Resurrecting a really old PC

I just scavanged my old PC and found some parts that I see are still useable. I'm asking if this "resurrection" is going to be possible at all, and if so, what am I going to need to make this thing work as good as it can. Here's a run down of what i have :

  • inno3D nVidia GeForce 2 Ti (Tornado GeForce2 Titanium)
  • intel Pentium 4 northwood 2.4 GHz
  • 256 MB single DDR Mushkin RAM
  • 40 GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 3.5" ATA
  • A DVD drive, and a sound card which I don't know what brand.

IS. IT. POSSIBLE? It's only gonna be for everyday stuff, nothing heavy. Or should I make it into a router?

Everyday stuff? Hell no. You could always transform it into a fileserver or a router if you'd like to. But everyday use? That thing won't even install Flash player without catching fire.

It seems it will. I know how to make it into a server. But sorry if this is a stupid question, but what the heck is a fileserver? Is it a cloud? 

FTP server with Filezilla or something.

http://www.freenas.org/

That PC can be used for daily use, it will even run GIMP and probably Youtube videos, and probably at the same time. Get a copy of Vector Linux (or Puppy Linux or Macpup Linux...). If you go for Vector Linux it will open your eyes as to how little ressources are really needed for productivity and normal daily use, it is Slackware based but very user friendly and just flies, it's incredibly fast on older machines. It's a Pentium4, so you could try to salvage some more RAM, 1GB for instance, and run Manjaro Linux or some XFCE or Openbox based lean modern kernel distro, and you'll have a very usable machine that's fast for just about anything, except modern windows games.

If it's for your own use as a poweruser, it's just not an energy efficient and modern system, and it will be limiting, but fir standard productivity and daily use, it's a very valid system, and you probably could make someone that needs a PC very happy with it. I've set up recycled Pentium III laptops with less RAM than that with Vector Linux, e.g. for older people that just wanted to browse, mail, skype and manage/edit basic digital photos, and they're all very happy with it and whenever I can recycle old hardware, I try to find a good use for it.

If you use it as a router, the security performance will be incredible, but it's not very energy efficient at all. I wouldn't use it as a NAS because the storage interface is not up to date and it will be noticeably low performing when it's used intensively, and of course the same is true there, it will not be very energy efficient.

I do recommend using more modern systems for energy efficiency purposes if it's for 24/7 operation.

Anyway, all just my opinion.

Look into MicroXP or TinyXP by eXPerience. In your case, I'd recommend MicroXP.