MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
We have a little Netbook. It's a nice light thing for web browsing and some light admin. I barely use it but the others in the house do.
I've picked it up today to use/bit of housekeeping and Win 11 updates are not playing ball. Specifically it won't download 2024-10 onwards. Download error is a non specific one.
Bit of context.
- It was converted from Win10 S to Win11 in S mode ages ago (now off as off this morning).
- It's got a 64GB hard drive with about 14GB free
- 4GB RAM
- It has TPM2.0 and the other security feature that I believe are mandatory for Win11.
- It's getting defender updates.
It seems one solution to this is a fresh Windows install from USB. I know how to get the OS (ISO file).
Not so sure how to make the USB stick bootable.
- Do I need a particular utility and is so what's "legit"?
- I guess I may also need to change boot order in the BIOS?
Or shall I just buy the new machine and then switch the old machine to some kind of LINUX since it's main use is just web surfing and if windows won't play nicely due to it's age.
It's got a 64GB hard drive with about 14GB free
You're always going to struggle with a tiny hard drive like that.
Not so sure how to make the USB stick bootable.
Follow the directions on the Microsoft download page:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
Just for web browsing then one of the more minimal Linux distributions will be fine, and will easily fit on 64gb.
If you don't have the data you want to keep backed up, it at least will fIt on a 64gb USB storage stick. Failing that, use a live USB Linux to DELETEWINDOWS™ then shrink the partition containing your data to make room for Linux. You can always back it up later, to then expand the Linux partition to make full use of the drive if it turns out you want to do more than web surf later.
Try running Linux off a usb stick before you go too far down that road. It's not for everyone imv.
Follow the directions on the Microsoft download page:
Thanks. This is why I asked here and stopped watching YouTube for help because the video that I found dealing with this particular issue and brand of machine was saying to use the download ISO file option and then use some app to make it bootable (Rufus I think it was). Oddly I think there was also a reference to making a bootable USB on the first Microsoft page I found.
All the data goes to cloud storage by default so other than making sure any saved on the desktop items have been protected back up shouldn't be a problem.
It's done 6 years service so not bad at all for a £250 item!
I've got a very similar device which is running Zorin OS perfectly, one of the best "just works" Linux distros available imo. You could try it on a live USB but personally, given the low stakes involved, I'd just install it and crack on, there's nothing weird about it and it'll force you to actually use it rather than dithering back and forth.
I'm totally stuck at the RST problem for duel boot. Both on a Dell laptop and a HP desktop. Utter put of Linux at the moment.
So want to dump Windows, odd program required to keep me hanging on.:-(.
Convert to a Chromebook?
Did that to an old laptop (from about 2015) that was unusable with windows, and it works perfectly for daughters school work and a bit of browsing.
Convert to a Chromebook?
Now that's an angle I hadn't considered/didn't know existed!
I'll have a look. 👍
A Windows rebuild is trivial (google "windows media creation tool") but this does sound like an ideal application for Linux.
Running Linux from a USB stick may be very slow, but it will give an idea of whether it's a feasible choice. If it runs (even slowly) from a USB stick, it should be fine when installed on the machine's own drive (although a 64Gb drive in a budget machine may limit things a bit).
Another vote for ChromeOS Flex (Chromebook) - simple to use and fast.
Linux may well be fine if you want to try it/need a full featured OS but if you don't mind Chrome/Google and are only using it for web/cloud based computing then this is the ideal use case for ChromeOS.
Lovely job, thanks all.
Looking for the replacement home laptop first and then I'm going to tackle the rebuild/Linux/chrome project once I know that if I brick the thing I've still got a computer!
Now I've got the options and some USB sticks coming to build the installation media on.