I have installed Zorin OS on three old laptops, maybe not as old as this one, but still old to update to the latest Windows OS.
The problem I am having is when I key F12 at startup, booting from a usb drive is not an option in the list. And when I hit F2 at startup, none of my keyboard keys work to change any setting in the BIOS. Not the arrow keys, not the page up/down keys, not the +/- keys.
I searched the problem, and one of the suggestions was to try a usb keyboard. That wasn't even recognized.
I saw a suggestion to remove the CMOS battery to reset the BIOS. Anyone tried that?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated. TIA
Important is that your USB stick is plugged in before booting.
Disable secure boot and fast boot if available.
You could try using an older USB stick or pressing Fn + F12 after pressing start button to boot directly from USB. Someone wrote this about T410.
Some laptops also have a place/hole on the underside to reset the BIOS. Perhaps you have one?
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Welcome to the Forum!
Is the BIOS of the Machine in UEFI or Legacy Mode?
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It seems as your BIOS is a legacy BIOS and doesn't support UEFI. So when you create the Zorin bootstick it is important that you choose MBR partition scheme there (and not GPT) for legacy BIOS. With Rufus tool that is a really good tool when you have Windows you can make these settings when creating the bootstick.
P.S.: For your T410 I'd recommend Zorin 17 lite (and afterwards install kernel 5.15 and set it as default) - many computers from this time have problems with kernel 6.8 and run better on kernel 5.15. You easily can try both and keep the better one. Linux Mint XFCE 21.3 offers loger support for kernel 5.15 than Zorin.
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Thanks for the replies. However, it would be nice to be able to move around the BIOS to turn off secure boot or fast boot or change boot order. But I can't do that. There is no response to any key strokes I try.
There is no external way to reset the bios on the T410. The only way to do that is to remove the CMOS battery. Before doing that I'll try the Fn+F12 at start.
You do not have NumLock turned on do you?
That may render cursor keys disabled.
Is your BIOS password protected so that you have no access to it? Have you ever changed your BIOS settings? Sometimes used/refurbished laptops are sold with unknown BIOS passwords.
If the keyboard isn't recognized you could try an external USB keyboard and mouse, perhaps it helps.
Update: The best suggestion so far was to hit Fn+F12 when booting up. That unlocked the forth boot option-the usb flash drive. The only problem was the usual buttons did nothing to advance the highlighted option.
So, I decided to try every button on the keyboard from upper right corner to lower left corner. It didn't take long to find something that worked-F6 moved the highlighted option with each tap down to the fourth (usb) option. When I hit enter, Zorin was installed on my T410.
After installation I went thru choosing the language and the keyboard layout, then chose to use my wifi, keyed in the wifi password and hit enter, and the screen froze-no BSOD, no response moving the mouse or using the trackpad, no response from ay key in either the laptop keyboard or the external usb keyboard.
After doing a force off and waiting a day I tried again-I just let Zorin boot up on its own. This time I had an ethernet cable hooked up, and things went well until I went in to software and clicked on updates. The computer froze, same as before.
After doing a force off again (see a pattern developing here?) and waiting a day, I tried again. This time I got through updates and was in the middle of downloading Google Chrome before it froze again.
Just for the heck of it, I downloaded Mint MATE and flashed it to my usb drive. I was ready to give that OS a try. However this time when hitting Fn+F12 when booting up, the fourth option was gone. Guess I'm stuck with Zorin.
After turning it off and back on later, it no long has my name as a user when the lock screen comes on. And of course no response to any input.
I'm about to give up and either recycle this laptop or turn it into a paperweight. It has significant sentimental value to me having been my traveling laptop on my motorcycle over many miles.
Just curious, I now realize how easy it is to access the CMOS battery. Is it worth removing that and waiting for a few hours to reinstall it? TIA
You can replace CMOS after a short time like a minute. You could also test whether it is enough to unplug the mains plug, remove the normal battery and then press the start button for a minute. On my laptop, this resets the BIOS.
Please make sure that your usb stick is formatted for MBR if your BIOS is legacy, and secure boot and fast boot are disabled. Zorin core with gnome desktop is probably too heavy for your machine. I'd recommend a lightwight linux distribution version with XFCE desktop as e.g. Zorin lite.
If this also requires too many resources, you could try AntiX or a distribution with LXQT (or install LXQT on Zorin lite).
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Hi and welcome. Doing some research I found the T410 is from 2010! A few questions. Have you ever changed the CMOS battery for a new one? Replaced the Hard Drive for a new one? Reseated the RAM? Is the keyboard a membrane variant? The latter doesn't fair well with heavy key strokes (I had to purchase a new one for an ASUS notebook I purchased for youngest's Uni course which died one week out of warranty!). When I was a youngster to get me off to sleep my Dad would take me for a run in the Austin 12. Perhaps your notebook needs a quick ride on the motorcycle to wake it up! 
Lastly have you used a can of air to blow the cobwebs away on the cooling fans!
Having looked at a review we don't know what RAM you have. Minimum spec stated in review was 2Gb. I've managed to install Q4OS on an Athlon64 Single processor machine I built in 2006, maxed out at 2 Gb RAM and an 8x AGP Card of 512 Mb.
Do you have a nvidia card? If yes, when using Zorin core switch to Xorg. This is also better for the most machines without nvidia.
At loginscreen click on your profile and then a cog wheal appears. There you set "Zorin desktop on Xorg".
Having looked at specs it has nvidia.
There were different versions for this laptop, some with and some without nvidia.
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As usual, thanks for all the replies.
The specs for my T410 are: Core i7 (1st gen, 2c/4t), 8GB DDR3-1066 RAM (max for the motherboard), Samsung 850 EVO SSD, running SATA 2. No dedicated graphics. The keyboard has been replaced with an oem equivalent, I don't think it is a membrane type. In service 2.2012 or 2013-I looked at it but cannot remember which year. I suspect the original CMOS battery-the type inside the yellow pocket(?), I know I haven't changed it in the ten years or so I've owned the laptop.
Speaking of the CMOS battery, I disconnected it from the motherboard it last night and left it for about an hour per a YouTube video, then reconnected it and powered on. I got an error message to reset the date and time, with the only option being to hit F1 to configure. After getting the configuration, I could not do anything else. There was no response to any key I tried. So, now I am trying to decide if I want to invest $5 for a replacement battery, or just give up and retire the laptop.
You could try it with a new Battery but the Specs are not really ... strong. I would avoid Zorin Core. Zorin Lite or MX Linux with xfce Desktop could be more suitable I think. At least they are worth a Try before throw it in Trash.
Well if the replacement CMOS battery has long shelf life you could use it in one of the others. It was the first thing I did with a Dell Latitude E5800, replaced CMOS battery, bought 8 Gb RAM as it only had 2 Gb and upgraded DVD/CDR for an 8x DVD-RW. Now running MX-Linux Plasma for my eldest.
I'm going to order a replacement CMOS battery and try to install Zorin Lite if I can get the laptop to do ANYthing.
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