Delete Linux Mint and install Chrome OS on old laptop?

[gs85739az]

Installed Mint on older Dell laptop, it's ok, but still fairly slow...Celeron CPU, so-so at best...:-(

Would Google Chrome OS install be faster?

This is an "extra" older laptop and wouldn't be used for much more than web surfing/email..

Please advise..

Is it difficult to install Chrome OS?
Gary

 

[malch]

Installed Mint on older Dell laptop, it's ok, but still fairly slow...Celeron CPU, so-so at best...:-(

Would Google Chrome OS install be faster?

Sounds like a downgrade to me.

How much RAM do you have in this machine? That MIGHT be the problem depending on how old it is. I was able to significantly upgrade the RAM in a old Dell laptop myself and it cost about the same as 2/3 cups of coffee

Modern web browsers chew up gobs of RAM so that's quite likely a factor. Adding RAM should help. I suppose you could also look for a lightweight web browser. Anyone know what is the lightest browser for Linux?

Also, I'm guessing you have Mint Cinnamon. You could try Mint Xfce. It very solid and very functional but not quite as pretty. But it is very light on machine resources.

 

[CAcreeks]

Installed Mint on older Dell laptop, it's ok, but still fairly slow...Celeron CPU, so-so at best...:-(

Would Google Chrome OS install be faster? This is an "extra" older laptop and wouldn't be used for much more than web surfing/email. Please advise. Is it difficult to install Chrome OS?

I've never heard that Chrome OS is a lightweight Linux, though perhaps it is. Personally I would install Lubuntu, which is one of those recommended here:

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www.linux.com

Probably nobody on this forum has tried to install Chrome OS, but apparently it has been done. This article says there are some gotchas.

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www.howtogeek.com

 

[Gesture]

There are even Android installs.

OP: I guess Linux Mint is getting a little more demanding, but I have run Linux distros quite well on an OLD 775 socket machine with 1 GB RAM.

Good luck.

 

[tkbslc]

I've tried installing ChromeOS in VMs and on an old laptop, and there were no straightforward installers. Just some unofficial images. And the one time I got it sort of working, there were some major caveats. This was just last year.

Is there a good fully functional ChromeOS installer now?

 

[zerored]

As Malch recommended, try increasing RAM. Look for a used or recycle type computer shop.

 

[gs85739az]

Presume Chrome OS would be much more limited than Mint Cinnamon 4sure...

I'll look into more RAM, that's even easier than installing an OS..first things first, ty simple always seems best for me..

 

[malch]

I'll look into more RAM, that's even easier than installing an OS..first things first, ty simple always seems best for me..

I've had good luck buying cheap RAM for old Dell systems from A-Tech Components who sell via an Amazon storefront.

 

[Gesture]

I recently bought from the same company on eBay for an old Intel motherboard. Good email support.

 

[gs85739az]

googled several "Chrome OS" installs, all seemed WAY more complicated than I'd like to deal with at present..

Mint Cinnamon works well, just wondering if anything was faster..this old Celeron ain't much to start with but it's like a NEW PC compared to the recent Windows VISTA OS delete..

Guess I have about as much as I can get from this old laptop, BUT, I'll check out the RAM and order more ASAP...as well as seeing if it's even "64bit", it might be 32 bit..more later...

 

[gs85739az]

Linux Mint installed on old Dell 1501[AMD Sempron], can't get the wifi to work...reinstalled Linux Mint a few times, even tried a Netgear wifi stick which WORKS on another Dell[desktop]that also uses the SAME Linux install disc...go figure..one of them days..:-(

Maybe I can go to the Dell desktop and copy exactly the wifi setup there and put it into the laptop and get lucky..worth a shot...more later..slowly learning..

 

[CAcreeks]

Linux Mint installed on old Dell 1501[AMD Sempron], can't get the wifi to work...reinstalled Linux Mint a few times, even tried a Netgear wifi stick which WORKS on another Dell[desktop]that also uses the SAME Linux install disc...go figure..one of them days..:-(

Does the Dell 1501 have an RJ45 connector for Ethernet, and do you have an Ethernet connection available?

I would plug in hardwired Ethernet and hope Linux can find a driver for the WiFi card in your Dell 1501. Often Mint installations are self-repairing if they have a network connection.

 

[tkbslc]

googled several "Chrome OS" installs, all seemed WAY more complicated than I'd like to deal with at present..

Yeah, that's what I remember. And even after it worked, it wasn't exactly clean.

Mint Cinnamon works well, just wondering if anything was faster..this old Celeron ain't much to start with but it's like a NEW PC compared to the recent Windows VISTA OS delete..

Guess I have about as much as I can get from this old laptop, BUT, I'll check out the RAM and order more ASAP...as well as seeing if it's even "64bit", it might be 32 bit..more later...

--

Try Lubuntu. It's way easier on the hardware than Mint and still has most of Ubuntu's ease of use. I had this working on some really slow laptops and it's very usable, albeit not as pretty as Ubuntu or Mint.

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lubuntu.net

 

[malch]

Linux Mint installed on old Dell 1501[AMD Sempron], can't get the wifi to work...reinstalled Linux Mint a few times, even tried a Netgear wifi stick which WORKS on another Dell[desktop]that also uses the SAME Linux install disc...go figure..one of them days..:-(

Maybe try a different USB port?

Also, I heartily recommend this WiFi adapter which seems to work out-of-the-box on Windows and every Linux distro I've tried:

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www.amazon.com

 

[gs85739az]

Great idea CAcreeks! I'll try that asap...

 

[Gesture]

Some WiFi may be "unreachable" in the same sense that it would be under Windows 10. Yes, many legacy computers you can install Windows 10, but I am finding that not everything works. Sometimes, the system won't drive the full graphics resolution it did in Windows 7 (Dell Precision M65) or there is no driver for the BlueTooth card. On one of my legacy computers, Windows 10 didn't install the RealTek audio drivers but I was able to install the Windows 8.1 ones from the Intel site.

So, if you can install through Ethernet, one of the first things to try is Driver Manager in the Settings panel. It may pick up a WiFi driver.

Good luck.

 

[gs85739az]

Found a newer USB dongle wifi "Panda" it WORKS fine on both desktop and laptop!

The Netgear wifi dongle never worked at all..hmmm, oh well, life goes on.

Got Linux Mint 17 on an old Dell XPS 410 and older Dell Inspiron/AMD Sempron laptop...Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon is working WELL on both PC's..

Recently bought a few books on Linux how-to/Mint,etc, reading them til I can do this Linux without it feeling like I'm getting a tooth pulled, all this "new" terminology, geez, but I felt the same way about Windows 95 a few decades ago..practice and mindless repetition has help me out, but NOT as much as the great posters on DPR!

Thanks again y'all..another perfect day

--
Gary

 

[PerTulip]

Adding more RAM is always good and a cheap way to improve an old computers performance.

The look for a distribution that uses xfce as a desktop environment. That's very lightweight and won't stretch the resources as much as the powerhouse environments do.

 

[gs85739az]

Checked the RAM inside Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop, it's just 2GB MAX, 2X1GB sticks are already there, so it's about as robust as it's gonna get...

I do have a spare SSD sitting around that I might install, it'll make Linux Mint even faster..but this is a very old, very Sempron CPU'd unit and it's good enough for light internet surfing/email..

 

[malch]

Checked the RAM inside Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop, it's just 2GB MAX, 2X1GB sticks are already there, so it's about as robust as it's gonna get...

Officially.

But it seems that others have been able to make it work with 4GB and even 8GB.

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en.community.dell.com

Of course, you'll need a 64-bit OS to see more than ~3GB.

I do have a spare SSD sitting around that I might install, it'll make Linux Mint even faster..but this is a very old, very Sempron CPU'd unit and it's good enough for light internet surfing/email..

Any SSD will beat the heck out of a 2.5 inch hard drive, especially if it's 5400rpm, which it probably is.