How To Turn Your Old Computer Into A Faster Chromebook? Free

Many of us have old laptops or desktops in our house biting dust probably because they are outdated or underpowered to run the latest versions of Windows or Mac OS. Chromebooks have been growing in its popularity very fast in recent times and the saddest thing is that many of the new Chromebooks out there aren't even as powerful as those old unusable computers at your home. Here is a very easy and free way to turn that old hardware into faster and new Chromebooks. 

1. Download Neverware 

Neverware is a NewYork based startup which has been turning old and outdated hardware in many schools across the US into powerful Chromebooks. You can go to their website and download their version of Chrome OS. It is free for personal use and well supported with automatic updates. You can download both 64 and 32-bit versions of the OS, however, it is highly recommended to use a 32-bit version on older hardware. 

2. Installing Neverware on a USB drive 

Next step is to make a bootable USB drive from the downloaded software. Installing the Neverware software to a drive is a multistep process, but it is explained in a very helpful manner in their website. It is done by installing the Chromebook Recovery Utility plug-in from the Google Chrome Web Store. With the Recovery Utility, you can create a bootable drive with an 8 or 16 GB USB drive. 

3. Booting from the USB drive 

To boot from the USB drive, turn off the computer you want to install on. Insert the USB installer you created. While powering on the computer tap the special key that will lead you to boot settings. The special key to enter the boot menu is different depending on the machine. It will be displayed on the splash screen when you turn on the machine. Once you are in the boot menu, choose the option to boot from the USB drive over harddisk. 

4. Installing Chrome OS 

The installation process is very easy as the software will walk you through each step. You have two options of installation: either as a full Chromebook or as a dual boot machine with current OS in the computer. You can also install the OS to a USB drive, making it a highly portable Chromebook. 

5. Signing in using your Google account 

Once it is installed and connected to the Wifi you can log in by using your google credentials. Since it is a Chromebook all your bookmarks and apps from Google Chrome will be synced flawlessly making it ready to use under a handful of minutes.