old computers and such

[moderate_rock48]

I have two old computers and i totally stripped them down and catorgarized all the parts, so now i have 2 of everything from two old pc100 computers. They are just sitting in my closet and i was wondering what i could do with them, one harddrive is pretty much junk, give me some ideas what i can do with the parts, it can be something that actually works, or it can be something that can be taped together to look like a robot or something, get creative. But to suggest actually using the parts to rebuild the computer is out of the question, most of it is junk, thanks!

[TKS]

Make a Linux Gaming rig to show off to people. If it were me, I'd buy an affordable case that looks kick butt (gaming style). Trick out all the IDE's to rounded. Throw in a couple of pointable LED's...and since it is an older machine, install linux on it (Linux works better with old machines) and showcase it to your friends...Quake, Unreal Tournament, and Doom all play nicely on Linux. If you want a distribution that has Nvidia drivers ready to go with it try MEPIS.

[jwenting]

call the chemical waste disposal people to take the stuff away and watch as they scratch their heads as to why computer parts are chemical waste (they are...).

[Catweazle]

If you're going to use them as some form of sculpture or other ornamentation, look closely at the motherboards and remove the CMOS batteries from them. They moght be round batteries in sockets, or they might be cells which are soldered to the board. (Some old P100 boards still had those, although they're usually only found on 486 boards).

If you don't remove them you'll end up with corrosion ;)

[moderate_rock48]

yea yea, i know that, one of the motherboards did have the cmos battery soldered on, I ripped it off, but dont worry, I know that the acid leaks out and it is in a safe place. btw, how does linux system work? Ive heard about it but not really investigated into it, is it like much different from the windows operation systems?

[jwenting]

Linux is a Unix clone (more specifically an SVR4 clone), DOS is derived from CP/M.
Windows is built on DOS (yeah I know there never was a true 32 bit DOS but the command architecture survives to this day).
The commands to some extend are similar but the philosophies are completely different.

I picked up DOS by reading an IBM command manual, Unix required a 3 day course by a guru and I'm lobbying to get funds to enroll in the followup course that goes beyond the basics.

[Cain]

8 years solaris admin
add linux and get cussing and confusion.
install Xp on a dell optiplex. works well, minimal anguish
install redhat 9 then build an rpm then add it then recompile the kernel..
and your almost there you might have a network connection by midnight..
two days from now.. if it reboots
else just install fedora core 3... nice. loads more compact than windows.. no anguish
dont fall for the "white box" load.. thats ust redhat without the redhat name
and is just as big of a pain

sometimes linux is the best of both worlds.. sometimes its the worst.