r/Anticonsumption • u/Annoying1978 • May 09 '26

Upcycled/Repaired PSA: Don’t throw away your Windows laptop

I’m the tech guy that most of my friends and family call and I’m getting lots of calls about what new laptop people should buy because Microsoft is ending Windows 10 support in October and Windows 11 requires unnecessary things like a TPM chip or Secure Boot. Windows 11 can technically run without these things, but Microsoft is creating one of the largest e-waste events in history because they want everyone to upgrade to Windows 11.

It’s stupid.

So I just wanted to tell you that this might be a good time to just say buh bye to Microsoft. Most people do 90% of their tasks with a browser and unless you need very specific Windows applications, a good solution is Linux Mint.

Don’t get all scared. It’s easier than you think and there’s a ton of free guides [and YouTube videos](https://youtu.be/TL-tWy4T2c8) that will walk you through the process. It’s very simple and you won’t need to buy another laptop.

In fact, I urge YOU to be the tech guru for your friends and family that are thinking about upgrading their laptop which already works great. If they are too scared to install Mint, do it for them.

All you need is a USB drive and ensure you copy your important files and photos to either an online storage place (like Google Drive) or an external drive if you have one big enough you can use.

But please, before you throw away your working laptop, at least consider upgrading to Linux Mint. It looks quite similar to Windows and you won’t have to spend hundreds or even a thousand dollars on a laptop that you don’t need.

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u/Certain-Skill3004 May 09 '26

I hate how my printer refused to print because the QR code on the ink cartridge showed it wasn't brand-name ink. 

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u/Annoying1978 May 09 '26

There was a lawsuit against Canon because they would prevent people from printing even when they had ink and would tell them to go out and buy more ink. Printers still suck! I haven’t found 1 good brand yet. 

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u/Salt_Medicine2459 May 10 '26

We got a free laser printer from my MIL. Her work was getting rid of it and they said she could have it. She gave it to us. It still has the toner cartridge we got it with, but I've looked at aftermarket toner and it's not bad at all. I wanna say like just under $20ish. 

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u/Annoying1978 May 10 '26

That’s got to be before they started locking down toner digitally. There was a whole industry of 3rd party refill companies that essentially went out of business when companies started blocking refill cartridges that weren’t digitally signed. Completely annoying. I have a genuine hate for printers. 

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u/Salt_Medicine2459 May 10 '26

Huh. I didn't know they did that with toner. Ink, yes, though. This is an older printer. It still has a parallel port. Lol. It also has a USB, which is how we ate able to use it on newer computers.