Upgrading Old H.P.Laptop.

[Kidorry 189]

I have an old H.P. G60 214 EM laptop with 3Gb of RAM, 64 Bit O/S an AMD Athlon dual core QL-62, 2.00 GHz. Is it worth putting in SSD and running Linux on it just as a back up laptop? At the moment it has got W 7 on it and it takes forever to load up even if it is wired to the router.

[Pyrotequila 402]

Or stick an SSD in it and keep Windows?

An SSD makes everything faster.

[zach 234]

3 hours ago, Kidorry said:

I have an old H.P. G60 214 EM laptop with 3Gb of RAM, 64 Bit O/S an AMD Athlon dual core QL-62, 2.00 GHz. Is it worth putting in SSD and running Linux on it just as a back up laptop? At the moment it has got W 7 on it and it takes forever to load up even if it is wired to the router.

Wiring to the router won't really help start times. I'd go with an SSD and maybe Windows 10, If you wanted to keep it as is, clone the old clunky slow HDD to the SDD and swap them out. Or make sure you can see and read the COA and do a clean install of Windows 7 and use the existing key. You may need to get an OEM copy of W7, it's been years since I last installed it, it might not be as picky now! 

 

Other options too if you fancy an OS change but still worth a bit of cash on the SSD

Edited November 19, 2019 by zach

[alchresearch 214]

At just over £20 for an entry level SSD, its a no brainer (7 day shop)

 

Up the RAM to 8GB and go with Windows 10 and it will be booting up in seconds.

 

If you want to ditch Windows then I can't recommend Antix Linux enough.  Its amazingly fast on older machines.

Edited November 20, 2019 by alchresearch

[apelike 10]

The trouble with upgrading an old laptop such as this is is it worth it?  An SSD will speed things up but not to the full extent of what SSD's are capable of (600MB/s) and will probably be limited to SATA 1 (150MB/s) because of the on-board controllers. Memory will also be limited to 4GB maximum and can also be expensive to buy. Another problem is that Win 10 may not be compatible because of old hardware especially graphics and maybe the screen res of 1366x768.

 

Running a lite Linux version however would make a difference but even some of those from experience will not do 1366x768.

[spider1 11]

I have 2 old h p laptops on W7 and they take about 15 secs to load and am with sky . So would say its your wifi thats at fault 

[apelike 10]

13 minutes ago, spider1 said:

I have 2 old h p laptops on W7 and they take about 15 secs to load and am with sky . So would say its your wifi thats at fault 

Very much doubt it as AFAIK wifi is enabled after booting and is not part of the OS boot process. 

[Kidorry 189]

I only want the laptop to make presentations via powerpoint or the like and to show them. I keep all my important stuff on the other tackle I have.

[Phili Buster 10]

On 19/11/2019 at 15:59, Kidorry said:

I have an old H.P. G60 214 EM laptop with 3Gb of RAM, 64 Bit O/S an AMD Athlon dual core QL-62, 2.00 GHz. Is it worth putting in SSD and running Linux on it just as a back up laptop? At the moment it has got W 7 on it and it takes forever to load up even if it is wired to the router.

What has wiring it to the router got to do with the time it takes to load up?  Are you saying it will not boot up unless connected to the internet?  In which case you have unnecessary software being loaded at start up. 

[zach 234]

If it's the original HDD it might have a recovery partition that you can reinstall 7 from. Or did it come with a recovery DVD?

 

Backup your files

Use recovery and reinstall 7 and fully update it

I'd still clone the new install to an SSD. As above, you won't get the SSDs full potential but it will speed thing up a fait bit.

More RAM is never a waste of money IMO but check the specs before getting any.

 

Whichever way you go, it should be ok for the use you mention. The version of Office/powerpoint you have could limit the OS selection though

 

 

[swarfendor437 14]

Another vote for Antix here too! 😀

[Kidorry 189]

On 08/12/2019 at 21:51, swarfendor437 said:

Another vote for Antix here too! 😀

Where do I buy a disc to install Antix and how much will it cost? Will it be easy to use for a none techy like me?