EEVblog #1212 - Dumpster Diving PC Motherlode - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2019, 11:32:21 pm
content: A whole stack of HP PC's found in the dumpster!

author: Deodand2014
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2019, 11:51:50 pm
content: Looks like a government office must have been cleaning out.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 12:00:04 am
content: Watch for that horrible hydroscopic sealant on those proprietary slimline PSU's !If they've been sitting around for a while unpowered and not in a aircon room they can go BANG when next powered on.

author: johnlsenchak
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 12:20:07 am
content: Hey Dave, I respectively disagree with you when it comes to Windows 8.1. not being a popular version that computer users wanted . All you have to dois install the Classic Shel program , and make them look like Windows 7. then "Bob's your Uncle".This then will get you Microsoft Security updates until January 2023You should fix them up and donate them to needy poor kids in your area who can't afford a computer for school

author: alho
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 12:39:40 am
content: Intel just launched their new marketing campaign, it's time to upgradeto newer processors.New Intel security flaws could slow some chips by nearly 20% - Reutershttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-intel-cyber-idUSKCN1SK2OD

author: johnlsenchak
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 01:24:16 am
content: Fear , uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) the internet security news feeds have been going around and around with this one for months now

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 01:29:20 am
content: Quote from: johnlsenchak on May 16, 2019, 01:24:16 amYou called it FUD even its admitted by Intel them self ?

author: retiredcaps
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 02:11:41 am
content: I bought about 10 of these HP/Compaq form factors for about $15 CDN each with varying specs. It runs lubuntu beautifully. I added some cheap used $5 to $10 SSDs and it suits my needs perfectly.I do have one dedicated for windows 10 + tax program for annual use.Great build quality and quite heavy.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 04:37:58 am
content: Quote from: johnlsenchak on May 16, 2019, 12:20:07 amThat certainly helps, but you still get a butt ugly flat UI that is a tremendous step backward from Win7. Either way it's impossible to argue that it was a popular operating system, the numbers very clearly say otherwise. Market share of both revisions of Windows 8 are down below 10%, while Windows 7 hovers around 40%.

author: johnlsenchak
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 05:12:51 am
content: Can you actual believe those market shares numbers are all that acute?I like Windows 8.1. , I have it on two of my computes with the classic shell program installed . I agree with you that the tile interface in pretty bad, however it's a amazingly stable operating system and that's what matters most Windows 10 (1809) is just Windows 8.1. with a heavily mortified GUI interface to appease all the new computer buyers Windows 10 (1809) is 'just a dummy downed operating system compared to say Linux Ubuntu or Mint

author: capt bullshot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 06:12:59 am
content: Sometimes the IT department here dumps a lot of stuff. Once in a while you see a container like this onefull of old PCs, or other stuff.Usually it isn't worth messing around with these PCs, since someone at IT removes and destroys the hard drives (this is done always, for plausible reasons), and often other vital parts (like memory and CPU) were removed.

author: DedR4M
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 09:59:29 am
content: Hi Dave,here from ye olde UK....Just because I'm lazy and gotta get ready to go out in a moment, I'll CTRL+C CTRL+V my post on youtube..."About your "thermal runaway" dead machine....Where I work, we fix such machines usually for the E-POS market...The reason for the fan running fast is because it's receiving no PWM signal and are designed to run in free-running mode just in case the PWM source/wire has gone faulty in an otherwise good machine...Usually on the 2nd gen core-i systems the PCH goes all NVIDIA-geforce with flip-chip uBGA plague (on the Q67 chipset),This is the first wild 3rd gen Core-i series system to fail this way....Or alternately, there could be a shorted mosfet on the CPU VRM, the low side mosfet...some machines detect over-current and shut down the VRMs.... this is quite rare though.p.s. I'll assume you won't see this as I hardly log in to use youtube and such, thus my stats will be too low and thus I'll try signing up for your EEVBLOG forum to post the same there...﻿"Sorry for naff first post, gotta go...

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 12:36:13 pm
content: Quote from: johnlsenchak on May 16, 2019, 05:12:51 amYou can upgrade to Windows 10 for free so why suffer with a half-finished OS?(Windows 10 also works with classic shell, it's the first thing I install on it)Quote from: johnlsenchak on May 16, 2019, 05:12:51 amNo, it's a finished version of Windows 8.And they're adding a "Linux subsystem" so you can use/program it like Linux.Quote from: johnlsenchak on May 16, 2019, 05:12:51 amNot even 1% true, but haters gonna hate.

author: cv007
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 12:39:15 pm
content: Windows Pro versions have downgrade rights to the previous version, which no one cared about except for Vista and Win8, which businesses didn't want. I don't think some of these manufactures cared for these versions either, and were happy to make available out-of-the-box downgraded versions of the Vista/Win8 pc's. My experience is it was quite a rare event when a business wanted the Vista/Win8 version and not the downgraded version (XP/Win7).FYI, you can put Windows 10 Pro on any of those pc's- in the case of those that have the Win8 sticker on them, they will have a (unique) Win8 product key embedded in bios and Windows 10 will activate automatically using the Win8 key. For the Windows 7 versions, you just have to activate Win10 using the product key on the sticker (you type it in).

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 12:57:11 pm
content: Quote from: cv007 on May 16, 2019, 12:39:15 pmYes, Windows 10 is still a free upgrade even though they don't advertise it.(FWIW I'm still on Windows 7 but I use Windows 10 a lot on other machines and don't have a problem with it as an OS)

author: johnlsenchak
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 01:00:07 pm
content: I don't hate Windows 10 (1809) to me it's just a ongoing , unfinished operating system which forces you to do two major updates twice a year. I say force because if you don't do the major build updates twice a year , then after 18 months from a previous build, you will no longer get security updates. That is a fact you can't denyIt's all about security updates and upgrading to whatever standards Microsoft sets , and not about the user experience getting to that point year after year

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 01:06:37 pm
content: Quote from: johnlsenchak on May 16, 2019, 01:00:07 pmBy that yardstick, no Linux distribution will ever be more than about 25% finished.The thing that bothers me is that Microsoft is constantly pushing crapware on you (Candy Crush) and that everybody knows they really want to turn Windows into a subscription service. Home users are migrating to smartphones for their daily needs, corporations will be happy to pay expensive subscriptions, where does that leave the small users?

author: johnlsenchak
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 01:08:58 pm
content: The free upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. is called a digital entitlement with a new license key

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 03:53:04 pm
content: Quote from: johnlsenchak on May 16, 2019, 05:12:51 amYes I believe they're accurate enough, especially then it correlates with my personal experience, I have encountered exactly zero Win8 installs in at least two years now. That's fine if you like it, I too would choose Win8 + classic shell over Win10 but that doesn't mean it was or is a popular operating system, on the contrary it was an unmitigated disaster that the company has tried to bury.

author: Razor512
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 05:01:33 pm
content: Chances are that since many of those machines may activate under windows 10, could be worth a try.Beyond that, if they are below a 4th gen intel CPU, then I recommend getting rid of them since due to the meltdown and speculative execution issues, the software fixes for those CPUs have a massive performance hit , thus not only are they outdated, but they are running even slower than they did when they first came out.If it lacks INVPCID then it is not then it will likely be 30-40% slower than it was when it first came out.

author: johnlsenchak
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2019, 11:44:14 pm
content: Quote from: Razor512 on May 16, 2019, 05:01:33 pmI'll agree 100 percent with this statement ,as those processors are more suited for Linux

author: capt bullshot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2019, 06:31:17 am
content: Quote from: Razor512 on May 16, 2019, 05:01:33 pmMeltdown and its relatives aren't relevant for home / small office use of these computers, so if one knows what to do (disable the fixes) there's no impact either.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2019, 12:05:32 pm
content: Quote from: capt bullshot on May 17, 2019, 06:31:17 amI don't think Microsoft applies a patch automatically so nothing to disable.

author: akimmet
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2019, 04:33:25 pm
content: The windows 8 sticker actually is the COA sticker.That sticker means a there is a SLIC Windows license embedded in the firmware. If Win8 sees this key it will automatically activate. It may also work with Windows 10, I just haven't bothered to actually try it.The label mentioning Windows 8 downgraded to Windows 7 was a way for OEMs to continue selling PCs with windows 7 pre-installed, after Microsoft stopped issuing new Windows 7 keys. I forget the exact details, but I believe there was a clause in the Windows 8 license stating one had the rights to downgrade to an earlier version.