Giving an old laptop a new lease of life.

[Millcourt]

The Ex-Gasman recently started a thread about the problem of upgrading his desktop computer to Windows 11. Do not think the following will be helpful to him, as I believe it only applies to older (short of memory/slow CPU) Windows and Mac laptops. However, his posting did prompt me to mention the possibility of converting to the Chrome OS, as this may be helpful to others.

A couple of weeks ago I installed Chrome OS on an elderly cheap HP Stream laptop which was not suitable for Windows 11. This was easy to do and works well for the straightforward tasks I want it for …….email, internet browsing etc.

Full details at https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/how-to-turn-your-old-laptop-into-a-chromebook-aQSOD7r01Puw

Beware….there is no going back and check the listings of laptops it has been shown to work on. If your old laptop is not shown, you may end up with a useless device. (My more computer-literate elder son says this known as “Bricking it”.)

 

[nicholsong]

If one has not already done it, try changing to an SSD hard drive, as a first step to upgrade. Worked for me on my Acer laptop.

 

[the1andonly]

Another alternative to press old laptop back into use is puppy linux. Can be used on a usb stick or even a "frugal" install on a hard drive. It's what i'm currently using.

 

[Ninjabob]

If one has not already done it, try changing to an SSD hard drive, as a first step to upgrade. Worked for me on my Acer laptop.

Made a huge difference to my ACER Laptop which will not run 11 but no is lightening quick on 10 so a good few years use yet.

 

[sgl5gjr]

Aye.... get an SSD with Windows pre loaded.... easy swap over..... and hike the ram up to the maximum too..... I prefer 10 to 11 to be honest

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[pagey]

Just bought a new laptop with win 11 on it hate win 11 but can't go back to win 10, win11 is all ads and tries to force bing as a browser

 

[terry298651]

Just bought a new laptop with win 11 on it hate win 11 but can't go back to win 10, win11 is all ads and tries to force bing as a browser

totally agree...

 

[GJH]

Just bought a new laptop with win 11 on it hate win 11 but can't go back to win 10, win11 is all ads and tries to force bing as a browser

You must need to adjust your settings.
I've been using Win 11 since 2021 using Firefox as default browser and Opera as secondary.
Whilst using the taskbar search will try to use Bing, using the Firefox search bar doesn't. Can't say I'm inundated with ads either.

 

[GJH]

Extra memory and SSD are good moves but changing OS depends on what you need to use the PC (tool) for.
If you have a requirement for running Windows only software (without any faff around with emulators) then Chrome and Linux will not do what you require of the tool.

 

[LesW]

Just bought a new laptop with win 11 on it hate win 11 but can't go back to win 10, win11 is all ads and tries to force bing as a browser

That's odd, I recently bought an ASUS 'notebook' with Win 11, absolutely no adverts and using Google Chrome browser with no interference from Bing.

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[pagey]

It's a hp pavilion apparently the only way to get rid of bing is to go into the registry and adblock keeps coming up on the screen with offers to go pro

 

[GJH]

It's a hp pavilion apparently the only way to get rid of bing is to go into the registry and adblock keeps coming up on the screen with offers to go pro

We have two HP All-in-One 27-dp0091na desktop machines and a HP Pavilion Laptop PC 14-dv0000 (9WF41AV) in the house.
All run Windows 11 and all run Firefox as default browser (which you can set from within Firefox having downloaded it).

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[FrankNicklin]

That's odd, I recently bought an ASUS 'notebook' with Win 11, absolutely no adverts and using Google Chrome browser with no interference from Bing.

Depends on the manufacturer but most will come loaded with crapware of some sort. WinZip, McAfee, Norton as examples. First thing I do is uninstall everything that isn't a standard part of Windows. Crapware helps keep the price down by advertising products and wanting you to subscribe to services. I want to make my own mind up as to what to install and run.

The only devices that don't come with crapware installed are Apple.

 

[Gellyneck]

Depends on the manufacturer but most will come loaded with crapware of some sort. WinZip, McAfee, Norton as examples. First thing I do is uninstall everything that isn't a standard part of Windows. Crapware helps keep the price down by advertising products and wanting you to subscribe to services. I want to make my own mind up as to what to install and run.

The only devices that don't come with crapware installed are Apple.

Apart from iOS!

 

[FrankNicklin]

Apart from iOS!

Never had crapware on iOS. Its all Apple content.

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[Gellyneck]

Never had crapware on iOS. Its all Apple content.

Exactly!

 

[steve69]

Another alternative to press old laptop back into use is puppy linux. Can be used on a usb stick or even a "frugal" install on a hard drive. It's what i'm currently using.

I had an IT specialist install Linux mint on an old laptop after being recommended by a friend.
The specialist did say it might not be any better. He was right...Had to bin the laptop in the end.

 

[Gromett]

Had to bin the laptop in the end.

Why? You could have gone back to windows.

 

[Gellyneck]

Why? You could have gone back to windows.

Not like you to suggest a retrograde step back from Linux to Windows!

 

[SpeedyDux]

I bought a laptop that had Win 7 installed and managed to reinstall XP - woo hoo!

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[steve69]

Why? You could have gone back to windows.

No I couldn't. It was windows 8. And it became useless. Not enough memory for W10.

 

[Gromett]

Not like you to suggest a retrograde step back from Linux to Windows!

Better than throwing a perfectly serviceable laptop in the bin. But only just

 

[mikebeaches]

Another alternative to press old laptop back into use is puppy linux. Can be used on a usb stick or even a "frugal" install on a hard drive. It's what i'm currently using.

I have a 20-year desktop happily chugging on Linux.

 

[Lenny HB]

It's a hp pavilion apparently the only way to get rid of bing is to go into the registry and adblock keeps coming up on the screen with offers to go pro

And it comes back on the next windows update it's a real pest.