Hardware - reviving an old laptop with Linux

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greyhoundcode
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Hardware - reviving an old laptop with Linux

Post by greyhoundcode »

I'm thinking of bring an old laptop (running XP) back to life (currently it takes upwards of 5mins to start up) by wiping it and installing Ubuntu.

Two questions...

Does anyone on the forums have any handy tips they wish they knew when they did the same, and
Is it conceivable that the major factor in the slowdown is a hard-drive or other hardware issue that a fresh OS will not solve, and what tools would help me determine this?

All tips and insights appreciated!
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Benjamin
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Re: Hardware - reviving an old laptop with Linux

Post by Benjamin »

I think you'll find that Linux will run great on it. Especially on older hardware, since time has passed allowing for bug fixes and updates to drivers. Pretty much, just pop the CD in and click through the install menu.

Disk IO does have a performance impact of course, but since Linux uses less of it and is far superior with resource management, you should notice a significant performance gain. Granted CPU intensive tasks such as 3D rendering and compression may not be much faster, overall the system should be more responsive.

Hope that helps.
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greyhoundcode
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Re: Hardware - reviving an old laptop with Linux

Post by greyhoundcode »

Yeah, I think I will go for it.

I don't think a great deal of 3d rendering goes on in my day-to-day usage anyway, it will mostly be for surfing and programming.

Edit ... and Inkscape!
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greyhoundcode
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Re: Hardware - reviving an old laptop with Linux

Post by greyhoundcode »

Done!

Love the Ubuntu Software Centre as well, it's doing a great job getting me the apps I need quickly.
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Benjamin
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Re: Hardware - reviving an old laptop with Linux

Post by Benjamin »

Glad to hear that. If you aren't familiar with Linux you may want to find a terminal cheat sheet. It will give you a list of the common commands.

If you desire, you can set the Ubuntu root password with the passwd command, allowing for root login.
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