Loading Linux onto an old Win7 laptop

Putting Linux onto a Laptop

You might wonder: Why bother? Replacing a Windows system with a system created on Open Source. Well, let's be clear: those Open Source people have created a really powerful system which runs well on old machines.

So, if you've got an old machine which is now running slowly on Windows 10 after numerous updates, I would suggest you try this. I found the most difficult part was to load the Linux from a prepared USB stick onto the laptop at boot up. Golly, a need to press the ESC key as soon as the machine is turned on.

When this is achieved, one has a workable copy of Linux to experiment with. The  layout is shown and an installation button is clearly visible to put the system onto the laptop system. I'm told it's possible to run Windows and Linux on the same system.

BUT the general advice is to keep the machine for Linux only. Then, of course, windows and the data files on the machine will be completely removed.

My Desktop running LibreOffice and Mozilla Firefox

 

I followed the latter method and the photo above shows the screen after installation and some modifications.

I honestly believe that if you're used to Windows computers these modifications are straightforward.

LibreOffice is automatically installed and I found that it runs my PowerPoint presentations extremely well indeed.

Mozilla Firefox is also automatically installed. I was able to log into my Firefox account and link its desktop with those on other Windows machines. It was also possible to link my Password manager to the Firefox.

So in a relatively short time, I find I've got a computer that does good work much more quickly than previously.

I will add some caveats. It looks to me that powerful graphics packages such as Gimp and DigiKam are available. However their installation is not straightforward. I shall familiarise myself with the system a good deal more before attempting to run these.