How to Turn an Old Laptop Into a Chromebook | Consumer Reports

How To Turn An Old Laptop Into A Chromebook | Consumer Reports 1

Have an old computer lying around and want to toss it away? CR says put on the brakes. We tried some free software that can convert a PC to a Chromebook, allowing you to get another working computer for your family while spending little or no money. For more detailed instructions go to

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SHOW NOTES
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00:00 – Introduction
00:18 – CloudReady by Neverware
00:44 – Step 1: Gather materials and download software
01:12 – Step 2: Install software on the old laptop
01:42 – Step 3: Boot from the USB drive
02:05 – Step 4: Install the CloudReady software
02:29 – Step 5: Set up your Chromebook

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26 Comments on "How to Turn an Old Laptop Into a Chromebook | Consumer Reports"

  1. Hmmm… Is this “too good to be true?”.

    There’s no catch? Is this supported by Google?

  2. On another note buying a Chromebook for my kiddo’s school work was a bad choice. Simple tasks need more effort. Right now she is using a older Windows 7 laptop with MS Office and its 100x better than a Chromebook.

  3. If you have a functioning computer why would you do this?

  4. OMG 😍💋 💝💖❤️

  5. I turned an Asus netbook into a Chromebook. Sounds good but a Chromebook is useless for stuff other than web searches.

  6. well if you are going chrome on old laptop its not worth it as Linux would have better options 🙂

  7. I think that the problem with using an old laptop is that the battery is probably on its last legs and most of the older laptops don’t have solid state drives. It’s often difficult to find a good quality replacement battery at a reasonable price and if the HDD also needs to be replaced you’re not saving very much. You’re probably better off buying a new laptop. I’ve never used a Chromebook, but I think that I would prefer to stay with Windows 10.

    • Yeah, a new battery will cost around $50 to $80 with shipping, while you can get some new low-cost Chromebooks for around $150. So when you think about it, just getting a new Chromebook is probably a better answer. Chromebooks are great for kids who keep pressing keys they are NOT supposed to press, all in an effort to try to wreck the computer. When the Chromebook doesn’t work right, you just to a ‘PowerWash’ and it sets it back to its original condition. I prefer using a version of Linux Mint 19.3 on my old Dell laptop, but that’s because I am not actively trying to mess it up. Give a kid a computer running Linux and they will have it ‘crashing’ and ‘not working right’ in just a few minutes. Meanwhile, it’s impossible for kids to mess up a Chromebook, that’s the reason why Chromebooks are so popular and Linux computer are not.

  8. If you have and older version of windows you can upgrade to windows 10 for free. Just google windows 10 upgrade.

  9. My old Dell had a fresh install of windows 10 and it would take 5 minutes to boot up and then it still was a dog. I just converted it to a chrome book with these instructions and it boots up in no time. It was the perfect use for this old laptop.

  10. I already have 3 Chromebooks and they are sort of useless compared to what Linux Mint has to offer. I took my old Dell Latitude E6440 laptop that was not running Windows 7 very well (it was dog slow), and I installed Linux Mint 19.3 onto it ( you can now get Mint 20.0 from the site: https://linuxmint.com/ 100% free). I downloaded a version called ‘Cinnamon’ as it feels the most like Windows. It actually performs almost exactly like Windows XP. I would prefer it to operate more like Windows 7 instead, but its still way better than any Chromebook out there. With Linux Mint you can actually download programs for free from the built-in library of hundreds of free computer programs available for it. I’ve got FireFox, Chrome (Chromium), and Waterfox all installed on my Linux Mint laptop. I also have Libre Office, Skype, Handbrake, VLC media player, Audacity, three different DVD/CD burners, Four different video editors (Olive, Kdenlive, Openshot, Shotcut), and about 10 other programs that I use often. With a Chromebook you can’t install any of those programs unless the Chromebook can also install Linux apps, and even when it can it doesn’t run them nearly as good as Linux Mint does itself.
    I would advise people to first try running Linux Mint off of a ‘Live’ USB thumb-drive and if you like it then you can install it after a few hours of trying it out. I think you will like it way more than anything a Chromebook could offer you.

  11. I am confused anyone can tell which is best hp Chromebook x360 or hp pavilion x360 for my studies and online classes?

  12. So many families in dire need thank you. If you could do something with the old iPads it be awesome.

  13. I use this and it is INCREDIBLE!

  14. No thanks
    I’ll keep using Ubuntu

  15. I have 2 laptops, that same Dell, and a Toshiba like 8 years old, I knew the Toshiba wouldn’t support Windows 7 anymore and this is a great idea. Was planning on putting Ubuntu Mate on it but like this idea better.

  16. This works 100% I have used it on many machines.

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