One way to get more life out of your old PC is to limit its use to a specific purpose. My old laptop isn't good for much anymore. It's six years old and runs about as fast as molasses moves downhill. Since what I wanted to do with it eats RAM like crazy , I cleared out all the programs I didn't need. And I mean all the programs, which means nothing can run in the background and swallow processing power. Now I use it for only 2 art programs, and only one at a time. The best part is that these programs don't eat space on my new laptop. This is a great method for keeping old programs and an old computer, whether you use drawing programs, design programs, photo editing, or even digital scrapbooking.

Now, if your computer's not too old, upgrading it is a healthy and viable option. And it's also a great way to acquaint yourself with the guts of your machine. There are several places around the Web to buy parts and learn . If you've got the time and a bit of spare cash, why not rebuild that computer gathering dust in the corner. There are extensive on just about whatever you can cram into it.