Got an old laptop you don't need?

[David Clapson]

Anyone got a laptop they don't need? The adventure playground at Loughborough Junction https://www.grove-playground.org.uk wants one for kids to use. If you have a Windows one which needs repair/refurb I can do that. I'll pay for the parts if they're cheap. And I'll clean the disk with a program that properly, permanently erases all the data. If you have an Apple machine I can't help, so better to deal direct with Olly the playground manager.

If you have a Windows machine and you want to check that I'm not just trying to get myself a free laptop , please PM me and I'll arrange for Olly to talk to you.

eta: a broken screen might not be an obstacle. With some models a used screen is cheap and not that hard to fit.

 

[editor]

If you don't get any luck here I could do a piece on Buzz?

 

[David Clapson]

Thanks, great!

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Have you tried Freecycle or similar?

 

[David Clapson]

No. Freecycle is such hard work. I'd almost rather buy the kids a laptop out of my own pocket.

 

[iona]

Got an ancient crappy kaput Windows netbook that I haven't got rid of coz I can't reset/delete anything without it going blue screen of death, if you can do anything with that...

 

[David Clapson]

What's the make and model?

 

[iona]

What's the make and model?

It's buried in the back of a cupboard, will dig it out in the morning and let you know.

 

[David Clapson]

Thank you very much. If it's got no future I can at least help you recycle it. Nearest electrical goods recycling point to me is Currys on Effra Road. I'm having a clearout and have a mountain of stuff for them. Don't Bin It, Bring It | Recycle Now

 

[David Clapson]

Many thanks to Iona - your sick Asus is all better and running Windows 10 very nicely. I just need to pull my finger out and deliver it to the adventure playground. Thanks again!

eta: In case anyone reading this is cursed with a laptop which switches on but Windows fails to load, or it has the execrable Windows 8, you can buy a second hand Windows 10 key on ebay for 3 or 4 quid, download Windows 10 for free from Microsoft, then type in your new key, and wahey! All done in an evening.

OK, it's not quite as simple as that...I missed out the stages where you fiddle with a memory stick and the BIOS settings...and there are other, simpler methods which cost nothing at all which often work....my point is that it can be much cheaper than you think to rescue your laptop from the landfill.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Many thanks to Iona - your sick Asus is all better and running Windows 10 very nicely. I just need to pull my finger out and deliver it to the adventure playground. Thanks again!

eta: In case anyone reading this is cursed with a laptop which switches on but Windows fails to load, or it has the execrable Windows 8, you can buy a second hand Windows 10 key on ebay for 3 or 4 quid, download Windows 10 for free from Microsoft, then type in your new key, and wahey! All done in an evening.

OK, it's not quite as simple as that...I missed out the stages where you fiddle with a memory stick and the BIOS settings...and there are other, simpler methods which cost nothing at all which often work....my point is that it can be much cheaper than you think to rescue your laptop from the landfill.

Bloody hell, you are right. I've a machine running a dodgy copy of 10, didn't realise it would be so cheap to sort.

 

[cybershot]

If it’s for home use and you don’t care about a ‘windows not activated’ watermark then windows 10 is essentially free anyway.

I’m surprised they haven’t gone down the free route anyway for the home edition. It would stop a lot of dodgy activation tools.

 

[David Clapson]

When I'm doing a machine for someone else I like the licencing to look legit, otherwise they worry about updates etc. £4 is a small price to pay. But by rights it should be free to reinstall. People have already bought a licence but they get trapped into buying another one because the sticker is unreadable or the recovery partition is corrupt or whatever, and Microsoft and the PC manufacturers don't give them any guidance written in plain English. So many people bin a perfectly good laptop because a bit of static electricity has temporarily zapped a tiny corner of the disk. If I had my way all the PC manufacturers would be birched in the stocks for eco crimes.