptops. Why would you want to do that, you ask? The foremost reason is that these laptops can run as fast as the new ones with the right operating systems and other software. We know how frustrating it can be to use a slow computer to help your studies. These days most students rely on laptops and computers for their educational requirements, be it looking for information related to assignments or answers to homework. Using slow laptops when you are facing a deadline to submit your homework can be quite frustrating.
If you think about it carefully, you rely on the internet for most of your work on laptops related to your studies and homework. So if a laptop can access the internet and run web browsers efficiently, they will be able to aid in all of your study and homework related jobs. So if your present laptop is slugging behind, and you can’t afford a new one right now, dig out your old laptop, and with a few tweaks, it can give the latest laptops a run for their money. And if you are wondering, you don’t need a degree in computer science to do this.
Turn It Into a Chromebook
Google has come up with Chromebooks that run on Chrome OS, which is much lighter than Windows or macOS. If your usage is mostly based on the internet, social media, research, and creating or editing text files, Chrome OS is perfect for you. There are many ways of turning your old laptop into a Chromebook, and you can follow one of the countless tutorials to do that. Old laptops used to have great multimedia features and large screens, so if you have one of those laptops with a 17-inch screen, you can use it to run Chrome OS and use it to watch Netflix.
Use It to Run Linux
If you are interested in something a bit more technical or geeky, you can turn towards Linux. Linux is a fast operating system that does not need a lot of fancy hardware to run. The best thing about Linux is that it is open-source licensed software, and you can download it and run it for free. There are several versions of Linux developed by many software developing platforms. If you want, you can read a detailed analysis of each one and choose the one to suit your needs. Or you can google and find out which one is the most popular one to complete your requirements. There are many forums and tutorials on the internet to get the most out of the system.
Use It for Web Hosting
If you are into web hosting, running servers is one of the best capabilities of Linux. Linux is popular with many companies that host websites for customers. These companies also use Linux for their email or domain name servers. There are many open-source server applications that you can install and run for your benefits. Some of them are explained below.
- Apache servers were used to build the internet in the initial days and still get used by many reputable companies all over the world. The webpage that you are using to read this article is probably hosted on an Apache server. Apache can be your first step towards hosting your very own Web Server.
- Domain Name Servers use the names of various websites to the IP address. Imagine having to remember and input every IP address on the web browsers instead of typing Google or Netflix. You can use your old laptop running on Linux to host DNS servers.
- Learning how to set up and host Email servers can come in handy one day when you have your own business.
- You can use it to host your cloud server to store data for yourself and your friends or study group.
So as you can see, there are many ways to use your old laptop, so that you don’t have to break into your savings to buy a new one. With the help of online tutorials, you can have it running fast enough to meet all your needs and requirements.
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