Will Linux boost an old laptop?

welshdragon · 18 May 2011 at 09:13

I'm about to inherit a Compaq Presario C500. It belonged to my mother and I have just sorted her a new laptop for no other reason than this one is dog slow. Its running Vista and the ram has bene upgraded to 4gb I think.

Gonna keep it just for browsing and the odd office document. Can anyone tell me how to get the best out of it? Fresh vista install or perhaps a daliance with linux.

Never used linux before. Will it speed things up just for browsing/word processing? Can anyone recommend a build to use with little fuss and reasonably nice gui? Ubuntu?

Specs:

Intel Celeron M Processor speed1.73 GHz (single core)

80gb hd

Natural resolution (max)1280 x 800 pixelsDiagonal screen size15.4 inch

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950Amt of video RAMShared up to 128 MB

Vista Home Basic

Its been barely used by my parents in is literally as new with hardly any on time.

Ben Cole · 18 May 2011 at 10:43

Windows XP, (or even Windows 7) or Linux (Ubuntu) would help. I mention Ubuntu because it's the one I've used a lot.

Vista is a bit of a bloated hog and I suspect that is the main issue. If you can get full driver support in Ubuntu then it's worth a try because it's free.

I'm here right now on an Asus eee901 with a single core Atom CPU. It's perfectly useable running all the OS I have mentioned.

Niju Rosu · 18 May 2011 at 11:07

Linux Mint is another option other than Ubuntu, I'd argue it's better but both are good.

Linux should run better than XP and I believe your gfx card is supported and plays well with compiz for some eye candy if you're into that kinda thing.

paradisiac · 18 May 2011 at 11:38

linux mandriva is also one to look into, been using it for a couple of days and its very simple to figure out.

failing that then a fresh vista install, but get a vista cd and not just use the restore discs that came with it as they will be packed with stuff that you dont want and will slow it down. vista is not as bad as people make out by anymeans, but its still not great. no point buying an xp or win7 license when there are free alternatives around.

welshdragon · 18 May 2011 at 12:46

Cheers for the reply guys. Will try a fresh vista install with out all the unnecessary compaq crap first.

I assume I can switch to a 64bit install using the same key as I don't think its currently 64bit and thus not making full use of the available memory.

Failing that I like the look of Ubuntu and the unity interface so may give that a go.

paradisiac · 18 May 2011 at 12:54

if its a 32bit license then thats all it will install i think

but i wouldnt worry too much as i think vista will use 3.5GB ish, so by the time your onboard graphics has taken its share of the 4GB you will probs be under the 3.5GB anyway.

Ben Cole · 18 May 2011 at 13:04

Have you looked into vlite?

If not I suggest you do some research. You may not need it but it really can help you improving your software environment.

CaptainCrash · 19 May 2011 at 10:01

paradisiac said:
if its a 32bit license then thats all it will install i think but i wouldnt worry too much as i think vista will use 3.5GB ish, so by the time your onboard graphics has taken its share of the 4GB you will probs be under the 3.5GB anyway.

The licence covers both 32-bit and 64-bit installations, you just need to obtain the alternative media, but I think it's immaterial in this case anyway, as the processor won't support the 64-bit instruction set (unless someone knows different).

paradisiac · 19 May 2011 at 10:07

CaptainCrash said:
The licence covers both 32-bit and 64-bit installations, you just need to obtain the alternative media, but I think it's immaterial in this case anyway, as the processor won't support the 64-bit instruction set (unless someone knows different).

i think you might be wrong in that one as the chances are it will be an oem license that came with the laptop, therefore it will only install the version that came with it. thats how every other OS has worked anyway with oem keys, maybe vista was different.

CaptainCrash · 19 May 2011 at 10:34

paradisiac said:
i think you might be wrong in that one as the chances are it will be an oem license that came with the laptop, therefore it will only install the version that came with it. thats how every other OS has worked anyway with oem keys, maybe vista was different.

No, I'm right - it needs to be the same version (Home Premium, Professional or whatever), but both 32-bit and 64-bit variants of Vista and 7 are covered by a single licence (only one in use at a time, obviously). The only difference as far as the system builder's pack (OEM) is concerned is that it only comes with one installation disc, whereas the retail pack comes with both.

The 64-bit version of XP was a completely different OS from the 32-bit version, although it looked superficially similar, so the same principle wouldn't apply there.

paradisiac · 19 May 2011 at 10:51

ok fair enough, i was under the impression from a few threads on here that the oem key was locked to either 32 or 64bit but the retail worked on both.

Evil-I · 19 May 2011 at 14:40

CaptainCrash said:
No, I'm right - it needs to be the same version (Home Premium, Professional or whatever), but both 32-bit and 64-bit variants of Vista and 7 are covered by a single licence (only one in use at a time, obviously). The only difference as far as the system builder's pack (OEM) is concerned is that it only comes with one installation disc, whereas the retail pack comes with both.

The 64-bit version of XP was a completely different OS from the 32-bit version, although it looked superficially similar, so the same principle wouldn't apply there.

Hate to disagree, but I'm going to :-)

OEM licenses in my experience are specific to the 32 or 64bit version. Its definately the case with the dell oem licenses anyway, Its also the same with vista retail licenses, I tried that a while back with two identical versions of Vista ultimate retail one 64bit one 32, definately couldn't use the 32bit code on a 64bit install.

E-I

russ0r · 19 May 2011 at 15:45

Same here. Dell gave me a 32-bit OEM Vista disc for my laptop. When I said to them that I needed a 64-bit version as it had 4Gb of RAM they as good as told me to **** off.

welshdragon · 19 May 2011 at 18:34

Cheers for the replies guys. Gonna reinstall vista with a clean copy from 'mydigitallife' and go from there. Will ahve a play in the bios too see if I can allocate the gpu more memory etc

Worth a punt as I only need it for web and the odd office doc.

GhostlyPea · 19 May 2011 at 20:00

I had Mint on a Dell D400 which has worse specs than that, I got sick of it and put XP on and it was actually a better performer than Mint was, just something to bare in mind

- Pea0n

Cycrow · 19 May 2011 at 20:05

Evil-I said:
Hate to disagree, but I'm going to

OEM licenses in my experience are specific to the 32 or 64bit version. Its definately the case with the dell oem licenses anyway, Its also the same with vista retail licenses, I tried that a while back with two identical versions of Vista ultimate retail one 64bit one 32, definately couldn't use the 32bit code on a 64bit install.

E-I

afaik if its a retail licence it works for both 32 and 64bit (at least for 7, could be different for vista), but the OEM ones only work for the version it came with