How to Turn an Old Laptop Into a Chromebook With CloudReady

If you haven’t used a Chromebook in a while, they’ve come a long way . But you don’t have to spend money on a new laptop just to get Chrome OS up and running. You can install it on almost any laptop with the CloudReady app.

Google’s version of Chrome OS is not user-installable, but its open source base, Chromium OS, is there, and CloudReady from developer Neverware makes it much easier to install on your laptop. No fiddling with drivers or looking for compatible hardware – just click to install.

First: multiple disclaimers

CloudReady guides you through the Chromium OS installation process and handles most of the technical issues behind the scenes. It’s as easy as installing any other operating system. However, there are some caveats to keep in mind:

• This will not work on all computers. While CloudReady should work on most Windows and Mac laptops and desktops released since 2007, there is no guarantee that it will work on everyone. You can view the list of tested hardware and basic system requirements here . Chromium OS is usually designed to run on light hardware, so even if you have an old machine with dull specs, it can breathe new life into old hardware.
• This will erase your system. There is currently no way to dual boot CloudReady’s Chromium OS with another operating system such as Windows. Make sure you install this on a device that is completely erasable. Don’t install this on your main computer. Be sure to back up any data you want to keep before proceeding.
• It’s not a perfect Chrome OS. While Chromium OS is basically identical to Chrome OS, there are a few key differences. Most importantly, you will not receive regular automatic updates or any official support. It also doesn’t have Flash built in, but CloudReady will give you instructions on how to manually install it on first boot.

As long as you can handle all of this, you should be fine. At the very least, that should give you a good idea of ​​if you can live and work with a computer running Chrome OS.

What do you need

Once you’ve found a laptop you want to experiment on, there are a few things you need to collect. Here’s what you need:

• 8GB or 16GB USB stick: yes, just those two. Any size larger or smaller can cause problems, according to CloudReady. The company does not say why any other size could cause problems, but if you intend to use something else, do so at your own risk.
• CloudReady .bin file: You (quite obviously) need to download CloudReady before you start. You can find the free app here . Click Download CloudReady at the top of the screen and save it to your computer.
• Chromebook Recovery Utility: This tool allows you to create an installation USB drive using CloudReady software. You can find it here and install it on any computer.

Ideally, you should download the CloudReady software and Chromebook recovery utility on a second computer so you have something to work with in case the installation goes wrong. However, you can technically download everything directly to the computer you want to install Chromium OS on and overwrite it when you get to the installation step. You will simply lose the operating system that you had in the process.

How to install CloudReady

When you have everything you need and have downloaded all the software you need, you are ready to get started. First, you need to create a CloudReady installation USB drive. It is a non-destructive process, so you can do it on any computer running Chrome. It will erase your USB stick, however, so make sure it doesn’t have anything you want on it.

To create an installation USB drive, follow these steps:

1. Run the Chromebook Repair Utility.
2. Click the gear icon in settings in the upper right corner of the app when it opens.
3. Select Use Local Image.
4. Select the CloudReady .bin file you downloaded from Neverware.
5. Insert the USB drive into your computer.
6. Select USB Drive on the left side of the Chrome Recovery Utility screen.
7. Click Continue and Create Now to create the installation USB drive.

After completing this process, you will have a USB stick that you can use to install Chromium OS on as many devices as you need. You use it to download to the CloudReady installer, but you can also use it to try out Chromium OS before installing. If you just want to take a peek without wiping out your entire computer, follow these steps:

1. Make sure your computer’s BIOS is enabled for booting from USB. If you are unsure, check with your hardware manufacturer. You can also check out our USB Boot Guide here .
2. Insert the CloudReady installation USB drive.
3. If presented with a boot menu, select the USB storage device connected to your computer. On some computers, you may need to press a special boot key such as F12.

At this point, you can play around with Chromium OS if you like. If you decide what you want to install, you can do it from the same interface. Remember that installing CloudReady will destroy your computer . Do not begin this part of the process until you have backed up everything on the machine and are sure that you will no longer need that computer in its current state.

To install CloudReady, follow these steps:

More…