[SOLVED] Lightweight OS for my old laptop? Maybe lightest?

AlexsvonMüller

Reputable
Feb 25, 2020
95
2
4,545
Travelmate 4220
Spec
Processor: T2300
RAM: 1GB DDR2
Storage: 80GB IDE

Maybe i can use it to download something without using much power
 
Solution
all the drivers are for win XP, does not get mch "lighter" than that really. you could still turn off/delete all the crapware in windows back then and not have it come back everytime windows updates. if you have a valid key, you can try win 7 if you can find drivers for the features. you'll have to look up one by one the parts needed them and look on the product page for possible drivers. will take some hunting but you may be able to find them all one by one.

other than a light linux distro, there really are no other windows options for you. you can try linux if you wish but i have not looked at what is considered a light install vs a heavy install in quite a while.

Math Geek

Titan
Ambassador
all the drivers are for win XP, does not get mch "lighter" than that really. you could still turn off/delete all the crapware in windows back then and not have it come back everytime windows updates. if you have a valid key, you can try win 7 if you can find drivers for the features. you'll have to look up one by one the parts needed them and look on the product page for possible drivers. will take some hunting but you may be able to find them all one by one.

other than a light linux distro, there really are no other windows options for you. you can try linux if you wish but i have not looked at what is considered a light install vs a heavy install in quite a while.
 
Solution
The CPU is probably x64 and you should therefore be able to run 64 bit OS.

You've always MX Linux that comes in both 32 and 64 bit version. That's a good light distro.


Go to E-Bay and get a couple DDR2 1GB 667 SODIMs to max the RAM to 2GB before starting, IMO.
Second that - as long as the computer actually works. Luckilly, most Linux distros have Memtest included in the startup option list, and is easy to check.
 

bigendian

Reputable
Nov 10, 2019
20
3
4,525
Well, for sure you can try some light linux distro doing a good linux exercise, but you will probablh realize that:

  • recent linux distros will probably not fit in hd / nor run
  • some older distros may work, but being not updated are open to security issues
  • pc is too old, so applications runs too slow and are not useful

But still, trying a linux distro is still a good learning exercise.,
 
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