Ways to get rid of older computers.

[River Valley Computer]

I don't know about all of you but our business has been very slow this month. Three of us have been discussing ways to maybe setup some of our computers that won't run Windows 11 with alternate OS in order to sell them at a reasonable price. We are in rural areas and 80% of our client base is residential.

We have looked at Chrome OS Flex and also several Linux variations. We keep going back to Zorin Lite.

Any thoughts. Hate to discard just because they won't run Windows 11!!!!

 

[Sky-Knight]

I've never found a non-Windows alternative that will sell. Anyone that wants such a machine winds up with a tablet.

Units that can't run Win 11, are disassembled, parted, and handed to a local scrapper that pays by the pound of various components. Pays rather well honestly, bought Christmas over the pandemic doing it.

 

[ThatPlace928]

Why not just leave Windows 10 on them and lower the price, if you want them gone? A lot of the people in my area don't want the upgrade to 11 and, even though they know 10 will stop getting updates next year, they are still buying them with 10. It's not like the computer will just shut down and not work anymore without the updates. The most important updates are in the security area but you can put security software on them yourself and encourage them to come in quarterly for a security and maintenance update for a small fee.

I'm not tossing any of mine out or going with a different OS, just because they don't upgrade, and I'm not looking at alternate systems. How many people do you think want to learn how to maneuver through a new type of OS?

Just my opinion, obviously. I hope you find a solution that works for you.

 

[Sky-Knight]

@ThatPlace928

You're right it won't just shutdown.

BUT...

It will not be able to communicate with M365 services in any way, nor will it be able to access Outlook.com.

There are rumors in some places that Google is going to cut access too.

The sheer level of arm twisting that seems to be shaping up from big tech to ensure Win10 is removed is... terrifying if I'm honest. Furthermore, running a decent anti-malware app doesn't offset for a lack of security updates for the OS. That mitigating control isn't even in the same category.

I don't expect things to just cut off the way I see the roadmaps planned, but a year later it's going to be very hard to get anything to work. 3rd party browsers will have dropped support by then, an the issue just snowballs as the lifecycle termination echos through the marketplace.

 

[backwoodsman]

Some years ago I switched quite a few people to Linux, often after they'd had a serious malware problem. At least half of them switched back to Windows, mostly for reasons that boiled down to not wanting to have to think about the fact that it wasn't Windows. One guy kept downloading Windows programs, then calling me to ask why they wouldn't run. Another preferred to pay for Microsoft Office, rather than simply changing LibreOffice's default to save in Microsoft formats so she could easily exchange files with others. Some didn't like the fact that their "computer expert" friend couldn't help them (to me that seems like an advantage because it reduces their having to pay me to fix it, but I digress). Others just didn't like that it didn't say "Windows." All that in spite of the fact that, the way most folks use a computer, the OS doesn't really make any difference; they know where to click for the 1 or 2 things they'll ever do, and nothing else really matters. So I don't suggest Linux anymore, and if someone asks, I make sure they know why it might not work out for them.

All that said, I've been thinking about the same thing. I still think Linux is a good solution for most users, if they can be made to understand that its not being Windows is actually a big advantage, not a compromise.

 

[Philippe]

but you can put security software on them yourself and encourage them to come in quarterly for a security and maintenance update

Useless. No security updates -> big open doors in the OS -> nothing you can do to secure it (except disconnect it from the network).

Maybe MS will change W10 EOL date...

 

[ThatPlace928]

@ThatPlace928

You're right it won't just shutdown.

BUT...

It will not be able to communicate with M365 services in any way, nor will it be able to access Outlook.com.

There are rumors in some places that Google is going to cut access too.

The sheer level of arm twisting that seems to be shaping up from big tech to ensure Win10 is removed is... terrifying if I'm honest. Furthermore, running a decent anti-malware app doesn't offset for a lack of security updates for the OS. That mitigating control isn't even in the same category.

I don't expect things to just cut off the way I see the roadmaps planned, but a year later it's going to be very hard to get anything to work. 3rd party browsers will have dropped support by then, an the issue just snowballs as the lifecycle termination echos through the marketplace.

I understand completely where you're coming from but I have no customers that use M365 or Google services and I can count on one hand those who use any type of cloud service for storage. They are perfectly fine with what they have. About 90-95% of my business is residential and only a handful of businesses.

Edit to add: most of my customers are seniors and snowbirds.

 

[Philippe]

and encourage them to come in quarterly for a security and maintenance update for a small fee

Don't! you're exposing yourself to lawsuits if/when something goes wrong! Bad idea!

 

[ThatPlace928]

Don't! you're exposing yourself to lawsuits if/when something goes wrong! Bad idea!

Message received.

 

[timeshifter]

The most important updates are in the security area but you can put security software on them

Think of your house. So you’ll install an alarm system and monitor it (ADT here in the states) but you don’t lock your doors.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I understand completely where you're coming from but I have no customers that use M365 or Google services and I can count on one hand those who use any type of cloud service for storage. They are perfectly fine with what they have. About 90-95% of my business is residential and only a handful of businesses.

Edit to add: most of my customers are seniors and snowbirds.

M365 Services also includes Outlook.com

So this is a wider net than you'd expect!

As for the Seniors and Snowbirds... I get it. I'm in the valley too! Those customers I moved to tablets ages ago, very few I know still have PCs.

 

[ThatPlace928]

M365 Services also includes Outlook.com

So this is a wider net than you'd expect!

As for the Seniors and Snowbirds... I get it. I'm in the valley too! Those customers I moved to tablets ages ago, very few I know still have PCs.

I haven't had a single customer on Outlook. About 90% are using gmail and the other 10% use Yahoo. Honestly, I don't know why they use Yahoo anymore. I've seen more crap come out of those accounts. Those who use it have been on there so long, most don't even remember their passwords, unless they keep a paper log of them. For them, I walk them through resetting their password. What's weird is a couple customers leave their phones at home so we can't even do the reset here.

I get a lot of old towers in here, too. The last few customers bought laptops from me and I transferred their data. The towers were dinosaurs and there was no upgrading the RAM to make it any faster or easier to use. I still have one that has XP on it another one on Windows 7. I'm going to pull the drives and sell the towers super cheap to guys who want to learn about electronics and need an inexpensive starting point.

 

[lan101]

I've still got some people skating by on windows 7 lol. Certainly against by advice but they are generally older people that do a few things and that's it...but yeah if google would cut all services to these systems I could see that speeding up the upgrade process even for people that barely do anything. Unless something drastic changes like that...many of these people will still be using windows 10 in 2028 etc. if it still "works" for what they do.

But yeah it sucks to see a lot of perfectly good hardware go to waste. Linux options sound good in theory but like others have said the reality is people just can't adapt on this stuff very well at all in most cases. I can't think of a single customer I have that I would fully trust they could switch to linux and it not be a nightmare lol.

 

[NviGate Systems]

What I would do is install Chrome Flex.

It's a semi mature OS, and it integrates with Google. It does basic stuff like a ChromeBook, so it's more polished than off the shelf Linux. (It also supports web extension unlike mobile devices)

Sell them at a loss and just clear them out. Maybe advertise on various marketplaces "Google Flex PC $XXX" or something like that. Clear out your inventory of crappy but perfectly fine mechanical drives because Chrome doesn't need much space and even with a HDD it will still be fast.

Price them cheap. Yes you will take a loss but if you are running a business that all goes on the books.

They call it a fire sale. HP and others did this back in the day when they wanted to kill a product line or just give up.

Yes some customers will likely install Windows after, but that's their doing not yours.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I've still got some people skating by on windows 7 lol. Certainly against by advice but they are generally older people that do a few things and that's it...but yeah if google would cut all services to these systems I could see that speeding up the upgrade process even for people that barely do anything. Unless something drastic changes like that...many of these people will still be using windows 10 in 2028 etc. if it still "works" for what they do.

But yeah it sucks to see a lot of perfectly good hardware go to waste. Linux options sound good in theory but like others have said the reality is people just can't adapt on this stuff very well at all in most cases. I can't think of a single customer I have that I would fully trust they could switch to linux and it not be a nightmare lol.

Google has already cut support, you can't get a version of Chrome that runs on WIn7 anymore. Chrome 109 is almost two years old... and you have to jump through flaming hoops to make it work these days. I'm somewhat shocked anyone using it can even float around the Internet reasonably well anymore.

 

[lan101]

Google has already cut support, you can't get a version of Chrome that runs on WIn7 anymore. Chrome 109 is almost two years old... and you have to jump through flaming hoops to make it work these days. I'm somewhat shocked anyone using it can even float around the Internet reasonably well anymore.

Yeah it's definitely starting to give issues. Customer a couple weeks ago couldn't access banking site anymore and a few other oddball issues with browsing so they finally decided to upgrade to a new system. So yeah it won't be much longer for even the most basic of users. So it's probably fair to say by late 2026 or sometime in 2027 windows 10 users will be in that same boat...a lot of them just go until they can't anymore.

 

[symbatech]

Most of the old non-11-compliant PCs that I get are ones that I have been 'given' by customers who have already upgraded to new equipment. I wipe the drives and install a clean copy of 10, then donate them to charity. At least this way some good comes of them, rather than them entering the ever-expanding e-waste stream.

 

[Diggs]

This thread reminds me of an encounter I had long ago -

Thread 'A little old lady and Linux'

Jul 14, 2017

I had a call today to clean up, straighten out and explain the details on a desktop with Win10 and a laptop with Win7. It was out on a rural farm today and the lady was in her late 70s (early 80s?). She was actually very good with her computers. A real Tech Ninja Jr. After we were about done she kinda looks around furtively and whispered in my ear - "Do you know anything about Linux?" (Like it as some new designer drug.) "My friends and son use it and say its great and I should try it." Heh - There went another 1/2 hour but long story short I left her with a Mint Mate DVD running...

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