I bought Zorin OS pro 16.1. I put the full version on my newer computer and when my old computer ran slow I switched it to the Lite version.
My old computer is an HP Pavilion 17-f230nr notebook.
My keyboard went out on my new computer so now I have to use my old computer. It is so slow even with the Lite version on it. Previous to installing Zorin OS on it it ran fast and fine with windows on it.
Now windows isn't on it and it only has Lite and it is slow. I started this convo a while ago but didn't pursue it when I thought it might be an SSID issue as opposed to what my computer's hard drive was. Sorry, I only had minimal knowledge when it comes to the correct verbage.
My question is I would think taking off windows and having a clean computer before putting Zorin on it there shouldn't be an impediment when it comes to speed. What am I missing or what can I do to increase the speed back to when it had windows on it.
Does this older notebook have a hdd ? Checking the specs online it says it does (5400rpm drive). Swap it for a ssd.
I own a 12 years old hp pavillion g7 notebook. First thing i did whas removing the 5400rpm drive and installed a ssd. The laptop runs bloody fast since the upgrade and runs pop os 22.04/24.04 alpha 4 without any issues.
Keyboard shouldn't be going out on new computers, if still under warranty, get it replaced.
Regarding the old computer, I agree with what other's have said, 5400 RPM drives were even slow when they were new, 7200 and 10000 RPM hard drives were faster.
But as a hard drive ages, it gets even slower, not only due to filling them up and exceeding the built in cash, but hard drives develop bad sectors when they get 5 to 10 years of use on them.
Rip out that hard drive, and install an SSD, and then install Zorin OS 16 Lite on it, and you will notice the difference. I also agree with other's, find out what the max RAM capacity of your computer is.
If its got 2-RAM slots, then buy a 2-stick RAM kit for it, (make sure to match the RAM exactly for that machine, look at the label on currant RAM!) If its a single slot, then buy the max capacity in a single stick.
Hard Drives can fail at any time, even from the factory. I no longer buy Seagate drives. My first one I bought on the basis that PVR manufacturers were using them. It had a Five year warranty and died before 3 years were up. They don't provide a brand new one just a refurb so I didn't bother with warranty replacement. I moved to Samsung, but they are now owned by Seagate. I'm a WD fan now.
Thanks for the help.
The keyboard went out on my HP Pavilion (old computer) also and I replaced that. I do a lot of typing so I wasn't surprised.
As far as the RAM capacity I see this spec under the computer's info: 8GB DDR3L SDRAM (2 DIMM).
I will look into the SSD price and then increase the RAM too if I need to.
I don't know if it has 2 ram slots.
I also don't know how to try the 32-bit version of Q4OS in live mode.
This is the info for the microprocessor; 2.1GHz up to 2.9GHz AMD Quad-Core A10-5745M APU.
I will check back sooner this time. I wasn't able to get back for your answers until now.
You can look into antiX too, they have a good reputation for being fast and light on a large variety of old hardware. I run antiX myself on my mid-2013 MacBook Air. It only has 4GB RAM and I think 1.3 or 1.7 GHz dual-core Intel. I run 64 bit Full version but they have a 32 bit version too but I would think with 8GB RAM would be wasted for 32 bit os (not a technical person though so..)
The installer has an option to run a Live environment so you can try it first, but even better you can load USB "to RAM", erase the USB and clone the system running in your RAM back to the same USB. This way you can recreate the USB installer with antiX own media creator (because dd or Balena etc don't do it properly to create Live with Persistence) which will let you create USB with persistance so you can just run the operating system on your USB from any computer if you want. You can also install it, tweak your system the way you want, and remaster the installation media to your current setup, for either installing your current system on a new pc or making a generic installer of your perfected system to give to friends or family to install. Or, you could just run the live version to try it out, then install it normally too. Lots of options.
EDIT Also before upgrading your RAM, check the max your hardware will support.
Got curious when it was mentioned that my keyboard shouldn't need replacing.
i didn't mention but only three keys in a row won't work. I took the key caps off and when I saw the rust color I remembered I had spilled a drop or two of pepsi on it a few weeks ago.
Now that I am stuck with the slow, older computer for a while I use it to watch videos and I find that when I'm watching something on twitch if I don't keep connected via the mouse with some action it times out the screen and I have to keep signing in no matter how many places I change it in settings.
But the curious thing to me is that when I'm watching Youtube it doesn't time out the screen and require frequent sign ins.
Now if someone much smarter than I could apply whatever magic Youtube performs that makes it so I'm not having to keep signing in, that would be great I think!
(1) Thats easy, go into Firefox settings, and tell it to keep your cookies. Browsers can be set to either keep the cookies upon close, or to clear the cookies upon close. Clearing cookies will log you out.
(2) Get yourself an external keyboard, and just plug it into an available USB port, problem solved. Just make sure to buy a name brand, not some wackidoodle named Chinese brand.
8gig ram is plenty enough for Lite. I looked up and see ur model can take up to 16G ram.
I have an even older laptop with 4G ram ,but I have a SSD in,and it flies
SSDs are cheap nowadays ,get 1 .
Knowing what pepsi does to rot our teeth, I guess it equally rots keys if not dealt with rapidly.
Have you tried cleaning affected key contacts with IPA i.e. Isopropyl Alcohol, (not India Pale Ale).
Thanks for the help everyone.
One thing about Asus I must admit, even though it's out of warranty, they will help you with your problems.
I will check the SSD price. If I can change a keyboard, I can probably put the SSD in myself. Hopefully, Maybe!
