On principle I hate to give away or, Heaven forbid, throw away, a computer.  There are just too many ways to salvage them.  Ollder computers can often run like new with a few simple fixes.  When my first computer slowed to a crawl, I added memory, ran a good registry cleaner to Fix Corrupt Registry problems, and removed all of the big, clumsy programs I had installed.  With these few fixes and a larger hard drive, I was able to create a great backup computer, which I use exclusively for storing and sending family pictures and Internet access in case my main computer goes down.