h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If you do buy an entirely knew system and intend to chuck your old one out of the window, before you do, check to see if there are any parts of your ld computer which may be useful in the new one: a second (backup or extra storage) hard drive, for instance? A bit of extra RAM? A second floppy or CDROM drive? Even a second monitor might be useful for someone intending to do graphics work etc. This is a cheap way to upgrade your brand- new machine straight away. Of course there may be compatibility issues, and it's an old machine so you're not going to trasform your machine into a supercomputer, but if it adds a bit of functionality why not?

Also, linked to this point, a mate of mind has a habit of pulling old computers out of skips when some company or other is having a clearout. Some places chuck out perfectly good stuff because they've just upgraded and have no room for the old stuff. This is a very cheap way (free, if you play your cards right) of updating your computer. Of course there are compatibilty issues again, but if it's free, it's worth a try.

TK

well worth pulling old bit out of computers mine has parts from old 25 megherts allthough never used 28k modem still have one though mind you also remember when bying ram even if your machine running at 100mg use 133 as when you do upgrade chances are new machine is 133 saveing you extra for extended ram

Reclaiming stuff is great. You can have save a packet. However, you'll end up with a heap of useless old components. For example I kept a load of ISA cards for various purposes but my latest machine has no ISA slots at all. Best to use them if you can before they date beyond salvation, or give them away to a worthy cause. Every now and again I go through my 'old bits' pile and really do throw bits out if I can't imagine ever having a use for them. I always find some! I'll tell you some things I never throw out though, screws, leads, fuses and jumper covers. You'll never have enough of them.

Yeah, if there are any bits left over, chances are you'll be able to find a mate, or a mate of a mate who'll find a use for them... failing that, you could try ebay or somwhere like that- one man's junk is another man's treasure etc...

TK