We get it , your new laptop computer is glazed , super - fast and awesome . But do n’t forget about your onetime laptop ! It does n’t have to sit around and collect dust . Here are five exceedingly easy things you could do to rejuvenate it .
Getting Started
Well , you ’ll need an old laptop computer . And uh , that ’s moderately much it . Do n’t care , your junky 8 - pound PC notebook should be okay , most of these task are n’t tax on the hardware at all .
Turn it into a Home Server
Turning your plaster cast - off portable into a full fledged dwelling house server will squeeze the most use out of your once nifty machine . By associate it to your home internet and monkey around with the veracious software , you ’ll have a quiet and effective waiter that can be used to backup files , stock photo , and heck , even stream all your media files . And because laptop computer are designed to be portable , your raw server will be naturally compact and well-situated on the galvanising bill .
• What you may do
Backup files to and pour media from the laptop computer turned dwelling house server
• What you ’ll need
A laptop computer , FreeNAS software , and a home connection
• Setup time
About an hour
• Download theFreeNAS ISO Imageand fire it onto a atomic number 48
• Insert the CD in your laptop and then restart and boot your personal computer from the candle
• Install FreeNAS
• Remember the IP speech that ’ll pop up after FreeNAS is installed
• Jump over to another computer on the same electronic internet and perforate in the IP savoir-faire on a web browser
• Login with username : admin password : freenas
• Setup the proper disk for sharing and exploiter computers for accessing
Transform it into a Digital Photo Frame
Repurposing a lappy into a digital photo frame will make it the good digital exposure frame you ’ll ever use , I guarantee it . Why ? Because most digital photo frames suck . They might ’ve been honest ideas once upon a time , but the affordable ones typically have smallish cover , ordinarily miss Wi - Fi , and are always a pain in the neck in the ass to apply . On the other hand , your quondam laptop computer ejaculate new digital photo frame will be capable to do all the thing an medium frame ca n’t : take out photos from Flickr , update pictures on the fly sheet , and show off your Grandma ’s sweet , smile face on its big beautiful screen .
How does it crop ? The magic is in a piece of software promise Slickr which display all your Flickr photo in a screensaver . It ’s really the perfect and well-situated way to twist a laptop into a digital picture frame . You ’ll need to do a slight literal hacking of the laptop computer ’s body , but it ’s worth the elbow grease . For a good primer , Repair4Laptophas anexcellent pagedetailing countless digital photo figure convert from various laptop models .
Display Flickr photos on the best digital photo figure you may get
A laptop , a framebox , Slickr , a Flickr account and some unshakable hands
About a day
How to build a digital photo framing :
• Build ( or purchase ) a with child enough framebox to salt away your laptop
• Download Slickrhereand hook it up with your Flickr certification
• dispatch the LCD projection screen from the laptop carefully ( make certain you mildly unplug the ribbon cable television that connect the LCD to the laptop )
• Rejigger those internals into the frameboxas necessary
• Connect the exposure frame to Wi - Fi
• Enjoy all your Flickr video on a gloriously big covert
Make it a Wireless Bridge
If Wi - Fi is s - sp - spotty in your house , you may meliorate your signal by turning your laptop computer into a wireless bridge for your home net . It ’s especially utile for those little nooks that are surrounded by brick and concrete and lead and atomic number 92 and oh please god no … bookshelf and DVD racks . It ’s impossible to get a signal in those place ! But with your laptop computer act as a wireless extender , that beat spot can be reinvigorated with WLAN succus and supercharge with networked glory . It ’s like using your old laptop to improve your Modern laptop . Teamwork !
Windows 7 :
• Run an ethernet cable from your router to the laptop
• Download and install Connectify
• incur Connectify in your system tray and open it up
• Create access point name and set your watchword
• Turn the hot spot on
Extend your home ’s wireless electronic internet
A laptop , an ethernet corduroy and Connectify ( for Windows 7 drug user )
About 5 minutes
Windows Vista :
• Head to the Control Panel and select internet and Sharing Center
• dawn on “ set up a novel association or connection ”
• Create a fresh ad hoc wireless meshing
• Give your internet a name and parole
• Turn on internet connection sharing
Mac OS X :
• Head to System Preferences > Sharing and fit Internet communion
• Choose Ethernet from “ Share your connection from : ”
• Choose AirPort for “ To computers using : ”
• select AirPort Options and fructify internet name and password
• Surf silly
O Hai, New External Hard Drive!
trusted , some parts of your former laptop might ’ve stopped tick off but that does n’t mean everything ’s deadened — if the hard crusade still work out , you ’re in the money . After all , a 60 GB hard driving from back then still fit 60 gigabytes now . All you need to do is open up your ol’ betsy up and yank the hard drive . Then , just slue it into something a little more comfortable , like an external enclosure , which you could get online foras footling as 10 bucks . And as laptop computer private road are flyspeck at 2.5″ , your external HD will run quiet , smooth and small ( and wo n’t even need a power source ! ) .
Salvage a hard private road from the laptop computer and use it as an external store origin
A laptop , a screwdriver , and a toilsome drive enclosure
How to make an external heavy drive :
• Reformat your quondam laptop ’s hard drive
• Tear aside the ol’ young lady and remove her 2.5 - inch mental capacity
• Figure out if your hard drive is IDE or SATA bylooking at this picture
• corrupt the veracious IDE or SATA 2.5″ external hard drive enclosure ( with USB ) . Something likethis for IDE drivesorthis for SATA drives .
• secure the hard drive ’s connectors ( the side with the jerkwater thing ) into the enclosure ’s port .
• Connect to your newfangled laptop computer and configure as necessary
• Drop your file in !
The Second Monitor You’ve Always Wanted
Your new laptop computer might be able-bodied do everything you ’d want it to do but at the end of the day … it ’s still just a laptop computer . Which means , as shiny as it is , you could probably do with a bigger admonisher . Your old laptop can help you out ! With a slick piece of software , you ’ll be able-bodied to habituate your old laptop as a simple international proctor . It does n’t even necessitate cables to connect ’em together , everything is done over your wireless net .
move around your laptop into a 2nd monitor
A Windows laptop computer , the MaxiVista software and a home mesh
Here ’s how to go down up a 2nd monitor for your laptop :
• Download MaxiVistahere
• verify both laptops are on the same web
• Install MaxiVista on both laptop computer
• That ’s it !
If you ’ve always wanted to learn how to do something but did n’t know where to start , experience free to demand us how tohere .
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