Sometimes being a dad means fixing scraped knees. Sometimes it means fixing ancient laptops for schoolwork.

Recently, my sons were given two older laptops to use for school, about 13 years old, so ancient in tech years. My oldest son, Timmy, is autistic and also has ADHD, dyslexia, and dysgraphia. With his learning needs in mind, we discussed adding typing and dictation tools that could help him thrive academically.

After researching, I settled on TypingClub and Nitro Type to help improve typing skills, and decided to configure Windows' built-in speech recognition tools to support dictation. He would also need Windows 10 and Microsoft office.

The only problem? These laptops were so old they couldn’t even talk to Microsoft’s servers. So we had to get creative and create a bootable USB on a separate PC.

I began by installing Windows 10 on the first laptop. The process went smoothly after creating the bootable media. The installation took a while—old hardware and USB installs don’t exactly make for speed records. So to pass the time I worked on a Roblox project and taught my youngest son to tip his hat and say “top of the morning” to his teachers, but he just kept responding “Dad, it's not morning…”.

Once Windows 10 was operational, I installed essential software, including Malwarebytes for security, Google Chrome for browsing, and Microsoft Teams for remote collaboration. I bookmarked TypingClub and Nitro Type to make them easily accessible.

For Timmy, personalization was key. He’s a big fan of Kirby, so once Windows was activated, I applied a custom Kirby theme to make the laptop feel more engaging and personally tailored. I thought about making all the window accents pink but wasn't sure how he'd feel about that. To support his learning further, I ensured Windows Speech Recognition was updated and calibrated to his voice.

About that time my daughter's school contacted me, she wasn't feeling well and needed to come home. So I relocated the laptops to my home to continue the setup while caring for her. This flexibility is often essential when managing both family responsibilities and technical projects simultaneously. At one point, I found myself explaining speech-to-text software with one hand and making waffles with the other. Peak multitasking.

The second laptop was in slightly better shape, already running Windows 10. I created a new user account for my son Kyle, removed the previous profile, and repeated the installation of Chrome and Malwarebytes. Knowing Kyle loves sharks, I customized his desktop with a themed wallpaper and began considering additional visual enhancements. I'm currently brainstorming how to make his laptop more like an aquarium.

Given that these laptops had 6 GB and 4 GB of RAM respectively, I also manually configured virtual memory (page files) on each device to ensure smoother performance, especially under heavier workloads. They’re old machines, so I’m expecting a few speed complaints—but the virtual memory tweaks should soften the blow.

Both systems were brought up to date with software and security patches, user accounts were set up, and all unnecessary files and profiles were removed. I included shortcuts to educational tools and ensured accessibility settings were adjusted as needed.

The end result: two customized, student-ready laptops—one tailored to support assistive learning needs, and the other personalized to foster ownership and engagement. While the hardware may be dated, the performance and experience are optimized for their intended purpose.

This project reinforced how thoughtful customization, even on older hardware, can create a meaningful impact. It also served as a strong example of how technical problem-solving, paired with a bit of creativity (and a lot of coffee), can deliver practical solutions that make a real difference.