Got an old laptop, says not compatible with windows 11. Should I use a workaround, or is linux a better option?

[RnClank42]

HP Pavillion 15, the only incompatibility is the CPU which is a core i7 6500u. I plan on restoring it for my mom to use (it's her old laptop), she only needs web browsing, word/powerpoint (G-suite is fine too) and zoom. I have found some workarounds to install windows 11, but it's not exactly snappy on windows 10 so I have been wondering if upgrading it that way is a good idea or is it better to look for a simpler linux build that won't stress the system (any recommendations there would be appreciated). I personally use a Mac so I'm not very familiar with what's the best option here.

 

PS: I have already replaced the hard drive with a sata ssd.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Are you able to upgrade the RAM as well? It should be plenty fine for basic tasks like you've described on Windows 10 even with a Skylake i7.

[Inception9269]

@RnClank42 There are lightweight unofficial Windows iso's like Tiny10, Tiny11, as well as Windows 11 Ghost Spectre. If you use Rufus to make a bootable USB, you can disable hardware requirements, and create an offline local account. Whatever you do don't use AtlasOS, that being the thing Linus made a video about, while glossing entirely over how much of a security nightmare it is, and the fact that by default it will never receive any updates.

 

As far as Linux goes, if you do want to go down that route, Linux Mint is the one I recommend. There's Mint Cinnamon which is based on Ubuntu, and Mint Debian that's based on Debian. Honestly either one would probably work just fine. That distro being one that's regarded as easy to use, and there shouldn't be a need for her to have to open up or do anything with the terminal (aside from entering her password whenever she goes to do updates or install things through the software manager).

 

As a person that owns an HP Pavillion laptop though, there is an issue that I always run into, no matter which Linux distribution I use on it, that being that after the OS's are installed, anytime I ever turn on or reboot the laptop for the first minute or so my keyboard will not work no matter what I do. Apparently this is some kind of compatibility error I think with the hardware (at least in my case, this problem might not exist for you).

 

The solution that I found was to open up the terminal and type in "sudo nano /etc/default/grub" to open the grub file, grub being the bootloader that most distributions use (I avoid those that use the SystemD bootloader since this solution doesn't work with that to my knowledge). Once you're in that file, where you see GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX= and GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT= paste this here so that it looks like this instead (to save the file in nano you need to press ctrl+O to save, then ctrl+x to exit it).

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i8042.dumbkbd=1"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="quiet splash i8042.dumbkbd=1"

Like I said, you probably don't have to worry about that problem, since your Pavillion is older than mine (which is 11th gen Intel), but if you do decide to go with Linux, that is a solution if you do run into that same problem.

[LloydLynx]

Follow these steps.

1. Research if all required programs are compatible with Linux
2. Install Ubuntu LTS and test all functionality/compatibility with the laptop thoroughly
3. Ask your mother if she'll need any special hardware like a printer, research and test compatability if she already has the special hardware
4. Enjoy freedom from Microsoft AnnoyingOS

If any step fails, install Windows 10 and try steps again in the year 2025. 

[RnClank42]

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Are you able to upgrade the RAM as well? It should be plenty fine for basic tasks like you've described on Windows 10 even with a Skylake i7.

It already has 12gb, not sure if an upgrade is required

[TukangUsapEmenq]

I'm using Windows 11 Ghost Spectre on both of my PC (Xeon E3-1225 v2, basically a i5-3470) and my laptop (Core M-5Y10c), certainly both are supposed to not supported by Windows 11. The laptop only got 4 GB of RAM (and unfortunately no way to upgrade it), and Ghost Spectre actually made that laptop feels kinda alive again, even better than stock Windows 10 that previously installed on there.

 

If your mom are actually got used by Windows, I don't think adding 'additional learning curve' by using Linux would've worth it, especially when she got used by Microsoft Office. That i7-6500U and 12 GB RAM actually would've still got some really good power for daily use on Windows. Although, I agree with @Inception9269 with Linux Mint if you prefer to use Linux.

[Kaetemi]

My mom's been using Linux Mint (Cinnamon edition) for well over a decade now. Just need to go over to run a distro upgrade every other year.

[Excalibur887]

On 7/5/2023 at 6:13 PM, RnClank42 said:

HP Pavillion 15, the only incompatibility is the CPU which is a core i7 6500u. I plan on restoring it for my mom to use (it's her old laptop), she only needs web browsing, word/powerpoint (G-suite is fine too) and zoom. I have found some workarounds to install windows 11, but it's not exactly snappy on windows 10 so I have been wondering if upgrading it that way is a good idea or is it better to look for a simpler linux build that won't stress the system (any recommendations there would be appreciated). I personally use a Mac so I'm not very familiar with what's the best option here.

 

PS: I have already replaced the hard drive with a sata ssd.

A Corei7 should have absolutely no problem running Windows 11, providing it is it is only the CPU that is not recommended by Windows 11. Good luck! Your moms laptop could be also slow because over time the OS can accumulate a lot of clutter and just needs a fresh install of Windows. 

[ObsoleteTech]

I ran Linux (PopOS, Ubuntu and ElementaryOS) on my old laptop with an i5 5300U.

It did not run well, compatibility was crap and the OS sucked out the battery due to terrible power saving features.

 

Ubuntu was terribly slow, PopOS was fast but it was impossible to get the Synaptics Trackpad to work as well as some of the function keys.

Elementary was the best, i eventually got it to work, almost every function button and when i found out how to modify the GRUB starter file i even got the trackpad to work.

Though the battery drained even with the lid closed and, if i had really tried, it could probably be fixed byt i got tired of tinkering so i installed Windows 10 again.

 

Now i "hacked" in Windows 11 sinc a couple of months and it works pefectly, i upgraded the RAM for like 15 dollars and now it is faster and more responsive than any of the Linux Distros i tried and everything works, i had to get some drivers for some of the hadrware but that was available on the manufacurers website.

And most of all i dont have to charge it every day, once a week is enough.

[Mihle]

Why not let it stay in windows 10?

It I am guessing it does indeed have an SSD?

 

I would personally just Factory reset Windows 10 and hope it performs better.

Ofc after making sure you don't loose files.

[Mrpizzaeater145]

I know for a fact that if I installed a Linux distro on my moms laptop I would turn into her 24/hr tech support. If you don't have TPM 2.0 then stick with windows 10. Just Do the classic "fresh" install of windows 10, install drivers and call it a day. Windows 10 is still receiving updates until Oct. 14th 2025. 

[sageofredondo]

Try doing a fresh Win10 install after making note of the key. I put my mom on Linux, but she ended up needing some features of Word that were not in the online version and I moved her back with a dual boot. She learned how to dual boot and then forgot about it months later.

If you do move her over, Endless OS is a distro I have been looking for people that do not want mess with computers and need their hands held. It has an app in Windows that teaches how to use the OS-which is more than you can say for most distros. This would reduce the calling you up for tech support.

https://www.endlessos.org/

[zampo]

Is there any specific reason why you want to switch to a different OS? Windows 10 has support till October 2025. Whether Linux is a viable option depends fully on your mom and if she is willing to cope with the differences (using MS Office vs LibreOffice is certainly not the same). I would suggest to simply use Win 10 up to the year 2025 and then look for a better solution.

 

[Thomas4]

Linux is ALWAYS a better solution. RE: MS Office v.LibreOffice, the difference is not really that much different to the casual user, just remember to install the Microsoft font package (ttf-ms-fonts, usually) this will allow you to use Microsoft's most commonly used fonts. Also LibreOffice will allow you to read *.doc files whereas Word can't read *.odf files (the default.

But in this case if you save the file with a .txt extension, it can read it. But e aware, if you do this you will lose any formatting (Bold, Italic, etc.).

But, if needs must,  you can install LibreOffice n Windows.

[thevictor390]

Microsoft Office can read and save Open Document Format since 2007.

[GoodBytes]

4 hours ago, Thomas4 said:

Linux is ALWAYS a better solution. RE: MS Office v.LibreOffice, the difference is not really that much different to the casual user, just remember to install the Microsoft font package (ttf-ms-fonts, usually) this will allow you to use Microsoft's most commonly used fonts. Also LibreOffice will allow you to read *.doc files whereas Word can't read *.odf files (the default.

But in this case if you save the file with a .txt extension, it can read it. But e aware, if you do this you will lose any formatting (Bold, Italic, etc.).

But, if needs must,  you can install LibreOffice n Windows.

Factually incorrect. Office is easier to use than LibreOffce/OpenOffice. The UI that Microsoft built and perfected is back by research, and still stands strong today for Office. Small buttons and menus with sub-menus isn't the solution. Heck, when the ribbon bar was first introduced, people mentioned several "new" Office features that already existed in past versions. Highlighting it's successfulness, despite a vocal minority claiming otherwise.

 

Office uses open format, and support ODF as well. LibreOffce still has trouble with docx file format. Attempts to switch by companies and governments was attempted, and only been a disaster and quickly rolled back to Office.

 

While LibreOffce has evolved a lot since many years, it still ages behind Office suit basic apps (Word, Excel and PowerPoint)

 

Thinking that the average users are all idiots who only uses Bold/Italic/Underline in a word processor is foolish, not to mention completely outdated thaught.

 

Linux based OSs, isn't always the best solution. Usability on a desktop front still lacks behind Windows, has no backup and restore solutions, no update fallback system, and many more things. In addition, you not only need drivers for every part of your system, but sometimes even software to get everything working especially on laptops. And on top of that, you need well developed drivers. Battery life and performance could be worse if proper support isn't there.

[GoodBytes]

On 7/5/2023 at 6:13 PM, RnClank42 said:

HP Pavillion 15, the only incompatibility is the CPU which is a core i7 6500u. I plan on restoring it for my mom to use (it's her old laptop), she only needs web browsing, word/powerpoint (G-suite is fine too) and zoom. I have found some workarounds to install windows 11, but it's not exactly snappy on windows 10 so I have been wondering if upgrading it that way is a good idea or is it better to look for a simpler linux build that won't stress the system (any recommendations there would be appreciated). I personally use a Mac so I'm not very familiar with what's the best option here.

 

PS: I have already replaced the hard drive with a sata ssd.

This thread is old, but I'll speak for everyone and future readers:

 

Windows 11 will install fine with workarounds, and will run fine with Win10 drivers. But performance is likely to be decreased mainly due to the CPU security features it wants to use, which the CPU doesn't support, and so has to emulate the whole thing. In addition, expect to do a clean install or in place upgrade manually at every release of Windows 11, as Windows Update won't be happy, due to the unsupported hardware.

 

Windows 10 is supported until end (Oct) 2025, assuming no extensions is done. It's fine choice.

 

Using a standard distro of Linux won't necessarily be lighter or lighter enough to see a performance gain. 

 

Windows 10 and up is all optimized for SSDs. Microsoft doesn't care about HDDs, and in addition Windows 11 has a requirement for OEMs an SSD, hence no more laptop with the infamous 1TB 5200RPM drive that they loved to put in.