Low spec laptop - downgrade W11 to 10?
Discussion
Hi
I needed a Windows laptop to run some diagnostic software for my motorbike, and as a mac user I tried running W11 in Parallels/Fusion but neither worked with the USB interface for the OBD lead (I spent hours trying to figure it out but it appears to be a known issue).
I then bought the cheapest Windows laptop I could find during the Amazon Prime Day - a new HP 14” Fusion with Celeron N4120 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC storage (soldered in) for £115 (I got a further £15 discount from the already discounted price), so unsurprisingly it is slow. I was losing the will during the set up process, which seemed to take hours with lots of updates, but got there in the end and the diagnostics software worked (programming a quick shifter).
It’s a handy cheap laptop but I would like to do whatever I can to speed it up a bit; I read that downgrading to Windows 10 improves the performance, and from what I have read it will be supported for another year. I don’t know too much about Windows but is it fairly straightforward carrying out a downgrade? Apparently the eMMC storage is really slow but unfortunately it’s soldered in.
Any advice for a non-Windows user gratefully received.
I needed a Windows laptop to run some diagnostic software for my motorbike, and as a mac user I tried running W11 in Parallels/Fusion but neither worked with the USB interface for the OBD lead (I spent hours trying to figure it out but it appears to be a known issue).
I then bought the cheapest Windows laptop I could find during the Amazon Prime Day - a new HP 14” Fusion with Celeron N4120 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC storage (soldered in) for £115 (I got a further £15 discount from the already discounted price), so unsurprisingly it is slow. I was losing the will during the set up process, which seemed to take hours with lots of updates, but got there in the end and the diagnostics software worked (programming a quick shifter).
It’s a handy cheap laptop but I would like to do whatever I can to speed it up a bit; I read that downgrading to Windows 10 improves the performance, and from what I have read it will be supported for another year. I don’t know too much about Windows but is it fairly straightforward carrying out a downgrade? Apparently the eMMC storage is really slow but unfortunately it’s soldered in.
Any advice for a non-Windows user gratefully received.
read about debloating windows before expecting much improvement by swapping to win 10. Google is you friend.
Disclaimer I have never tried it as I use Linux. But this may help https://winhance.net/ (it was the first I came across) there are many ways to do this and the results will be better than swapping to win 10.
Disclaimer I have never tried it as I use Linux. But this may help https://winhance.net/ (it was the first I came across) there are many ways to do this and the results will be better than swapping to win 10.
tim0409 said:
Thanks; it s Windows 7 and up.
That s interesting re Windows 11 being faster on older PCs; as I say, I know very little about Windows so maybe best to stay on W11.
Grab windows 7 from Archive.org, install via a USB install and you're away. That s interesting re Windows 11 being faster on older PCs; as I say, I know very little about Windows so maybe best to stay on W11.
Windows 7 was (and still is) flipping awesome, check whether you need 32 or 64bit and off you go!!
You'll need something like Rufus to make the install ISO
You can probably get away without registering (or cheating) the install too if it's just diagnostics, Windows will just nag you about it!
This will help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSCs3-tWBBA
Sorry edited again to add - you can install Win7 to a USB drive and boot your new laptop from the drive, Win7 will be fine on a stick, mine is and be faster than Win11 on the drive probably.
Heck if you're really stuck I can probably create you a stick and post it to try??
Edited by dundarach on Tuesday 30th June 16:05
Assuming there's driver support you'll get some minor performance improvements from downgrading, especially if you but ultimately you're always going to be limited by a Celeron and 4GB eMMC.
You can do some bits and pieces to help both in W10 and 11 in terms of optimization but it's always going to be a bit of a slug.
You can do some bits and pieces to help both in W10 and 11 in terms of optimization but it's always going to be a bit of a slug.
Mr Pointy said:
Can you still return the laptop? If so, do that & buy a used Win 10 laptop from ebay. It'll be way faster than a Celeron.
I agree with this if it is an option. The laptop was a bad buy. The problem is the eMMC and RAM. That Celeron is of similar performance capability to my 2014 4th gen i5 laptop, which runs great on Windows 11.
AlexC1981 said:
I agree with this if it is an option. The laptop was a bad buy.
The problem is the eMMC and RAM. That Celeron is of similar performance capability to my 2014 4th gen i5 laptop, which runs great on Windows 11.
Didn't realise 4th gen i5s were (officially) supported on W11.The problem is the eMMC and RAM. That Celeron is of similar performance capability to my 2014 4th gen i5 laptop, which runs great on Windows 11.
But I'm assuming your definition of 'runs great' is not the same as mine - but if it's an ancient 2-core 4210H processor then yes it will be about as good/bad, speedy/sluggish as a 2019 Celeron N4120
But for some lighter activities just having an SSD over a HDD (or equally slow eMMC which is basically an older version of the SD format) will make things feel snappier.
mmm-five said:
AlexC1981 said:
I agree with this if it is an option. The laptop was a bad buy.
The problem is the eMMC and RAM. That Celeron is of similar performance capability to my 2014 4th gen i5 laptop, which runs great on Windows 11.
Didn't realise 4th gen i5s were (officially) supported on W11.The problem is the eMMC and RAM. That Celeron is of similar performance capability to my 2014 4th gen i5 laptop, which runs great on Windows 11.
But I'm assuming your definition of 'runs great' is not the same as mine - but if it's an ancient 2-core 4210H processor then yes it will be about as good/bad, speedy/sluggish as a 2019 Celeron N4120
But for some lighter activities just having an SSD over a HDD (or equally slow eMMC which is basically an older version of the SD format) will make things feel snappier.
It's a Rufus installation of W11. I wasn't recommending the OP buys a laptop that old, just using it as an example of why I believe it is the storage and RAM making Windows run badly, not the processor.For light usage like the OPs diagnostic software or web browsing, light office work etc. there is very little difference in how Windows performs when using my 2014 laptop compared to my much newer and more powerful AMD gaming desktop PC.
Thanks for all the helpful comments. On balance, I think I will stick with the HP and try and reduce some of the bloatware. It’s pretty much paid for itself already by doing a job the main dealer was going to charge an hours labour for. The diagnostic software runs fine, but I also want to use it in the garage for workshop manuals and light browsing when I’m working on a vehicle so it doesn’t have to be “quick”, just a bit less slow 
I have a newish MacBook Air/iPad for day to day stuff.
At £115 I think it is worth it for what I need and I can’t really grumble, it’s just I am so used to my Mac, which is very quick, but a sub £200 new laptop was never going to be brilliant. The set up/update process was epically slow though.
I have a newish MacBook Air/iPad for day to day stuff.
At £115 I think it is worth it for what I need and I can’t really grumble, it’s just I am so used to my Mac, which is very quick, but a sub £200 new laptop was never going to be brilliant. The set up/update process was epically slow though.
Tiny 11 is an option too, it rebuilds the win11 iso removing all the s
te.
https://github.com/ntdevlabs/tiny11builder
te.https://github.com/ntdevlabs/tiny11builder
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff