Upgrade to Sony Vaio

Recalculating · Dec 31, 2018

I have an old Sony Vaio VGN AR630 that has been in storage for quite sometime. I used it overseas as a personal laptop to watch movies. It has the original 320 GB hard drive taking a maximum 4 GB RAM with Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit installed.

It seems to have use if I installed a new operating system with the 250 GB SSD new in package I received. Any suggestions what road to go down such as where to purchase an operating system and/or process to install SSD with the new environment? I already have another laptop to play with Linux 17.3.

Happy New Year!

Andrew1972 · Dec 31, 2018

I would not spend a dime on an OS for this old thing as it may just run really poorly given the vintage.

If you can get the SSD installed you can load a Linux Mint onto USB then see if the computer is viable still then decide if you want to purchase a Windows license or find one.

Pelican · Dec 31, 2018

Originally Posted by Recalculating
I have an old Sony Vaio VGN AR630 that has been in storage for quite sometime. I used it overseas as a personal laptop to watch movies. It has the original 320 GB hard drive taking a maximum 4 GB RAM with Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit installed.

It seems to have use if I installed a new operating system with the 250 GB SSD new in package I received. Any suggestions what road to go down such as where to purchase an operating system and/or process to install SSD with the new environment? I already have another laptop to play with Linux 17.3.

Happy New Year!

What MadRiver said! Furthermore all OS these days are 64bits. Take the Vaio and sell it as an antique piece of technology, there are collectors around.

HangFire · Dec 31, 2018

That's a Core 2 Duo so it will run 64 bit operating systems. With 2GB of RAM or more it will run Linux quite handily, with an SSD, quickly.

If I am looking up the specs right, it has a 1440x900 17" display at Nvidia graphics. Not "full hd" but much nicer then the usual 1366x768 fodder. If that is the case, I would load Linux Mint with Cinnamon, the nvidia drivers, and enjoy a nice laptop.

Recalculating · Dec 31, 2018

Label on it says 1080p and has blu-Ray player and HDMI.

csandste · Dec 31, 2018

Peppermint Linux is extremely light.

HangFire · Dec 31, 2018

Originally Posted by Recalculating
Label on it says 1080p and has blu-Ray player and HDMI.

Definitely worth saving, then.

danez_yoda · Dec 31, 2018

Get a USB to SSD adapter and clone your vista installation to the SSD using a cloning software. Once the clone is complete just swap the HDD for the SSD and you'll be in business.

I would clean the Vista install and remove all unnecessary stuff before cloning to speed the process and reduce bloat on your new SSD. If there is an option to reset to factory default that might be a good option too once you have gotten all your personal data off.

HangFire · Jan 1, 2019

No Vista install is worth saving. Either go with Linux or pay the price for Windows 7 or 10.

Recalculating · Jan 1, 2019

Originally Posted by HangFire
No Vista install is worth saving. Either go with Linux or pay the price for Windows 7 or 10.

Yes and so I thought in my opening post.

danez_yoda · Jan 1, 2019

ahhh,... Vista isnt bad once you clean it out. especially if its free. Should do whatever he wants to do. Lots of FAQs to tame the crap vista did in its early days.

Otherwise spend a weeks or so learning Linux or buy widows 10 for $100. If it were me I would give the vista a try first. If it is still a POS then change it. Remember you need new drivers and some of the new windows 7,8,10 dont support older hardware. I had to toss a perfectly good scanner because of this. Cannon didn't make a windows 7 driver for it and there was no workaround.

wkcars · Jan 2, 2019

Originally Posted by Recalculating
I have an old Sony Vaio VGN AR630 that has been in storage for quite sometime. I used it overseas as a personal laptop to watch movies. It has the original 320 GB hard drive taking a maximum 4 GB RAM with Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit installed.

It seems to have use if I installed a new operating system with the 250 GB SSD new in package I received. Any suggestions what road to go down such as where to purchase an operating system and/or process to install SSD with the new environment? I already have another laptop to play with Linux 17.3.

Happy New Year!

Sent you a message

Upgrade to Sony Vaio

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