Windows 10 slowly killing my laptop

porsche boy

I have a laptop that was running nicely on windows vista but was automatically updated to windows 10. This was ages ago I admit. It became very slow and unable to run properly so I left it in the corner and forgot about it. Before I just throw it out, is there any way to revert back to vista so it can be usable again?

DopeTech

Do a fresh windows 10 install. W10 is a million times better than 7 and will be supported going forward. Win 7 is past it's sell by date at this stage.

Alanstrainor

Sir Dosser wrote: »

Do a fresh windows 10 install. W10 is a million times better than 7 and will be supported going forward. Win 7 is past it's sell by date at this stage.

Even worse the OP upgraded from Vista!

OP, you could reinstall Vista, I'm not even convinced it is supported by Microsoft any longer for security updates. So I would say this is a bad way to go. You could also take the above advice and reinstall Windows 10. I actually think this would be the best course of action. It would give your system a fresh start, and any bloat from the previous installs would be gone.

Windows 10 can run on old hardware, but I'd imagine you are pushing things slightly with this old school Vista machine...

duffman3833

If you got an SSD and slapped it into the laptop, reinstall win 10 and it will work fine, but running windows 10 on old hardware will run but not as good as it should

yep reinstall win 10. there is an option to keep your personal files while doing this afaik

Atlantic Dawn

How much RAM do you have?

yeah vista first came out in 2006.
not sure how many decades you expect a laptop to work with current software.

really need 4gb ram for win 10 to work in an ok manner.

also the cpu and hd are well behind the times no doubt

best option for using the pc if you really want to get more life out of it is to install a lite version of linux imo.

verycool

Here's the obligatory, "why don't you chuck linux on it" comment.

Why don't you chuck linux on it?

Also a completely new install of Windows 10 could work... you can download the install tool here (have a blank usb key ready... and your license key!).

Alanstrainor

verycool wrote: »

Here's the obligatory, "why don't you chuck linux on it" comment.

Why don't you chuck linux on it?

Also a completely new install of Windows 10 could work... you can download the install tool here (have a blank usb key ready... and your license key!).

I was afraid to mention the L word! But it's a very good option for a older machine that runs basic tasks. (Replied from a machine running Linux Mint).

verycool

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I was afraid to mention the L word! But it's a very good option for a older machine that runs basic tasks. (Replied from a machine running Linux Mint).

Distro hopped (mainly debian) on my old Toshiba Satellite and it was like a brand new machine (new ssd also helped!). Didn't want to touch Arch, Manjaro or any pacman based ones. Don't have the patience.



Stuck with Peppermint, but Linux Mint is great too. And Irish!

porsche boy

Just getting back to this folks,
The machine is a HP G70 see details of spec below. Would linux be a possible fix, how hard is it to put on??

Atlantic Dawn wrote:

How much RAM do you have?

Running:
Windows 10 home
Pentium dual CPU T3400 @2.16GHz 2.17 GHz
3 GB ram
32 bit operating system, x64 based processor

verycool wrote:

Why don't you chuck linux on it?

Don't think I know enough about computers to tackle that...

Panrich

I didn't think that you could go from Vista to 10.

it's not that hard to install linux mint and use as it's very like windows really in terms of operation

look at this - shows it and how to install and what it's like from the perspective from a windows user

that cpu is ancient and totally underpowered for windows these days - not just for the os itself but also applications like even the chrome windows browser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI7QQqnV1P8

porsche boy

Panrich wrote:

I didn't think that you could go from Vista to 10.

I didnt intend to!!

Alanstrainor

Yes that CPU is really old now. I think my first laptop in college had a T2130 processor, which is quite close to this one. I bet it would struggle to run any video at this point. Even a computer in the 200->300 bracket would blow your own out of the water. And there would be good value second hand too.

Linux could be worth it, but drivers could be an issue on such an old machine. You can boot linux and try it before you install it. Either over USB or a CD. I would make sure Wifi and things work before installing anything.

sunbeam

If you do go the Linux route I would suggest something with a lightweight desktop environment such as Mint Xfce, Xubuntu, or even Lubuntu.