It’s now been a couple of years since the day you bought that shiny new laptop from Best Buy, and now you’re left with your old one. What do you do with it?
There are many things to consider when it comes to what do with a laptop that is no longer in use. The options for this include donating the device, trading the device in, or recycling it. However not all laptops can be donated or recycled due to their age and condition. Read on for more information about these options and how they might work best based on your situation.
Give it to someone who needs one for college or work as a way to help them out. You can also keep your desktop computer and save them money too! I personally think this is the best option if possible.
Sell it on Craigslist, eBay, etc… If no one in your household needs a computer, but you still feel bad about trashing it, consider selling.
Donate it to charity. Organizations like Goodwill or The Salvation Army will take your old laptop and use its parts for other things like donating computers to schools, non-profits, etc… Check with your local organizations to see if they need any laptops.
Recycle it at a recycling center that accepts electronics. Not all recycling centers do this, but some of them might be able to help you out! You can try looking up “electronics recycling” in your city’s or maybe even by calling city hall.
Donate it to Goodwill or another charity. Sometimes charities will help you out by picking up your electronics for free. This is beneficial to both parties!
Convert It Into a Network Attached Storage
A network-attached storage (NAS) system is a way to store data and share files with all computers connected to your home (or business) network. These are useful if you need additional data storage and when several people on your network need access to certain files.
To set this up, you need to set up a NAS application on the laptop. Free NAS is one such program that allows you to create a centralized and easily accessible place for your data. Experts at recommend using a laptop with at least 8GB RAM and a 64-bit chip to run Free NAS properly. Download it and create a bootable drive with a USB/DVD tool. Restart the laptop and boot it using the bootable drive.
Use It as an External Monitor
Another great way to repurpose an old laptop is to use it as an external monitor for a newer laptop or desktop. This could be particularly useful if you’re writing a report or essay and you need to constantly look at references and information on another screen. You can do this thanks to virtual network computing solutions that let you control another computer remotely. There are three simple options you can choose from, depending on your operating system or budget.
Option 1: If you’re working with Mac computers, macOS features an option to connect to another computer remotely: Remote Management. To activate it, open System Preferences on the old laptop, go to Sharing, and check the Remote Management box. Then on your new computer, go to the Screen Sharing app and enter the old laptop IP address. You can see this information when you click on the Wi-Fi button while holding the Option key.
Option 2: Share Mouse is an application that you can use in Windows or Mac to remotely control another computer. The software has on-screen installation instructions that are easy to follow.
Use the Parts
In some cases, the only thing you can do is gut the laptop for parts. At the least, you should be able to save the hard drive. This can be turned into an external hard drive easily with an external hard drive enclosure.
After inserting the hard drive of your old laptop into an external hard drive enclosure, you can turn it into a plug–and–play device that you can use as a removable storage drive anytime while the system is running.
Similarly, if your laptop has an optical DVD drive, you can convert this into an external DVD drive by using an external DVD drive enclosure. This is useful to have if you’re working with a tablet or laptop that doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive. The external DVD drive enclosure comes with all of the required adaptors and power supply you need, and connecting it is a simple process.
Turn off anything that isn’t necessary :
Close any unnecessary programs you have running, uninstall software that doesn’t work correctly, etc..
Delete any personal information
Find the “delete” button on your documents or browser, and delete anything you don’t want to be seen.
I hope this helped! If nothing else, give someone who needs one an old laptop for cheap
