Linux on old computer, absolutely — An easy path from obsolescence to the 21st century
You have a 15-year-old laptop PC that ran Windows 8.1 poorly, even when it was new. You may have upgraded it to Windows 10 or 11 and it got worse, so you retired it. It’s been gathering dust in a closet ever since. But there is a useful path forward for that old relic. Just follow these steps and you’ll feel like you have a new speed burner. GNU/Linux is known for and is famous for resurrecting old PCs. But is it REALLY true? Absolutely, if done the right way.
The biggest bottleneck in your old PC is its conventional hard disk. Before slapping a Linux distribution on your old machine, spend a whopping $50 and replace that prehistoric hard drive with a modern solid state disk (SSD). The performance improvement will be ferocious. Amazing.
More than likely your old laptop is fitted with a 2.5 in. S.A.T.A. drive. Replacing it with a SSD drive is way easy! You’ll need three things: the right screwdrivers, a spudger pry tool, and a good-quality SSD. SSD prices have plummeting over the years…dirt cheap these days starting at $17. Here’s what I use along with links to Amazon:
Teamgroup SSDs. Same performance as the much more expensive name brands, from $17.
Screwdriver kit. This multi-tool kit has a wide variety of tips and types.
Spudger pry kit. Laptops clam shell design calls for the right tool to gently open them.
Given your make and model of laptop, you may find some good YouTube videos describing how to open it up. It’s a really simple procedure if you have the right tools. Your trusty household #2 screwdrivers and a credit card or pocket knife are NOT going to work well, if at all.
Hang out a bit on DistroWatch.com to get a feel for the various Linux distributions. Contrary to Windows, Linux is all about choice…what if you had 100 versions of Windows to choose from? You do with Linux…and way over a hundred too. LOL. Then watch a few YouTube videos. There’s a slew of excellent Linux instructional videos out there. If you’re still undecided, here are two of my favorite distros:
Bottom line…give GNU/Linux a try. You’ll be glad you did!
P.S. It’s an old wives’ tale that Linux is difficult — hard to grasp coming from Windows. Hogwash. Mainstream Linux distributions are as graphical as Windows. Many look almost identical to the Windows user interface. Simply try one. You’ll be glad you resurrected that old PC.