Consider using a data recovery service or a specialized repair shop to salvage information from these old laptops.
Consider using a data recovery service or a specialized repair shop to salvage information from these old laptops.
Right now I own three laptops, each running either a dual boot setup or a straight FreeBSD 3200 series machine. They all have the AMD Athlon XP-M processor, 2000+ RAM, 40GB storage, and run Windows XP Home or FreeBSD Toshiba Satellite A60. The A60 model seems to have some issues—its BIOS isn’t very detailed, and the CMOS might be faulty. The FreeBSD versions I have are also limited, with a weak battery and no good documentation.
Since I intend to sell them, I doubt people will be interested in FreeBSD because it’s a command-line OS without a graphical interface. However, the hardware specs are quite restricted, so it might be best to let potential buyers know what they’ll face. If you’re comfortable with that, it could work. Otherwise, you might want to consider alternatives that offer more usability and support.
Set up the hardware with Puppy Linux. It will function properly.
I never would part with my hard drives, I only keep those that are nearly useless and not useful to my dad. He sends them to his headquarters (TWC) where they have machines to break them down into powder. They reuse the destroyed drives for new HDDs, often sourced from other companies' cable boxes—like Dish or Direct TV. If you leave the box without taking them, they might still process them.