How to turn an old PC into a Linux hybrid and Chromebook

You buy a new laptop, thinking it will sell, donate or deliver the old one, but it never happens. Maybe because you do not want to deal with the hassles of having to wipe all your data, reinstall Windows, and so on. Whatever the case, the old machine now only takes up space. However, there is one solution: you can give your laptop new life.
Have you thought about installing Linux? But, it would not be any system, because even some versions are quite demanding regarding hardware. The best way would be to turn an old PC into a hybrid of Linux and Chromebook, with Cub Linux. Learn how in the next step by step.

To give your old computer a new life, you do not have to buy anything, just use a USB stick and some free software. In this case, the software are Cub Linux (a system similar to that on Chromebooks) and Rufus (a media recorder).

Creating a bootable CubLinux pen drive

Step 1. Lower the Cub Linux ISO image (32-bit or 64-bit);
Step 2. Then download the Rufus program;
Step 3. Plug the pen drive into the PC;
Step 4. On Windows, open Explorer, go to the folder where Rufus was saved and run the program. If prompted, provide the password or tap the “Yes” button to authorize the execution;
Step 5. On the program screen, select the thumb drive in the “Device” field and the “MBR Partition for BIOS or UEFI” option in the “Partition Type and Target System” field. Under “Create bootable disc with,” select the “ISO image” option and then click the CD / DVD drive icon;
Step 6. In the “Open” window, go to the folder where the Cub Linux ISO image was saved and click on it. Then click the “Open” button;
Step 7. With all the options completed, click the “Start” button and wait until the recording is finished.

Configuring the PC to start with the pen drive

Now that you’ve created the pen drive, it’s time to configure your PC to boot from a flash drive. To do this, you will have to venture into the computer’s BIOS and change the boot order, which by default almost certainly puts the hard drive first.

Some laptops offer a popup boot menu that allows you to choose the device to boot without having to tinker with BIOS settings. If your device has this option, consult its manual and use the feature to initialize it by the pen drive.

Starting the PC with Cub Linux

Plug the newly created flash drive into the old laptop, boot it, and wait for the Linux boot manager menu to appear.

In this menu, choose Try Cub Linux without installing and press enter. That is choice will allow you to try the software to make sure everything works as expected, and finally install the operating system.

Ready! Try the system and see how old your PC was. When you are sure that everything is the way you want it, click on the hard disk icon and install the system for good.