Since being unemployed Im really starting to turn into a techno-geek

I have a 5 yr old HP Compaq that was bluescreening me to death a few months ago so I got a mid-range Acer travelmate instead - which Im rather happy with.

I almost bought a RAM expansion card for my Acer the other day, since Iv been running a VM and two OS's on it. then I remembered my old HP and thought that I would check to see if I could use the memory cards from it first.
But the blue screen is really only software caused, issn't it?
So I figured I could do some things with my old HP. I could completely wipe it out and start with a new OS, I could use some of the hardware or I could sell bits piece by piece ... whatever, its not COMPLETELY dead.

Anyone have any other ideas on what I could do with it?? Something that would be kinda fun, challenging and would help me learn something - just looking for ideas from 'outside the box' that I may not have thought of.

Thanks and Blessings
F