Modern technology frees desk space

At home, I use a low-cost computer as a basic file and print server. Family members store files such as photos and schoolwork in a shared folder, which is automatically backed up by Carbonite. And an all-in-one printer/scanner is attached via a USB cable for everyone's use. I realize nearly the same thing could be accomplished by using cloud storage and a wireless printer, but my old-fashioned solution is convenient and inexpensive.

For almost ten years, an obsolete desktop computer filled this role in my house. Its slow CPU and minimal RAM didn't have much of a negative effect, since copying small files and printing small documents aren't very taxing. But it sure took up a lot of desk space!

What finally motivated me to replace this old workhorse was when the hard disk, which had a capacity of only 80 GB, got full. After a few days of searching, I found a suitable used laptop for sale on eBay. It's an Acer Aspire V5 with a 11.6-inch screen, 1.5 GHz Celeron dual-core processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive and Windows 8.

With shipping, the cost was around $165.

I was worried that transferring all my files and software to the new computer would be an onerous chore, but it ended up going smoothly and only took a few hours. The steps were:

• Connect to my home wireless network. Windows 8 automatically detected the network, prompted for the key, and connected without a hitch.
• Create a homegroup and a shared folder with read/write access.
• Download and install the printer driver.
• Copy all the files from the old computer.
• Log in to my Carbonite account and transfer the backup to the new computer.

So far, everything is working well. The screen and keyboard are tiny, but since I'll almost never use them, that's actually an advantage. Look at all the desk space I gained!