What To Do With Old Windows 7 Laptop

I have an old laptop and am not sure what to do with it. What are folks suggestions on what to do with the laptop?

ASUS Laptop is 9 years old running Windows 7 Home Premium SP1. I use this laptop with a 22" HD monitor. Will be purchasing new Windows 10 laptop & will use old laptop as second machine. Microsoft is dropping support for Windows 7 in Jan 2010 so there are several possibilities on what to do with the old laptop.

What do you think?

The old laptop 'appears' to meet all requirements for Windows 10:
Processor = Intel Core i5 CPU, M 450 @ 2.40GHz
RAM = 8GB
Hard disk = 500GB SSD
Graphics card = DirectX 11
Internet connection = 10 Mbps download

'Appears' to meet - but don't really know until I buy & try to install Win 10, right?

(Possibility #1) Leave Windows 7 on laptop even though there will be no additional security updates after Jan 2020. Do not network new & old laptops in event old laptop gets malware. Do not do any personal work nor store personal files on old laptop.

(Possibility #2) Buy & try Win 10 on laptop. May even work, right? But if not, out the cost of Win 10 license.

(Possibility #3) Install Linux on laptop. But 22" monitor won't work cause ViewSonic does not have Linux driver.

Comments?

 

This should not matter as operating systems communicate with the graphics solution, not directly with the monitor.

Monitor drivers are not really "drivers" in the same sense as other hardware drivers are. For Windows, for example, those drivers basically tell Windows what resolutions the monitor does NOT support (it grays those out) and it tells Windows the name of the monitor. Beyond that, it is up the graphics card (or integrated) to ensure the graphics are properly displayed.

Installing Linux on older computers can be a great learning experience. It can also keep hazardous waste out of landfills. And the old systems can be used as backup locations for your new computer.

I cannot tell you what is best for you but should you decide to keep W7 on it, then I agree keeping it away from an Internet connection is wise, once end-of-life support expires in January.

 

Philipp -
Thank you for the info!!!
(1) On the page that you referenced at Microsoft.com, it says "To get started, you will first need to have a license to install Windows 10."
==> Does not this contradict what you wrote that I DO need to purchase a license to install Win 10?
(2) Driver for the monitor: I did not read it anywhere, just had it in my head that I would need a ViewSonic driver.

Thanks again!!

 

Phillip -- My apologies. I now understand after I watched a youtube video. I can download & install Win 10 with the key but I need the key for future updates. So this way, if it works I can buy the key and if it does not work, I can go back to Win 7 or Linux.
Thanks.....

 

Ooops -- I meant "I can download & install Win 10 WITHOUT the key"

 

If you go the Linux route, should probably do Linux Mint Mate or Ubuntu Mate (whatever latest version is at the time that you download).

 

You can use the Windows Media Creation Tool to perform a clean install using a Windows 7 license key. I've even done in place upgrades using a DVD-ROM as recently as last month.

 

As a huge note, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free! The trick is to use the Windows 10 install disk and start it up with Windows 7 already booted. It will install and automatically activate without ever asking for a license and, once it has done so, that PC will reactivate even if you install Windows 10 5,000 times the first time it connects to the internet. The only big caveat is that the PC should not have suffered serious infection in the past. By the way, I have personally done just this numerous times.

 

Ahh, you learn so much, even from a short thread like this one. Personally, I keep a laptop I rebuilt for $0, w/runs 7, as a backup in case anything screws up in the W10 box. Backup could take longer than I want, or just want to look up something while running a routine on the pc. I could update it to W10 as well but I don't like how W10 does some things. People yak about security but I tell them about Sandboxie. Even though it's not foolproof.

You could use the laptop as a picture slide show device for parties, wouldn't have to dedicate it to that. Or just as a spare. Keep it in a closet in case anyone, a friend of a friend, needs a solution when their device craps out. Like davismccarn said you can load W10 easily. You can buy cheap keys as well. Up to you. I have another laptop, pretty old, that I practice Linux Mint on. (Like I said, don't like some things about W10 and can see which way the wind is blowing.)

 

Just remember to boot the device up semi-regularly as hard drives need power every once in a while to continue to hold the data effectively.