It’s a problem that a lot of people have, especially those that like to try and keep up to date with some of the newer hardware as its released. What this means for many then is that there are a lot of older computers, laptops, phones, and tablets lying around.
It’s worth remembering that hardware hasn’t really changed much over the last decade – it has been refined significantly, but many people would be surprised to find just how efficient a 2015 smartphone can really be when given a bit of extra life. Let’s look at some of the easiest ways of taking older hardware and making it work again.
Hardware Updates
One of the biggest changes to personal computers recently is the development and public release of solid state drives. This means that it’s now possible to have a storage medium that has no moving parts, and due to the way that flash storage works, a computer with an SSD installed will be much faster than one with a tradition hard drive.
An old computer with a relatively decent processor could be boosted significantly by simply removing the hard drive and installing an SSD instead, which should help boost boot times as well as how well the operating system functions.
Another way to really give an old computer new life is by installing more RAM. Apart from the SSD, RAM can provide some of the biggest increases to the performance of the device. Fortunately, older RAM is also extremely cheap and easy to get a hold of, and it’s even generally quite simple to install.
Software
Hardware can only take a machine so far, so the next step to take is installing better software. There are millions of computers out there that are still running Windows 7, which is officially deprecated and packed with lots of vulnerabilities. Fortunately, the simple answer here is to install a Linux distribution.
Linux is an open source operating system that lots of different distributions, and it’s fairly easy to find one that works well with older hardware, such as MX Linux or Linux Mint, specifically the xfce edition. Software can sometimes make all the difference, and for devices that are exceptionally old, such as those built before 2005, it’s possible to bring them back to life with antiX or Puppy Linux.
This also means porting modern security fixes and standards as well as a wide selection of advanced software that can turn an old laptop into a workstation or media centre for watching videos, movies, or even enjoying online blackjack real money games, among others.
Mobile Devices
While iPhones tend to have much longer software support than Android, there are some ways to update an Android and give it new software, although it’s better suited to those that are good with technology.
A custom ROM is one of the best ways of reviving an old Android device, and such ROMS as LineageOS, GrapheneOS, DivestOS, and others are the top choices around to do just this.