What OS to put on an old laptop?

Evgeny Ferapontov2014-07-02 10:00:34

linux

Evgeny Ferapontov, 2014-07-02 10:00:34

They brought a laptop: Core 2 Duo T2250 and 512 MB of RAM. The user needs to be able to edit MS Office documents, surf the Internet and watch movies.
What are the options? Drivers have successfully sunk into oblivion, so it will be problematic to install XP. I tried to set 8, it didn’t take off - 100 MB of RAM remained free + it slows down a lot. We also consider options for WS2012 (the server version eats much less + there are a lot of manuals on the network on how to add the components necessary for the user to it) or Xubuntu / Lubuntu (and any other Linux), if someone explains how and with what to read Office files in Linux.

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17 answer(s)

Ilya Grom, 2014-07-02
@e1ferapontov

Lubuntu or another debian-based distribution with a lightweight environment like LXDE, Razor-qt, Fluxbox, Cinnamon (if unusual). OpenOffice/LibreOffice - yes, but document formatting may suffer. And yes, WinXp? why not? Drivers in the network wagon and small cart.

Eugene, 2014-07-02
@EvgenijDv

I personally like Xubuntu a lot. It is on a netbook with a weaker processor than yours and the same amount of RAM. I can’t say that everything flies, but after switching from Windows, which was originally there, life became much easier. If the documents are not very messed up, then there is OpenOffice or LibreOffice for this. But if the documents have complex text formatting, an abundance of formulas and macros, then the OO cannot always correctly parse all this mess.

Mikhail Osher, 2014-07-02
@miraage

I installed xubuntu to my mother. Uses chrome, skype, libreofis (writer, calc) - I'm happy.

IkaR49, 2014-07-02
@IkaR49

Maybe the necessary drivers for XP can be found here: drp.su/ru
And in Linux: OpenOffice or LibreOffice.

KEKSOV, 2014-07-02
@KEKSOV

To search for drivers by hardware ID, I use this site devid.info/, it helps a lot. WinXP should work. And you will need to install the old Opera, before the moment they switched to a lame engine, otherwise it will not take off

Viktor, 2014-07-02
@nehrung

The above is more than enough for WinXP (I had XP SP1 moving normally on a Pentium-600 MHz, 256 MB, it even pulled a video CD, video DVD didn’t work anymore). And the issue with drivers is easily solved by using one of the many available driver packs, for example, DriverPack Solution, the latest version 14 (perhaps the earlier ones are better suited for XP).

Pavel Yakovlev, 2014-07-02
@Kith_Debeetham

what does sunk into oblivion mean? I install it from the driver pack on all computers, and everything works.
lubuntu should not be installed on 512MB of RAM, although there is software out of the box like an office of players, pdf, etc.

Heizenberg, 2014-07-03
@Heizenberg

It is desirable to install a stripped-down win7 type "Windows Thin PC" + MS office
, of course, to add RAM.
Linux - depends on the user level of this PC.

Yuri Gagarin, 2014-07-03
@gagarinyrinfw

Install windows XP and optimize performance for weak computers.

OnYourLips, 2014-07-02
@OnYourLips

With this amount of RAM, you can only work in the console. The GUI will then start, but the browser will not be able to work.
Try to sell it and add money to a new device.

Vladimir Sokolovsky, 2014-07-02
@inlanger

blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2656 won't lag for sure

beduin01, 2014-07-03
@beduin01

haiku OS? Only with the Word will there be troubles ...

ERiC, 2014-07-03
@typ6o0jiehb

What are the options? Drivers have successfully sunk into oblivion, so it will be problematic to install XP

As noted here:
install Windows XP and drivers from DriverPacks like drp.su or SamDrivers and so on. That would make the most sense. Well, turn off unnecessary services later, and general optimization for performance.
There is not enough memory, enough for the office, but for web surfing it is already not enough, a few months ago I was fiddling with about the same laptop. I remember asking - skype, mail and browsing; when I showed open mail.ru in firefox - everything lags terribly, significant fading and general unresponsiveness of the system are guaranteed. Thanks to the site writers. Skype started for a few minutes. (great interface, where the main window eats up about 140 MB only at startup).
About linux:
I myself sat with 2GB on Ubuntu, but the memory consumption by various background processes goes off scale, I switched to ArchLinux - now it has become freer, but this, IMHO, is clearly not an option for the end user.
LibreOffice, OpenOffice, AbiWord+Gnumeric

pavel_reshotka, 2014-07-08
@pavel_reshotka

Try Puppy Linux. Seems not bad on older machines.

Next, 2014-07-10
@Next

I have a similar elementary os, it works fine.
Characterized by excellent appearance "out of the box" (fonts, themes, etc.).
Inside it is ubuntu 12.04.

DaNHell, 2014-07-11
@DaNHell

I installed Windows XP on the eve, the drivers were found in the internet, everything was calm.
WS2012, even in the assembly for the hospital, I think the desired result will not come out. It's
probably easier to buy a bar that is operational at least up to 1GB and there will already be a choice for taste and color.
Well, as an option, use a USB flash drive as an extra. RAM. But I'm afraid the performance gain will be only with USB 3.0, but I won't say, I haven't practiced it.