Hello! My old laptops hard drive packed it in, so I got a new one and now need to flash drive an operating system on it. I think this is my time to give Linux a proper go. I tried it before for my gaming PC but switched for a cracked Windows key because I was young and not bothered to learn.
Well, now is my chance to give it another go. I’m looking for a Linux optimised for performance on an HP 255 G7. Threadbare, but not so bare that it’ll require me to do a load of complicated stuff to do the basics. I’ll just be using it for YouTube and Google docs really. Any help/advice/orders are appreciated.
Thanks!
That isn’t an old laptop, it shouldn’t have any bearing on which distro you pick. Ubuntu is solid, I’ve been mostly happy with KDE Neon. Web experience is going to the same across the board. Will you be gaming?
This isn’t an old laptop
I have it too. It’s just bottlenecked with 5,400RPM SMR HDD, in other words, as slow as it gets.
That should be an easy fix though, you can get a 512GB SSD for $25-35. In fact OP said they were doing this because the original drive failed. You’d notice a huge difference going to flash.
Yep, that’s what I did. Super fast now.
512GB wouldn’t be enough for me, and larger SSDs are too expensive. Also opening this laptop seems like a pain in the ass trying not to break display cables from teardown video I’ve seen.
And yeah, I know. I switched back from SSD after my secondary laptop failed. Going from 8-10 second boot-up to multi-minute boot-up can really be felt. That was a 16 year old laptop with such speed, by the way. SSD seems like a magic.
But surely one for lower end/older machines will be as barebones as possible?
No gaming, hopefully. Perhaps hearthstone if I succumb to it.
“Barebones” usually just refers to a machine that is not complete, missing CPU, memory, storage, for customization. I assume you mean it’s a basic/low-end configuration. Still, it seems to be a fairly recent generation of hardware. If you have a spinning disk, you’ll see a huge performance increase by upgrading to an SSD. You can get a 512GB SSD for $25-35.
If you look at minimum/suggested requirements for almost any distro, I think you’ll be comfortably above that. I looked up the laptop and it seems to have an AMD APU (similar to what’s in a Steam Deck), optional NVMe drive, 8-16GB DDR4, WiFi 5… I’m running Ubuntu 23.04 on a 2015 laptop and it’s fine, no difference at all from a current gen in Google Workspace.
Ah, yeah. I don’t know the terminology. I’ll change it to threadbare My level of tech awareness is like… my friends think I know stuff but actually I’m just great at taking a punt and watching tutorials.
Anyway, yeah, I changed the old one to a nifty NVME and now it runs like a dream.
Currently I’m using Zorin OS Alite - do you really think I should go to mint or Ubuntu before I start settling in? My initial reaction to Zorin is that I’m satisfied with it, but if it’s not as reliable as mint then maybe I should just start again?
Most tech people are just better than average at looking stuff up :)
I have never used Zorin, but it looks good - it’s based on Ubuntu but tweaked to be more friendly to Windows/macOS users. If it’s working for you, that’s what counts. There’s a lot of documentation around Ubuntu which should apply to your system.
that laptop is fast enough that virtually any Linux distribution will run just fine
. You can’t go wrong whichever “edition” you download, but I’d recommend Cinnamon. It’s delightfully easy to setup, beginner friendly, has GUI utilities for most of the settings you’ll need to tweak, and leaves room to grow as you learn more about Linux. For YouTube and Google Docs, it’ll be more than performant enough.
You’re in luck! LMDE 6 was just out!
I vote this for a beginner!
Linux mint is soon good (suck it ubuntu)
My vote goes to Zorin OS Lite. It’s a very Windows-like experience designed for lower-end laptops.
Perfect, I’ll take your word for it. Unless someone comes in here and convinces me otherwise.
Thanks!
Linux Mint XFCE edition
Oh, hey! I have HP 255 G7! Linux Mint works on it nicely. It also has driver manager that easily allows you to install the WiFi driver, in case you have the same RTL8821CE I do. Otherwise this is relevant: https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce
Also keep in mind it still can’t do miracles if you have the version with HDD. Mine has a 5,400RPM SMR HDD. So probably the slowest modern-day kind of storage it could have. With Manjaro it still takes a few minutes to boot up.
Ah, mines the one with the m.2 SSD slot (or something like that) - I replaced it with a nice fast one for £30 and it’s running like a dream. Much faster than it was before.
Crucial P3 500GB M.2 PCIe Gen3 NVMe Internal SSD - Up to 3500MB/s - CT500P3SSD8
You should be able to replace the HDD with one of the bigger SSD’s though? Isn’t the bracket for it built in?
Many of the major distros with graphical installers would work. Fedora, Ubuntu, Endeavor, OpenSuse… it’s really the Desktop Environment and the default set of apps that’s going to make the difference for you, since that’s what determines how you interact with the computer on a day to day basis.
A lot of folks feel more comfortable with an interface like their old OS and simple graphical tools. If that’s what you’re after, it’s hard to beat Mint with its default Cinnamon desktop. It is very Windows-like in its workflow except just better. It’s got great gui system tools, a good community, and it’s super easy to install.
If that’s what you’re after - easy to install and just daily drive to browse the web and use google docs - then stop reading now. Mint is my recommendation. If you’re wanting to dive in and learn more about Linux along the way, keep reading!
I don’t agree with the “acts like my old desktop” philosophy, personally. I think it tends to make people expect the system to work like their old OS, and everything is different under the hood. It’s like putting a car’s dashboard and steering wheel into a tank. The vehicles are similar in a lot of ways, but they’re fundamentally different.
So, as a constant reminder that you’re using something fundamentally different from Windows, a Desktop Environment like Gnome or KDE is a better choice.
Gnome is very different from the Windows workflow. I’m told it takes people a bit to adjust to it, but I wouldn’t know. For me, Gnome is the most intuitive DE I’ve ever used. I had the basics down in seconds. I recommend Fedora Workstation if you want to try it out. It’s up to date, has a great set of default apps, and has a strong community. I use Fedora, and I’m very happy with it.
KDE can work like Windows, if that’s what you’re after… but it can also work nearly any way you want it to because it’s so amazingly flexible that it’ll knock your socks off. The number of settings and things you can tweak, rearrange, and modify to your liking can be a bit overwhelming, but it can also be fun. I’ve spent literal hours having fun tweaking my desktop (although I always end up with something that imitates the Gnome workflow lol). It does a great job showing you how adaptable Linux can be, and how it’s all about your choices as a user. I love it, even if it’s not my DE of choice. If that sounds like your kind of fun, then KDE Neon or Fedora’s KDE spin ate worth a look.>
My 2015 machine runs Ubuntu just fine
Just go with mint. Don’t use anything else, just mint. You’ll never have any problem. ( other than the usual random peripheral not working or stop working after an update, but this is a linux problem not a mint problem)
Lubuntu is really snappy, you should give it a try
Lubuntu is great, but I wouldn’t be using it except on a really old laptop as it doesn’t look so nice and some stuff are difficult to do compared to Fedora workstation.
Interesting. Going to mull over the options on my walk to the shops to get a USB. Thanks.
FWIW, a few months ago I nuked windows on an old laptop and installed Xubuntu and it was a whole lot more responsive.
(Disclaimer: I actually like Xfce.)
Mint is a solid ‘shit just works’ choice too, especially for beginners.
MX Linux revived my old low-spec laptop
I would recommend reinstalling windows, because the activation key is still on the mobo, and you might as well use it. Then you can fuck around with dual boot, and try all sorts of Linux distros.
You can even put them on a USB stick and side load, without installing anything at all. This is great for testing, until you find one you like and pull the trigger on a dual boot setup.
Oh, true yeah. Oh well, too late now. I’ll keep it mind if I want to go back to windows.
Sorry I was so late to the game. I used to work computer repair, always had a Linux stick to boot into, and changed it up every couple of weeks.
Always something fresh, it was fun seeing all the different distros. You can also make a Linux USB stick with persistent storage and install apps and save settings. In my experience those tend to shit the bed after a few weeks.
Another option that’s one step above a USB stick, is an m.2 enclosure. I had those with dual boot, windows and Ubuntu. I could plug that into anyone’s computer, boot the external drive and rule out hardware problems with ease.
The m.2 enclosures are almost indistinguishable from an internal drive, made it so I could boot into my own setup on any machine.
As an owner of this same laptop, I’d just like to mention its UEFI will wipe the boot menu after you boot it up from external drive. You’ll need to use something like
efibootmgr(Linux) or Bootice (Windows) to put those entries back. Using Bootice in Hiren’s boot is the simplest method. Unfortunately, Windows won’t let you navigate into ESP, and Bootice won’t let you create a new boot entry without immediately pointing it to .efi file. So, you’ll have to create empty .efi file anywhere, select it, and then rewrite the path manually in Bootice. This assumes you know the real full path to the .efi files.I’ve never heard of such a thing, on any computer. Though HP would be that shitty. Sounds like something fishy with your UEFI, you ever update your bios?
I used to do this like 30 times a day sometimes (HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus), never had an issue with boot menus. The ONLY problem I’ve ever encountered was an external boot triggering bit locker, and locking me out.
What you’ve described is a hell I’ve never experienced, but def does not sound like standard operating procedure.
