In addition to Windows and macOS, Google's Chrome OS is a low-cost third option for your laptop. If your old laptop can’t run Windows 10, maybe you can try to turn your old laptop into a Chromebook. Follow the steps in this post, you can successfully do this job. Get more information from MiniTool website.
When You Need to Turn Your Old Laptop into a Chromebook
You have to choose between Windows and macOS when buying a laptop, but now you have another low-cost third option – Google’s Chrome OS.
Chromebooks run a cloud-based operating system and they are affordable for most people, so it gradually becomes popular. As long as you’re willing to do most of the work on the web and browser, Chromebooks may be your best choice because they don’t need much expensive processing power.
In addition, when your old computer can’t run the latest version of Windows, it can still run Chrome OS. Thus, you can turn your old laptop into a Chromebook.
What You Need to Prepare in Advance
If you want to turn your old laptop into a Chromebook, there are some things you need to prepare in advance.
1. You need Chromebook Recovery Utility. With this official Google tool, you can create recovery drives for Chromebooks. It should be noted that this software needs the Chrome browser to work.
2. You also need to create a bootable USB drive with an empty 8GB or 16GB flash drive.
Turn Your Old Laptop into a Chromebook
Just follow the steps below to learn how to turn your old laptop into a Chromebook.
Step 1: Download Neverware’s CloudReady Chromium OS and select either the 32-bit or 62-bit download file.
Google’s Chrome OS isn’t available for consumers to install, so you can choose to download Neverware’s CloudReady Chromium OS which looks nearly identical to Chrome OS and can be installed on any laptop or desktop, Windows or Mac.
Step 2: Insert the USB flash drive firstly, then open the Chrome web browser, now install and run the Chromebook Recovery Utility. Click the gear icon and select Use local image.
Step 3: Find the saved file and then choose the media you want to use for the installation. Make sure you select the correct drive. Click Continue. After confirming the details on the next page are correct, click Create now. Click OK when the UAC prompt appears.
Step 4: Restart your PC after finishing creating a recovery image and boot your PC from the USB drive. Then CloudReady installer will load. Set the language, keyboard, and network firstly, and then click Continue to begin to install.
Step 5: During the installation process, you should agree to install Flash and use a Google account to log in your Chromebook.
Step 6: Choose an image for your account and you’ll have a chance to see your new device. All the applications are accessible through the launcher.
Step 7: Click the Install CloudReady button from the System Tray. You can choose to install it as a standalone operating or as a dual boot alongside Windows. If you choose the former, everything on your hard drive will be erased. If you select the latter, you can choose to load Windows or load CloudReady when you boot up.
After you complete all the steps above, you can successfully convert a Windows laptop to a Chromebook.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, this post has shown you how to turn your old laptop into a Chromebook step by step. If you want to do this job, just follow the steps above.