I have an older HP Pavilion g6 and am considering replacing Windows 10 with Linux. The laptop has an Intel Core i3-3120M, 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB mechanical hard drive, Legacy BIOS, a Ralink RT5390R 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi card, and Realtek PCIe Fast Ethernet. Windows does not detect any Bluetooth adapter.
My priorities are good performance with only 4 GB of RAM and a spinning hard drive, reliable Wi-Fi support, compatibility with the older HP hardware and Legacy BIOS, and a system that will remain reasonably usable. I would also like advice about Bluetooth and whether replacing the hard drive or adding an external USB adapter would be worthwhile.
Which Linux distributions would you recommend for this laptop, and does replacing Windows make sense?
5 Answers
Ubuntu LTS is another flexible option because you can install and test different desktop environments such as Xfce, LXQt, or MATE without reinstalling the entire operating system. Mint is also a solid, beginner-friendly choice. Before committing, test the installer in live mode and check Wi-Fi, graphics, sound, sleep, and the touchpad. Legacy BIOS should not be a problem as long as you create the USB in a compatible boot mode.
The biggest performance problem will probably be the mechanical hard drive rather than Linux itself. A cheap SATA SSD will noticeably improve boot times, application launches, and general responsiveness. You can install Linux on the SSD and keep the existing hard drive for extra storage. Adding more DDR3 RAM would help too if the laptop supports it, but 4 GB is enough for light browsing and everyday tasks with a lightweight desktop.
Linux Mint with Xfce, MX Linux, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, or Lubuntu would all be reasonable choices. Xfce and LXQt should feel lighter than heavier desktop environments, although 4 GB is still workable for basic use. The Ralink Wi-Fi card is supported by the Linux kernel on many systems, but boot a live USB first to confirm that Wi-Fi works on this particular laptop. Bluetooth will probably require a small USB adapter if the laptop has no internal adapter detected.
Replacing Windows makes sense if your applications and games are supported on Linux and you are comfortable learning a slightly different system. Linux will reduce background resource usage, but it cannot make an old hard drive fast, and no operating system can eliminate the limits of 4 GB RAM. A lightweight Linux installation plus an SSD would give this laptop the best chance of remaining useful.
Lubuntu is worth trying because LXQt uses relatively little memory, and 4 GB can still be perfectly usable for normal daily tasks. Mint Xfce and Xubuntu are also good options with more documentation and a familiar interface. Whichever one you choose, configure a reasonable swap file; zram can also help when the system runs short on memory.
Modern web browsing may still be limited by the amount of RAM, especially with many tabs open. An ad blocker and keeping the number of tabs down will help considerably.
Even a small used SSD would make a much bigger difference than trying to fine-tune the desktop. Keeping the old drive only for files is a practical setup.