With the recent new increase in coronavirus infections and the closure of schools in some regions, many children and young people find themselves once again taking lessons from home. In this situation, some parents may have wondered how to resurrect old computers that have worked but have not been used for years, to give them to children and make them as autonomous as possible without having to buy a new computer. If the hard disk is not damaged and the battery (in the case of laptops) still works, in fact, a computer with even ten years of age can do its job very well: it will not be the maximum speed, but for the needs of children and for a temporary situation it is often sufficient.
The best thing to do to restart a computer that has been inactive for a few years (especially if you have decided to give it away to those who might need it), is to restore the factory settings, that is to restore it to its initial condition. If it has not been used for a while, probably everything that was important in it has already been saved and moved to other parts (with the restoration in fact everything is lost) and at that point it can be restored quite easily, following procedures that vary according to the manufacturer and the type of operating system. As for the older models that do not support recent operating systems, you can try to turn them into Chromebooks, i.e. computers that work with the Google operating system.
PC with Windows 8 and 10
Computers that at the time of purchase had the Windows 8 or Windows 10 versions (i.e. most of those sold between 2013 and today) are very easy to restore. Microsoft still supports both versions with security updates, so just bring them back to their “original state” and they will be ready to be used. To be guided in restoring the factory settings, you can go to the Microsoft website, where you can find both directions for those who have a computer with a Windows 8 operating system, and for those who have one with a Windows 10 operating system. For even more information easy to follow, on YouTube there are many tutorials (for example this for those who have Windows 8 and this for those who have Windows 10).
If you are wondering what version of the operating system is on your PC (Windows 8 or Windows 10?) And therefore what instructions to follow, you can find out directly by looking in the computer settings. The procedure obviously varies from system to system and if you do not know what system you have it can be difficult to understand which procedure to follow, but in general you should be able to find out by going to “Settings” and then looking for an item like “Information”, “System type “Or” PC Info “or” System “: sometimes under the PC there is an adhesive label indicating the operating system installed ..
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After starting the recovery, restarting your computer and following all the initial steps to start using it again, you can go to the updates section (Windows Update), see if there are updates to be made and if so, do them. This may take several computer restarts and then some time. After that the computer should be ready for use.
PC with Windows 7
Restoring a computer with Windows 7 operating system could be a bit more complicated since Microsoft has stopped supporting it since January 2020 and therefore to do security updates. For those who have a computer with Windows 7, Microsoft's recommendations are to avoid upgrading to Windows 10 and simply buy a new computer. However, according to Wirecutter, the influential New York Times product review site, Windows 10 works pretty well on these computers as well, and it's always worth giving it a try.
If you want to update a computer with Windows 7 what you have to do is download Windows 10 from here and start the installation. When you are asked what to do, choose “Update your PC now” and then when (after some time) you will be asked to choose what to keep, click on “Nothing”. This way the computer will be cleaned of all old applications and will start from scratch with an updated version of Windows.
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From now on you will be asked to enter the license number of Windows 10: you can decide not to enter it and use the computer with some limitations (they are a bit boring, but they can be fine for a reduced and short-term use) , or you can buy a Windows 10 license. On Amazon for example it is 75 euros: a good price compared to that of the Microsoft site which is about double. Before making the purchase, however, you can try to give it a try by entering the old license number of Windows 7, if you still have it somewhere. Due to some operations that Microsoft has done in recent months, in fact, those who have a Windows 7 license may be entitled to a free upgrade to version 10 – the company has never said it clearly, but many experts recommend trying.
MacBook
Restoring an old MacBook is quite easy, but it is worth doing it only with those purchased after 2009 because the others only hold old versions of the operating system, which Apple it is no longer updating and therefore are not safe. The MacBook must be turned off, then turned on and immediately press the Command and R keys simultaneously and continuously to access the “Recovery” app window. At this point you have to follow the instructions on the Apple website: in the window you must first click on “Disk Utility” and proceed with the initialization (ie delete everything on the computer) and then exit and click on “Reinstall macOS” to install the latest compatible operating system. Here you will find a video tutorial showing all the steps.
Turn an old computer into a Chromebook
There is a way to turn any computer into a Chromebook and that can be very useful for computers that work but no longer hold up. updated operating systems. A Chromebook is a computer that uses the Google Chrome operating system, Chrome OS: its main feature is that it uses very little of the PC's internal memory – as other computers do – but it saves almost all data online. If you want, you can also restore a computer by installing Ubuntu, the Linux-based operating system, but for distance learning Chromebooks are more recommended, since they are also common in schools and for most children and young people it is easier to use them. .
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To make this transformation you need to use CloudReady, a system invented by the Neverware company that works on many computer models (if you want confirmation that it is good for yours, here is the complete list). To do this you need an 8 or 16 GB USB key: you need to go to the section of the Neverware site dedicated to the Home version (the only free one) and click on “Download USB Maker”. To do this, you don't necessarily have to use the old computer you want to turn into a Chromebook, but you can use a faster computer if you have one. In the process of downloading the USB Maker you will be asked to insert the key and proceed: the operating system of the future Chromebook will then be downloaded directly to the key and in this way the key can then be used to start the old computer.
At this point things get more difficult, so beware. Basically, what you need to do is tell the old computer that it needs to boot its operating system by taking it from the USB stick and not the computer's hard drive, as it normally would. To do this, the key must be inserted into the computer when it is still off, then you have to turn on the computer and go to the BIOS, the program that computers run immediately after switching on. To understand each other, among those who know little about computer science: it is a screen that recalls that of the Lost computer. To access the BIOS, you must press a key as soon as the computer turns on, but the key varies from computer to computer. To find out which is your computer's, google the brand name and “enter BIOS” (for example samsung + enter + bios) and you should find the answer. Once you have found out which key is, you have to hold it down for a long time at the exact moment when the computer turns on and the manufacturer's logo appears.
Once in the BIOS, go to “Boot” in the top bar and you will find a list of “priorities”. To get your computer to boot using the key's operating system, you'll need to put your key at the top of this priority list. For some, it may not be immediate to move in the BIOS and make these changes (especially because often you cannot use the mouse, but only the keys): in this case, the advice is to look at the key legend in the BIOS screen and rely on the tutorials videos found on YouTube. This for example is a tutorial in Italian that shows how to do the whole operation on various computers and therefore on different BIOS. Last thing: before exiting the BIOS make sure you have saved the changes you have made. A very clear tutorial that shows the whole process from the beginning can be found here. If everything went as it should, you should see a white screen with the Cloudready logo and be able to use the Chromebook.
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