I revived a nearly decade-old laptop in 20 minutes by installing Linux on it, saving myself hundreds of dollars and sparing a laptop from the landfill. You can save your old laptop with Linux, too, and it's easier than you might think.
If you have an aging laptop, you might find yourself in a tight spot this year as laptop prices go up with the end of Windows 10 looming in the background. Depending on how old your Windows 10 laptop is, you might not even have the option to upgrade to Windows 11, leaving you with no choice but to buy a new laptop — at least, that's how it might seem.
Luckily, there's an alternative. If you have an old laptop that's one crash away from the trash, you might be able to breathe new life into it by installing Linux. I tried it and was surprised at how quick and easy it was... and even more surprised at how well my 8-year-old laptop ran afterward.
Why I installed Linux on my old Windows 10 laptop (and you should, too)
Much like food has a best-by date, laptops typically run best within the first five or so years after they're released. So, there inevitably comes a time when any laptop starts to suffer from more frequent crashes, faster overheating, worse battery life, and slower overall performance.
That's been the case for my 2017 HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2 for the past few years. Physically, there's nothing wrong with it since I've always taken good care of it.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use it for a while since it was running so poorly that it was borderline impossible to get anything done. The battery would overheat and die within an hour or two while doing basic things like word processing or web browsing. Forget gaming, editing photos, or running apps like Discord and Spotify in the background.
Luckily, I have my desktop gaming PC to work on most of the time, however, I missed having a laptop, and after installing Linux on my desktop, I decided I'd give it a try on my old HP EliteBook.
While there are many versions ("distributions") of Linux, the vast majority are much lighter operating systems than Windows.
There's little to no bloatware, which not only saves storage space but also means Linux isn't constantly running dozens of background apps that eat up valuable processing power. There are ways to remove some bloatware from your Windows laptop, but Linux is still generally a less resource-intensive operating system.
Of course, Linux isn't for everyone. I already knew what I was getting into since I installed Linux on my desktop gaming PC, but it's worth considering some pros and cons before making the leap.
The great news is, if you decide to go ahead and take the plunge, the process is a lot easier than you think.
How to revive your old laptop with Linux
The first step is to back up everything on your laptop that you want to save, like important documents and pictures. The most straightforward way to install Linux on your Windows laptop requires wiping everything off your SSD, but if you back up everything you want to keep access to, you can just copy those files back onto your laptop after getting Linux up and running. I backed up my files on my WD Black Passport external hard drive, but you can also use a USB thumb drive or even cloud storage.
Next, you'll need to choose which version of Linux you want to install and create a bootable USB, which is simply a USB thumb drive with the installation files for your operating system. I chose Fedora Workstation, a popular general-purpose Linux distribution, but there are plenty of other options like Ubuntu or Mint. Most are free, as well.
Once you decide which version of Linux is right for you, it's time to make your bootable USB. I recommend a USB thumb drive with 16GB or more of storage. Make sure nothing is on it then head over to the download instructions for your version of Linux. Here you should find a guide, like this Ubuntu guide, that will walk you through exactly how to make your bootable USB.
It only takes a few minutes and usually involves downloading the installation file for your Linux distribution of choice then "flashing" it onto your USB thumb drive, a process that's totally automated with free tools like balenaEtcher or Fedora Media Writer.
Once your bootable USB stick is ready to go, it's time to install Linux. Double check you have everything you want to save backed up in the cloud or on an external hard drive! Before getting started, you'll also need to find out what the BIOS key is on your laptop. You'll need to jump into the BIOS to tell your laptop to boot up into your USB drive. On my HP laptop it was the F10 key.
Plug your laptop in, power it off, plug in your USB thumb drive, then power back on. Right after you hit that power button, start repeatedly pressing your BIOS key and your laptop should load up its BIOS menu instead of booting into Windows 10.
There are a lot of settings in the BIOS, but the only one you need to pay attention to right now is "Boot" or "Boot Order." I found it under the "Advanced" settings in my BIOS. In this menu, move your bootable USB stick up so it's first in the boot order (above Windows 10).
Next, hit the escape key to save and exit your BIOS, which should trigger your laptop's normal startup process. The only difference is, now it will boot into a minimal screen that should have a few simple text options including one to "Try or Install" your Linux distribution. Select it from the list and it will walk you through the installation process to get Linux running on your revived Windows laptop.
Do I regret installing Linux on my outdated laptop?
Installing Linux on my ancient Windows laptop took less than half an hour and the result was exactly what I hoped — a functional, faster laptop that even had better battery life. I figured I might get a bit more battery life on Linux, but I was surprised to see my laptop lasting two or even three times longer than it did on Windows. Four to six hours of battery life still isn't ideal, but it's a lot better than one to two hours.
I can now continue using my aging HP laptop for another year or two, saving hundreds of dollars and keeping my laptop from the landfill. E-waste is a serious and worsening problem, so it's always a good idea to try to get as much use out of your tech as possible, which could mean saving a failing Windows laptop by installing Linux on it.
I can safely say I don't regret installing Linux on my old HP EliteBook. In fact, I wrote this article on that very laptop, now running cooler and longer than before, thanks to Linux. I didn't have much to lose since it was effectively unusable with Windows 10, which is losing support at the end of the year anyway. If you have a similar old laptop lying around, consider giving it a second life with Linux.
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