Using an old laptop for browsing

[droopsnoot]

I've got an old Acer Travelmate 2700 here running Windows XP. I've had a bit of a go at connecting to the net and there's basically no chance of getting a browser running on it. Several click-bait articles with titles along the lines of "the best browsers to use on Windows XP" basically say that there isn't a good browser now.

Can anyone point me towards a way to make use of the machine, or is it just a no-go? Normally someone will come along and mention Linux, and I wouldn't rule that out - I have used it in the past but not as a desktop OS. If it made the machine usable instead of just a large paperweight, I'd be willing to have a go. But Linux is a big subject and I'm hoping someone might point me to something I can just download and install without having to learn about the kernel.

[otherman]

Get yourself an older browser version that it will run.
http://www.oldversion.com/

Or install win 7 on it? Nice clean install will run better anyway.

[grumbledoak]

It's worth about the same as a Five Guys shake. And about as likely to browse the internet.

Cheap Android tablet?

[mw88]

Even if you get a browser running, chances are you're probably going to have to mess about installing updated root/intermediate certificates as the ones bundled with XP are either going to have been revoked or expired so you won't be able to browse anything which uses https.

[Easternlight]

Try Linux Peppermint, very lightweight OS and very user friendly.
https://peppermintos.com/guide/downloading/

[droopsnoot]

otherman said:

Or install win 7 on it? Nice clean install will run better anyway.

As I recall it, we tried installing 7 on it back in the office, but couldn't find a video driver. Old versions of browsers will probably just complain about stuff all the time.

grumbledoak said:

It's worth about the same as a Five Guys shake. And about as likely to browse the internet.

Cheap Android tablet?

I don't really want anything badly enough to spend any money. I was just idly trying to see if I could make use of it for something.

mw88 said:

Even if you get a browser running, chances are you're probably going to have to mess about installing updated root/intermediate certificates as the ones bundled with XP are either going to have been revoked or expired so you won't be able to browse anything which uses https.

Yes, I've installed Google Chrome and it just complains about the time and date, even though they're correct.

Easternlight said:

Try Linux Peppermint, very lightweight OS and very user friendly.
https://peppermintos.com/guide/downloading/

Thanks, I may have a look at that. It seems a pity to junk a perfectly good working laptop, albeit an old one.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[wombleh]

Linux would be one way, lots of different ones you could try, most are fairly plug and play these days so no getting stuck into kernels. I use mint cinnamon edition. Ubuntu is possibly the most popular for desktops but I don’t personally like its interface, it’s a bit further from Windows too. But you can run it off a USB pen so could have a try and see what works for you.

ChromeOS might be worth a look too.

I wouldn’t keep XP on there, from security POV but also will be painful getting anything working on it as you’re finding!

[Corso Marche]

Chrome OS Flex might be an option to get more life and use out of it.

https://support.google.com/chromeosflex/answer/115...

I wouldn't worry about mention of certification. Prep a bootable USB and try it on that first to see if it boots and if stuff works. If it boots and runs Chrome OS Flex on a live USB then you can consider installing to the hard drive. If it doesn't work, well it was worth a try...

[otherman]

droopsnoot said:

otherman said:

Or install win 7 on it? Nice clean install will run better anyway.

As I recall it, we tried installing 7 on it back in the office, but couldn't find a video driver. Old versions of browsers will probably just complain about stuff all the time.

There's a win 7 video driver here.
https://www.driverscape.com/download/ati-mobility-...

[Drive Blind]

Linux mint > https://linuxmint.com/

I've got a few relatives who needed something for just browsing and email. Linux Mint works for them on older hardware.

[Zumbruk]

Drive Blind said:

Linux mint > https://linuxmint.com/

I've got a few relatives who needed something for just browsing and email. Linux Mint works for them on older hardware.

^^ This ^^

Run perfectly well on older hardware, especially if you use the Mate desktop rather than Cinnamon.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Zumbruk said:

Drive Blind said:

Linux mint > https://linuxmint.com/

I've got a few relatives who needed something for just browsing and email. Linux Mint works for them on older hardware.

^^ This ^^

Run perfectly well on older hardware, especially if you use the Mate desktop rather than Cinnamon.

Yup. Forget Windows. For just browsing then a flavour of Linux is the way to go.

Chrome and Firefox are both available for Linux, so it's not even as if you have to learn a new browser.

As I recall, Mint with the Mate desktop is a fairly easy transition for Windows users.

[AJB88]

As a Linux user, for your usage id say look at ChromeOS Flex instead, its going to be a lot less hassle getting it working.

[IAmTheWalrus]

It's important when looking at Linux tools choose one of the light weights, those being low on resources. Puppy is a good example, I've seen that boot up three times faster on an old laptop than xp. The more popular variety like ubuntu or fedora are going to want as much resources if not more than xp.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

AJB88 said:

As a Linux user, for your usage id say look at ChromeOS Flex instead, its going to be a lot less hassle getting it working.

Good call. If you just want to browse the internet then ChromeOS is ideal.

How is ChromeOS with older hardware? Does it have the same breadth of legacy driver support that Linux has?

[S6PNJ]

droopsnoot said:

I've got an old Acer Travelmate 2700 here running Windows XP.

I've just gone through this / am going through this with 2 old laptops I have. Both are Pentium M (1.4Ghx and 1.7Ghz) and without knowing your exact processor, will be likely to be about the same performance (CPU Benchmark report mine as around 230 and a Pentium 4 2.8Ghz around the same). One has 2Gb of RAM , the other 1Gb. With clean installs, they both run (for their age) fine, if a bit slow when opening Chrome or Edge. If used for 'general' browsing, they should be ok but if you are doing heavy browsing, then you will soon get fed up with the lack of speed I'd guess.

Win 7 will load, but you'll probably need Win 7 + SP1 media else you'll have problems with updates. There will be LOADS of updates and, unlike Win 10, they need installing sequentially, so you'll end up with a good few days of Win reboots and installs (and lots of failures as well, don't worry about those, just let it do its thing).

Win 7 support ends in 2023, so it appears, and from experience, they will shut off links to old install routines (well, they have for Win XP, so many links / things end up with a 404). http://parsons-technology.com/can-you-still-use-wi...

[droopsnoot]

Thanks for all the replies, I will do some playing with this. I meant to add that I didn't look for the win7 video driver myself, but the chap who did spent a lot of time on it back in the day (it's been sitting at home for more than ten years after it became too slow to do the job it did in work). I'm not sure booting from USB is an option on something this old (I was a bit surprised it had wi-fi built in) but I can easily stick a different HDD in there if I don't want to lose what's already on it for some reason.

Plenty of stuff for me to be trying out, thanks. In particular the Linux marketplace confuses me, I could probably have spent a lot of time trying to figure out which would be a good option. I never thought of Chrome OS. I'm actually not sure how much browsing (or anything else) will get done on it, I just don't want to abandon what seems to be an otherwise-usable machine.

[S6PNJ]

droopsnoot said:

I'm not sure booting from USB is an option on something this old

One machine didn't support this (HP Compaq) and I didn't try it on the other (Dell Latitude). If you have a desktop (or newer laptop) with DVD burning capabilities, just burn a disk and boot from that.

[mw88]

droopsnoot said:

mw88 said:

Even if you get a browser running, chances are you're probably going to have to mess about installing updated root/intermediate certificates as the ones bundled with XP are either going to have been revoked or expired so you won't be able to browse anything which uses https.

Yes, I've installed Google Chrome and it just complains about the time and date, even though they're correct.

If you really want to use it, it's possible to import new CA Bundles into XP.

Something like: https://support.globalsign.com/ca-certificates/roo...

You might need to do it a few times for different authorities though - I've only ever done this on ancient Windows Java/Coldfusion servers, so can't guarantee it'll work.

[GilletteFan]

As long as you haven't been using anything manufactured in the last decade, you should be good to go.

Resolution will no doubt leave much to be desired, but if you're in a bind, and need to surf, it should be good enough.

On a more positive note, I'm sure if could double up as a heater in the colder months.