I've got an old laptop with a Windows 10/Linux Mint dual boot. I've moved over to linux almost exclusively, but lately it's gotten so slow it's almost unusable.
Weekend goal: shrink Windows partition, wipe the others and reinstall linux. If that doesn't work, nuke the entire thing and start over. Done it before, but always takes 10x the time. Wish me luck.
Windows doesn't respect Linux partitions, best to have on separate drives.
This! Or depending on how old of a laptop we're talking, install windows in a virtual machine.
Windows 10 had a portable 'version', I'm not sure if it is still available in win11 but you may want to look it up, preferably before nuking your current installation (you need a working windows installation to create a portable one).
It's old by laptop standards. I got in 2013 (and it was already "used" then). I think I'll look up the specs and see what's suggested. I like mint, but ubuntu is fine too. Right now it's booted a lubuntu USB live boot and is very fast, at least compared to what it was.
Understood. I'm 99% there.
Do you really need Windows partition? I'd do a fresh install of Linux Mint only, wiping Windows partition. Linux Mint and Ubuntu have given new life to my two 10 year old work Macbooks that could no longer update OSX.
There are just a couple of programs, and I could probably do without them. So far it's been OK dual booting to be honest. It goes straight to Linux and I have a csoare tire" if needed.
Fair enough. You could try run your needed Windows apps in Linux with Wine. It's quite hit-and-miss but you might be lucky.
I hear you, and this is in the back of my mind. I've futzed with Wine before but never had any luck. Still, when I go full linux, I'll likely give a go if I need it.
