Before You Throw Away That Old Computer…

There’s a pretty good chance you’ve got an old computer sitting in a closet somewhere. Maybe it’s a laptop that takes forever to boot. Maybe it’s a desktop that Windows has decided is no longer worthy of its attention. Or maybe it’s a perfectly good machine that just got replaced because somebody convinced you that you needed something newer, faster, and more expensive.

Well, before you haul that thing to the recycling center, I’ve got a suggestion.

Give Linux a chance.

Now, before you close this page because you think Linux is something only computer geeks use while sitting in dark rooms surrounded by blinking lights, hear me out.

Linux has come a LONG way.

I’m not talking about spending three days typing mysterious commands into a black screen just to get your printer working. I’m talking about installing a modern operating system that looks good, runs well, and lets you browse the internet, check email, write documents, watch videos, and do just about everything an average home computer user needs.

And here’s the best part.

It doesn’t cost you a dime.

What You’ll Need

You don’t need much to get started. Just an old computer, a USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of space, an internet connection, and a little patience.

For this project, I recommend Ubuntu Desktop. It’s free, widely supported, and a good starting point for someone who has never used Linux.

Head over to ubuntu.com/download/desktop and download the current stable Ubuntu Desktop LTS release.

You’ll get a file ending in .iso. That’s the installation image we’ll put on our USB drive.

Make Your Installation USB

Next, we need to turn that USB drive into something the computer can boot from.

One of the easiest tools for this is balenaEtcher, available at etcher.balena.io.

Install Etcher on your working computer, plug in your USB drive, select the Ubuntu ISO file you downloaded, select your USB drive, and click Flash.

A word of warning: Flashing the USB drive will erase everything currently on it. Make sure you’ve selected the right drive.

When Etcher finishes, you’ve got yourself an Ubuntu installation USB.

Let’s See If That Old Computer Still Has Some Life

Plug the USB drive into the old computer and turn it on.

Depending on the manufacturer, you may need to press F12, F9, Escape, or another key during startup to open the boot menu. On many Dell computers, F12 does the trick.

Select your USB drive.

After a little loading, Ubuntu should give you the option to try it or install it.

And here’s where things get interesting.

Choose Try Ubuntu first.

That’s right. You can actually run Ubuntu from the USB drive without installing it on the computer’s internal drive.

Take it for a spin. Open Firefox. Connect to Wi-Fi. Check the sound. Move some files around. See whether your keyboard, mouse, and display work correctly.

It may run a little slower from the USB drive than it would after installation, but you’ll get a pretty good idea of what you’re dealing with.

And you haven’t erased a single thing from the computer.

Ready to Install?

If everything looks good and you’re ready to make the switch, click the Install Ubuntu icon.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

If you’re planning to completely replace Windows, Ubuntu offers an option to erase the disk and install Ubuntu. This permanently removes the existing operating system and files on that drive. Back up anything important before selecting it.

You may also see options for installing Ubuntu alongside another operating system, but for our first project, we’re keeping things simple.

Once installation finishes, restart the computer, remove the USB drive when prompted, and let Ubuntu boot.

Congratulations.

You’ve just given an old computer a second life.

Now What?

Here’s the fun part.

Ubuntu comes with a web browser, and you can install plenty of additional software without spending a penny.

Need to write a letter or work on a spreadsheet? Try LibreOffice.

Need to play music or videos? VLC is a great option.

Need to access your files from another computer? Ubuntu can handle that, too.

And if you get comfortable with Linux, that old computer might eventually become a home server, a media machine, or a place to experiment with self-hosting.

But you don’t have to do any of that today.

Today, you’ve taken a machine that might have been headed for the landfill and made it useful again.

A Few Words from the Outlaw

I’m not going to tell you that Linux is perfect. It isn’t. Some specialized programs won’t run on it, and certain hardware can be stubborn. If you absolutely depend on a particular Windows application, make sure you’ve got a workable alternative before switching.

But for everyday computing?

You might be surprised at how little you’re giving up.

I’ve personally put Ubuntu on computers that other people would have considered past their prime. And some of those machines have become everyday workhorses.

Sometimes the problem isn’t the computer.

Sometimes it’s what we’re asking the computer to run.

So before you spend $800 on a new laptop because your old one doesn’t meet somebody else’s requirements, try something different.

You already own the hardware. Why not see what it can still do?

And if Steve tells you that the only solution is a new computer, a new operating system license, and another monthly subscription, just smile and tell him you’ve got a USB drive and a better idea.

Put the clipboard down, Steve. We’re fixing this one ourselves.

The Open Source Outlaw

You Have a Choice.