Linux for Beginners: Give Your Old Computer a Second Life

That old laptop gathering dust might not be ready for the trash. With a free operating system called Linux, many older computers become fast and useful again for browsing the web, email, video calls and writing documents.

What is Linux?

Your computer needs an operating system to work. It’s the main software that runs everything. Windows and macOS are operating systems. Linux is another one, and it’s free.

There are many versions of Linux. For beginners, we recommend Linux Mint. It looks and feels a lot like Windows, so you’ll find your way around quickly.

Is my computer good enough?

Linux Mint needs:

• A 64-bit computer (almost every computer from the last 15 years)
• At least 2 GB of memory (RAM), but 4 GB is better
• At least 20 GB of storage, but 100 GB is better

Tip: If your computer is very old or has little memory, choose the Xfce Edition of Linux Mint when downloading. It’s lighter and runs faster on older machines.

What you’ll need

• The old computer
• A USB flash drive of 8 GB or more (it will be erased)
• Another computer with internet to prepare the USB drive
• About an hour

Careful: Installing Linux will erase everything on the old computer. Copy any photos and files you want to keep to a USB drive or cloud storage before you start.

Step 1: Download Linux Mint

1. On your working computer, go to linuxmint.com.
2. Click Download.
3. Choose an edition (Cinnamon for most people, Xfce for older computers).
4. Download the file. It ends in .iso and is about 3 GB.

Safety first: Only download Linux Mint from the official website, linuxmint.com.

Step 2: Put Linux Mint on the USB drive

You can’t just copy the file. You need a free program to make the USB drive “bootable.”

1. Download balenaEtcher from etcher.balena.io and install it.
2. Plug in your USB drive.
3. Open balenaEtcher.
4. Click Flash from file and choose the Linux Mint .iso file.
5. Click Select target and choose your USB drive.
6. Click Flash! and wait until it says it’s finished.

Step 3: Start the old computer from the USB drive

1. Plug the USB drive into the old computer.
2. Turn it on and immediately tap the boot menu key over and over. It’s usually F12, F11, F2, Esc or Delete, depending on the brand. The key is often shown briefly on screen when the computer starts.
3. A menu appears. Choose your USB drive and press Enter.

Tip: If Windows starts normally instead, restart and try a different key. Searching “boot menu key” plus your computer brand will tell you the right one.

Step 4: Try it before installing

Linux Mint starts directly from the USB drive, without changing anything on your computer. Take your time: open the web browser, check that Wi-Fi and sound work, and see if you like it.

If you change your mind, just turn off the computer and remove the USB drive. Nothing was changed.

Step 5: Install it

If you like what you see:

1. Double-click Install Linux Mint on the desktop.
2. Choose your language and keyboard.
3. When asked about installation type, choose Erase disk and install Linux Mint.
4. Pick your time zone, then create a username and password. Write the password down.
5. Wait for it to finish, then restart and remove the USB drive.

Welcome to Linux!

Your old computer now has a modern, secure system that gets free updates. It comes with a web browser (Firefox), an office suite (LibreOffice) and everything you need for daily use.