The Lazerus Effect:
Volume 1 : The hardware

The Lazerus is a term which describes the raising of the dead. With the advent of faster games and steeper OS requirements, people have always had the notion that getting the latest OS with the latest hardware specs was the right or kiasu(chinese term for trying to be elite) thing to do. This of course is untrue from my point of view. My computers solely consists of hand-me-downs. To them, these machines are obsolete, "dead". These machines are still functioning and are performing well.

I'll approach this topic in clear steps from a bottom-up approach starting with the hardware. Make sure that each component of a system unit (the box). Use this term, yes it means the box, i hate it when people keeps on saying that their CPU's aren't working. At this point it would actually help to have spare components around or another computer around to verify your findings.

The mobo (motherboard) is the part of the "trinity" of main hardware that should work. The others are RAM and CPU. Usually it's hard to comeby with replacement components, depending on the age of the component.

Make sure that the power supply is working, then make sure that the PC speakers are plugged in to the mobo. If there are the signature beeps, those are actually good signs that your mobo is still functioning. Take note that if nothing happens and the power supply smells like burnt electronics (trust me you'll know it when you smell it) turn off the power.

Ample amount of RAM can compensate for the lack in processing power. Check that all the RAM slots are working. Then proceed with the PCI peripherals like sound cards and network cards.

Install the IDE devices and make sure that the data ribbons are properly connnected, otherwise your bios is not gonna see any devices. This is an issue with old hardware that don't have the data ribbons labelled.

Remember that your system may not be much and may feel dodgy considering that you got some parts for free or at dirt cheap prices. But the sum is greater than its parts. The end goal is a system that meets your computing requirements.

Next: OS choices, Windows or Linux?