[Gino]

I recently bought a cheap laptop to mostly surf the net. It is a lower end machine with Windows 10 installed. How hard would it be for me to turn this thing into a Chromebook? I'm thinking that the OS of a Chromebook would be much simpler. Would this give me a boost in performance? Would I have a problem finding drivers?

My laptop is a:
Lenovo Ideapad 320, 15.6" HD, AMD A12-9720P, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, WIN 10

Thanks, I haven't ever played with Linux, so I'm in the dark here.

 

[cbetts1]

I was at Costco the other day. They had 14''-15.6'' chrome books for $300 or less. Not big memory but I thought it was a good price. I'm interested to hear how this would work. I may test it by putting it on an older laptop. Your laptop has decent numbers that far exceed the capability of most Chrome books. On line processing (Chrome) vs everything on your computer. Good luck.

Let us know what happens.

https://www.google.com/chrome/

Method 1 Downloading Chrome For PC/Mac/Linux

1. Go to the Google Chrome website. ...
2. Click "Download Chrome". ...
3. Determine if you want Chrome as your default browser. ...
4. Click “Accept and Install” after reading the Terms of Service. ...
5. Sign in to Chrome. ...
6. Download the offline installer (optional).

 

[LostinTexas]

I recently bought a cheap laptop to mostly surf the net. It is a lower end machine with Windows 10 installed. How hard would it be for me to turn this thing into a Chromebook? I'm thinking that the OS of a Chromebook would be much simpler. Would this give me a boost in performance? Would I have a problem finding drivers?

My laptop is a:
Lenovo Ideapad 320, 15.6" HD, AMD A12-9720P, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, WIN 10

Thanks, I haven't ever played with Linux, so I'm in the dark here.

Not sure how possible this really is. This machine should run like a stallion. I can't see how you would want to neuter it. If you feel you are having problems, go to settings>Update and Security>Recovery. In the right column, about the third choice, there is "more recovery options"under it will say,"learn more about a fresh start" or the like. Click that and follow the prompts. It will take some time, and will give you a list of things that you will need to reinstall. It will also dump all the Bloat that Lenovo put on the machine. When finished, install "ClassicShell" and set it to look how you want. You may need to reinstall printers, and other devices.
Let it update as it needs to and get on with living. If you really want a Chromebook and can live with all the limitations, It would be best to go that rout from the start. If you feel adventurous, partition some of that big hard drive and install a Linux Distro. I installed an Ubuntu program and it took all of an afternoon to figure it out. It did take a little longer to find work around for things like Office, Excel and others, but IIRC the new ones come with a program installed that is playing nice with MS these days. Lots of neat things to be had. Many are simple to learn and will do most of the things Windows or MAC will. I find them quite nimble.
Happy Adventuring

 

[Gino]

This is my first windows 10 machine and it is "sluggish". I just looked up my processor, and it seems to be close to an Intel i5. I guess I was looking for a way to speed it up. Thanks LostinTexas, maybe my problem is a bunch of bloatware on the machine from Lenovo. Tonight I'll try your recommendations...

 

[LostinTexas]

Don't forget to jot down the suggested things to reinstall, it will give you a list. Some you may want, some not so much.
What I could see of your processor speed, it should be on par with what I'm on right now. It isn't always a 1 to 1 comparison, but mine is near instant. I hate HP with a passion, but found this one for a steal. Was playing around one day and found the Fresh Start. I didn't have a lot on the machine, so I got out, backed up files, and gave it a whirl. I didn't have to replace much and am still a little taken back by the improvement. I suggest anyone with a new machine do this right from the start.
I have had to learn more about these things than I ever really wanted to know, but Windows is fairly forgiving.

A thought: Remember that a new machine, or after a reset that RAM will need to reconfigure. The first time or few you open things will take a bit longer than subsequent openings. There are other things you can do to slow RAM, but something to remember. No matter how fast, there are also programs that take a little bit to load. My print suite comes to mind, and is the reason for the edit.
Good Luck.

 

[IndyGunFreak]

This is my first windows 10 machine and it is "sluggish". I just looked up my processor, and it seems to be close to an Intel i5. I guess I was looking for a way to speed it up. Thanks LostinTexas, maybe my problem is a bunch of bloatware on the machine from Lenovo. Tonight I'll try your recommendations...

I'm not fan of windows, but I'd bank this is your issue. Lenovo installed a bunch of crap on my Ideapad and it ran like a slug.... I installed some of it, some of it would not install. I had no intentions of using Windows anyway, so I just installed the version of Linux of my choice.

But to answer the OP's question...

https://www.howtogeek.com/217659/how-to-get-a-chrome-os-like-operating-system-on-any-pc/

 

[GIockGuy24]

The howtogeek link is from July 2017.

A newer one from November 2018 is here.

https://www.xda-developers.com/install-chrome-os-non-chromebook-pc-tablet/

https://forum.xda-developers.com/ha...om/hardware-hacking/chromebooks/guide-installing-official-chrome-os-pc-t3865697

 

[DirectDrive]

This is my first windows 10 machine and it is "sluggish". I just looked up my processor, and it seems to be close to an Intel i5. I guess I was looking for a way to speed it up. Thanks LostinTexas, maybe my problem is a bunch of bloatware on the machine from Lenovo. Tonight I'll try your recommendations...

The new machines come with Crapware that needs to be removed.
You have stuff running in the background that is slowing things down.

Either teach yourself or take it to someone that can clean it out.

A big part of this is choosing "light on resources" security software and keeping unwanted apps out of the Startup Folder.

 

[g29andy]

Trade that 1tb hd for an ssd.

 

[jdeere_man]

You can use Cloud Ready from Neverware. YMMV https://www.neverware.com/freedownload

But there might be other things you can do to improve performance including uninstalling crap or disabling startup items.