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ksrUses for an old laptop
The hard drive on a (relatively) old laptop of mine has decided to die and I can't really be bothered to replace it. So what should I do with the laptop? It'll boot from CD and USB, has a 1700MHz processor, 256MB RAM and WiFi. Oh and the battery is gone, it'll only run off the charger.
2009-05-173:04 PM

BrandonRe:Uses for an old laptop
Depending on the CPU model it could be a nice machine. If you refuse to replace the HDD (probably the best option), I'd get a flash drive and install Puppy Linux to it. Then use it for web browsing, or whatever.
2009-05-173:20 PM

ksrRe:Uses for an old laptop
I think I'm going to use it as a lightweight and quiet web server. I'm trying this at the moment: http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5928902.html but if it doesn't work I'll try Linux.
2009-05-186:01 PM

BrandonRe:Uses for an old laptop
Windows!!! So you are one of those types :P
2009-05-186:08 PM

ksrRe:Uses for an old laptop
I do like Linux, but it's just easier this way :p
2009-05-186:11 PM

BrandonRe:Uses for an old laptop
Its easier to make a lightweight server in Windows than in Linux? ROFL
2009-05-186:31 PM

trollyRe:Uses for an old laptop
sûre, iis, is easy to configure :p
2009-05-188:57 PM

ksrRe:Uses for an old laptop
Who said anything about IIS? There are plenty of excellent and free lightweight web servers. And yes Brandon, it is easier, because I already have all the drivers I need :) Also, I think it would be fun to hack/make a GUI for this PE installation. So Reflow will probably be dead for a while.
2009-05-194:28 PM

ksrRe:Uses for an old laptop
OK so I gave up with Windows after a few problems and decided to try DSL. I followed the instructions here: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/all-in-one-usb-dsl/ but it hangs during boot after this line: USB found, managed by hotplug: (Re-)scanning USB devices... sync:[001 002 001 001 001 001] Done. Any idea what could be the problem? I'll try Puppy Linux now.
2009-05-225:57 PM

BrandonRe:Uses for an old laptop
I you want real security, Puppy might not be the way to go, everything is ran as root.
2009-05-225:59 PM

ksrRe:Uses for an old laptop
It should be alright. Puppy runs nicely and I think I'll use it as the Reflow repository.
2009-05-2312:11 PM

BrandonRe:Uses for an old laptop
We've all waiting to see a GUI :)
2009-05-2312:19 PM

ToddRe:Uses for an old laptop
Yeah I had trouble with DSL once before. They don't have a solid boot disk so they give you instructions to run Syslinux on the USB drive to boot into DSL.
2009-05-235:33 PM

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