A laptop bought for a fiver in a charity shop. How do I turn the thing on?

[winjim]

That old bit of tat will certainly not help you stand out from the riff-raff!

 

[postman]

For what it’s worth I would put a

pot plant on it and stick it in the window.

 

[wiggydiggy]

No doubt computer geeks are rolling about on the floor with mirth at the concept of "doubling" the memory to a massive 2gb, though that's what I did back in the day, and it was quite easy, but is the rest of it that straightforward? My NC10 is gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere and it would be nice to resuscitate it if it were possible.

The "safely use XP forever" video lost me before we got less than halfway through.

Also, there are rumblings that support will stop for Windows 10 in the not too distant future and just as I am coming to hate using it a bit less I have to think about installing something new, Windows 11, to hate using. It seems likely that the laptop I bought to replace the NC10 won't be compatible with that. It would be nicely ironical to replace it with a rejuvenated NC10 that could cope with the next generation of planned obsolescence.

I nearly bought a 'new' XP machine a few years back as I was struggling to run some older games, luckily I found a site (GoodOldGames) that sells modern versions of the games I wanted and they work on modern Windows.

If I did need to run a XP machine these days (someone mentioned an old scanner/printer they have) I'd just keep it offline.

 

[wafter]

My opinion, it’s really not worth the effort unless you like messing with computers for its own sake. I used to, years ago but just don’t have the time now. It’s certainly not worth spending money on. Best case you’ll end up with something that will run but will be marginal to get anything useful done.

This.

Whilst I'm all for getting the most out of everything IMO that's only fit for recycling. I've recently retired my old Samsung laptop (2013, 3rd gen i5, 4Gb RAM) as it had become painfully slow to do anything practical with; probably due to the smallish amount of (non-upgradeable) RAM - something with 1Gb is going to be a non-starter.

I'd quit while you're ahead and get rid of it unless you just want to tinker (which doesn't seem to be the case). Spending any money on it for any reason whatsoever is madness tbh.

 

[Grant Fondo]

something with 1Gb is going to be a non-starter

It should theoretically run 32 bit Windows 10 (just). I have a 3GB Win 7 laptop which I updated to Win 11. Plopped out the 1GB module, replaced with a 4GB, now runs a treat for the princely sum of £12

 

[DaveReading]

Window key and type winver (if that works) will give you the version of Windows

No, that won't do anything.

You want Windows key+R, then type Winver.

Should return "5.1", as it's almost certainly Windows XP judging from the screenshot.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I'm going to take it into that computer shop today. I plugged it in last night to 'play' with it. I noticed after it'd been on half an hour that it was quite warm and had a smell about it. A year or so ago I knackered my current laptop's power lead by accidentally dropping it in water. I tried to dry it out, but when I plugged it in it blew up. I asked the computer shop bloke if he had a spare lead that would fit my laptop. He told me that you can't just use any that fits as they have different voltages and a too powerful one could set my laptop on fire. I'm wondering if the lead that came with the fiver laptop isn't the original one and it could be an accident waiting to happen.🤔

 

[AndyRM]

Seriously, lob the thing into the bin. It's not worth wasting time, money or effort on.

 

[Randomnerd]

Coat of Black Watch tartan Hammerite. Will last a lifetime.

 

[Hornchurch]

I just hope it has been 'wiped clean' like she said and there isn't anything dodgy on it!!

Bwahahahahahahahaaaa !!!!

Title & lyrics sung, below, at the point I've stopped it, says it all....... (Haaaaahhhhaahaaaahhhaaa)

View: https://youtu.be/XxfSlIS55mk?t=42

 

[MontyVeda]

I'm going to take it into that computer shop today. I plugged it in last night to 'play' with it. I noticed after it'd been on half an hour that it was quite warm and had a smell about it. A year or so ago I knackered my current laptop's power lead by accidentally dropping it in water. I tried to dry it out, but when I plugged it in it blew up. I asked the computer shop bloke if he had a spare lead that would fit my laptop. He told me that you can't just use any that fits as they have different voltages and a too powerful one could set my laptop on fire. I'm wondering if the lead that came with the fiver laptop isn't the original one and it could be an accident waiting to happen.🤔

the powerpack will state what its output is, and the laptop will state what power is required (a sticker on the underside).
Eg, mine is 19volts - 3.42amps. if the powerpack and laptop match (both volts and amps), it's the correct powerpack.

 

[Dadam]

the powerpack will state what its output is, and the laptop will state what power is required (a sticker on the underside).
Eg, mine is 19volts - 3.42amps. if the powerpack and laptop match (both volts and amps), it's the correct powerpack.

The amps don't need to match as such, they can be more but shouldn't be less. Voltage is the main thing; too much is likely to damage the laptop. Too little won't work.

With amps, the power unit will just supply what the laptop asks for, up to the max the transformer can supply. So a 19 volt, max 5 amp supply would be fine. A 19 volt 2 amp supply wouldn't give enough juice to charge. Sometimes if the max amps is a little too low, it might be enough to run the laptop but not charge the battery at the same time.

Imagine the power pack is a pump. The voltage is like the air pressure, the current (amps) is the maximum rate that air can flow.

 

[wafter]

I'm going to take it into that computer shop today. I plugged it in last night to 'play' with it. I noticed after it'd been on half an hour that it was quite warm and had a smell about it. A year or so ago I knackered my current laptop's power lead by accidentally dropping it in water. I tried to dry it out, but when I plugged it in it blew up. I asked the computer shop bloke if he had a spare lead that would fit my laptop. He told me that you can't just use any that fits as they have different voltages and a too powerful one could set my laptop on fire. I'm wondering if the lead that came with the fiver laptop isn't the original one and it could be an accident waiting to happen.🤔

Seriously, can it. You'll pay more for an hour of some IT monkey's time than would get you an infinitely-superiour (if probably still crap) laptop used.

I get the impression you've only bought it as a speculative punt, but if you genuinely need a cheap, just-about-serviceable laptop drop me a PM as we have some up for grabs at work.

Regardless, don't put any more money into this as it's really not worth it... something I'd hope your local "computer shop" might tell you, if they've got any integrity (which seems to be a big ask nowadays)..

 

[Dadam]

Test it, clean it up a bit, take some nicely lit photos and sell it on the auction site for a bit of beer money. Working ones seem to go for £15-25. Tinkerers love old laptops for retro gaming or running old hardware etc but as mentioned, it really isn't worth it for normal use.

 

[matticus]

Seriously, lob the thing into the bin. It's not worth wasting time, money or effort on.

Or see if a local charity shop want it? Someone's bound to pay a fiver!