Uses for old windows xp computer

If you're curious, it's incredibly simple to install Ubuntu , and much easier than you would think to actually make a complete transition from Windows. Home security monitor. Your computer doesn't need to pack a lot of punch to be your eyes and ears for you while you're away.

As long as it can stay powered up indefinitely and communicate with your network, you can easily hook up a camera or two and either remotely monitor them when you like or get a message if one of your cameras senses motion in its field.

You can also keep a backup of the footage in case the worst does happen. Backup storage device. You do back up your data, right? Whether you've got a subscription-based cloud service or just hope for the best, it's a good idea to do multiple regular backups of your data for all your working computers and mobile devices. An old computer is a great secondary storage option, especially if you've got a high-speed network to transfer data.

It's best to set it up to back up automatically Windows can do this pretty easily so you don't have to rely on your own attention to make it happen. If for some reason you don't want to hang on to that machine, consider donating it to a cause you believe in if it still works.

Performance won't be as fast as in XP, but it should be acceptable, particularly if you don't run too many programs at once.

Before taking the plunge however, download and run either the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor or Windows 8. Of course, you could upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 10 , but bear in mind that there is no way to upgrade while keeping your existing files, programs and settings unless you manually back them up. If you're thinking of doing this, it's also worth bearing in mind that your ageing PC's hardware may not be up to the task of running Windows 10, and putting the cost of a license for Microsoft's latest operating system toward a new laptop , 2-in-1 or desktop PC may be a more cost-effective move in the long rum.

If you decide the end has come for your old Windows XP PC, make sure you dispose of it carefully and responsibly. Once your new PC is up and running, wait until you're happy you've transferred over all the documents, files and other data you need from your old PC before taking steps to securely shred all personal data from the drive.

If you're planning to pass the computer on to someone else, use a free tool like Eraser to wipe sensitive files from the drive, then restore it to its factory settings before using Eraser to securely wipe any free space for added security.

If you plan to dispose of the computer, use Darik's Boot and Nuke tool to create a bootable CD that will completely wipe the drive of all data, allowing you to then take it to your local recycling center or pass it on to a charity such as Computers 4 Africa. We'd recommend that you choose Ubuntu as your Linux distribution of choice, and download the latest LTS version, currently It's relatively straightforward to install and you'll find our 25 Ubuntu tips for beginners piece a handy starting point.

Providing you don't need any of the fancy features that newer Office packages offer , the version will do the job perfectly for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. If you already have a license key for Office and have lost the installation media, you can download earlier versions of Office officially from Microsoft's website.

Simply input your character key, select your language, and begin your download. Note that extended support for Office is only offered until Of course, you don't have to use Microsoft Office, especially if you just want something that will get the job done with little fuss. You could turn your entire system into a dedicated media player.

Perhaps hook it up in your living room and use it as your music and video player. You'll even be able to use Windows Media Center, which is now discontinued from modern versions of Windows.

Music streaming platforms like Spotify will work on Vista for now, though aren't officially supported. Alternatively, you could turn your computer into a media server. This will make it primarily a storage device, from which you can use other systems to connect in to.

Your mileage might vary depending on how powerful your computer is. If you don't need to actively use your computer, you could donate its processing power to a good cause. Research projects across the world work with massive amounts of data.

This information needs to be processed and analyzed, but using a couple of computers isn't quick enough to cope with the volume. As such, you can loan your system's processor to help crunch this data. One of the most popular projects is Stanford University's Folding Home , which researches protein folding, computational drug design and other types of molecular dynamics. But there are loads of other distributed computing projects available , so go ahead and find one that suits your cause.

Just because your OS is no longer supported, doesn't mean the components inside the case are useless. You could take some of them out and put them in a newer build to get performance gains.