I have an old Windows 7 laptop with pretty basic specs: 1 GB of RAM, a 250 GB HDD, and an Intel Atom N450 processor. I'm looking for suggestions on what I can do with it since I can't run it like a modern machine. Also, I've tried to figure out how to install Linux, but I'm not sure how to access the BIOS. The only key that works is F2, which brings up something called the INSYDEH20 Setup Utility. Can anyone help?
4 Answers
The INSYDEH20 Setup Utility you're seeing is indeed your BIOS. You can install lightweight Linux distros since it supports UEFI, but be cautious; you need a distro that can run on such limited specs!
You might have a chance with a lightweight OS like Puppy Linux or Bodhi Linux 7.0 HWE. They can run basic tasks and web browsing, but anything more intensive will likely be tricky. If you're looking for distraction-free writing, these could work for you!
You might want to recycle it since the specs are quite limited. The N450 processor and 1 GB of RAM won't handle most mainstream Linux distros well, and your browsing experience would probably be frustrating.
Consider upgrading the RAM if possible. Swapping out your current RAM for 4 GB could really enhance performance. Then you could run lightweight distros like AntiX or even Haiku OS without needing to install from USB first.
But with only 1 GB of RAM, even lower spec distros might struggle. You should check a few live distros and see how they work before committing!
Tiny Core Linux could actually work well on it, though!