Turn an old laptop into a Chromebook
Curious about Chrome OS? Here’s how to tr y it out for free – and breathe new life into a spare PC
If you’re tempted by a Chromebook, but not sure you can live without Windows, there’s a simple way to test-drive the platform. Chromium OS is Google’s open-source branch of Chrome OS, and it’s completely free to download and use. You can install it on an old laptop, to effectively turn it into a Chromebook – or you can run it directly from a USB flash drive, leaving your old operating system untouched.
There are just a few differences between Chromium OS and Chrome OS. For one, Chromium OS doesn’t automatically update itself, so you’ll want to periodically check for security fixes and the like. It uses the open-source Chromium browser, rather than regular Chrome, and some closed-source plugins aren’t included – although you can install these with a few clicks.
It also doesn’t include some specific firmware drivers, but runs fine on the vast majority of Intelbased systems made in the past ten years. Finally, Chromium OS doesn’t currently support location services, nor Google Play; the latter might be added at some point in the future, but for now it’s web apps only.
The easiest way to try out Chromium OS is via a pre-rolled distribution called CloudReady, developed by a company called Neverware. All you need to provide is a USB flash drive in the right size: oddly, only 8GB or 16GB drives are supported.
Once you’ve got your flash drive in hand, you can download the installer from neverware.com/freedownload. The software is free for individuals, but you can also buy licences for use in a business or school, and optionally pay a fee of $30 per device for enrolment in a managed Google domain.
You’ll also need to install the Chrome browser, if you don’t already have it, then install the Chromebook Recovery Utility from the Chrome Web Store ( chrome.google.com). Once this is done, launch the utility, then click the cogwheel icon in the top right of the window and select “Use local image”. Locate the CloudReady installer file that you previously downloaded, then point the utility at your flash drive and click Continue. In five minutes or so, you’ll have a bootable flash drive containing the Chromium OS installer.
“Chromium OS doesn’t currently include Google Play; support might be added in the future, but for now it’s web apps only”
Booting into Chromium OS
If you just want to try out Chromium OS then all you need to do is boot from this flash drive (note that this may involve tinkering in your BIOS to persuade your chosen system to boot from the right device). The operating system will open up in just a few seconds, and you’ll be prompted to connect to a network and log in to your Google account. From then on, you’re basically in Chrome OS, and free to explore to your heart’s content – the only limitation is that you won’t have much in the way of local storage to play with, since the USB-based environment doesn’t touch your hard disk.
If you enjoy Chromium OS so much you decide to install it permanently, it’s very easy to do: click the status area in the bottom right of the screen (where your account picture appears) and a pop-up menu will appear; at the top you’ll see “Install CloudReady…” Select this to kick off the process of installing the new operating system to your hard disk.
As part of this process you’ll be asked if you want to install in standalone mode or as a dual-boot configuration. Choosing standalone mode will completely erase your old hard disk, so if you want to go back to Windows you’ll need to reinstall the OS. Dual-boot might sound like a more promising option, but be warned that this only works if your existing Windows installation was set up via UEFI. This might well be the case if it’s running an original installation of Windows 8 or 10, but if it’s older than that it almost certainly won’t be.
Once the installer has finished doing its thing, there’s nothing left for you to do but enjoy your homemade Chromebook. If it was previously running Windows, there’s a good chance it will actually be faster than most modern Chromebooks – although it probably won’t match their portability and battery life.
Just remember to manually check for updates from time to time: to do this, click the status area, then click the cogwheel for Settings. At the top of the window that opens, click “About Chromium OS”, then click “Check for and apply updates”.