Choose a lightweight distro like Lubuntu, Xubuntu, or LXDE for a beginner on a low-power system.
Choose a lightweight distro like Lubuntu, Xubuntu, or LXDE for a beginner on a low-power system.
Install a USB drive, boot into Pop!OS, and observe the CPU activity.
I'm addressing two challenges in your method: setting up from Windows. All Linux systems will need to load their install disks, regardless of the situation. There are some cases where you can run an installer on another Linux or a compatible OS, but none support booting from Windows. Although technically feasible, it's not practical enough to justify the work, so such tools likely don't exist (I haven't verified every distribution). You might try creating a virtual machine, redirect the target hard drive to it, add a fake boot disk inside the VM with the install files, and proceed. Alternatively, you could install on another computer while transferring the hard drive—though this requires careful handling of boot settings. This won't save time unless you're working with very old hardware that still uses legacy boot (not UEFI).
Another option involves removing other storage from the desktop, installing the laptop's drive, adding Linux, and then returning the drive to the laptop. This avoids needing to boot from the install media but requires proper configuration and might not work if the system is set up for UEFI.
With UEFI systems, you'll need to manually configure the boot process for Linux by creating a boot entry on the laptop—either via another installation media or using a Windows utility, which may not always be available.
In short: run the installer directly on the laptop using the target media.
Some online searches reveal alternatives to relying on installation media. Typically, the method involves storing the installer on the hard drive and installing a bootloader or modifying an existing one to start from it (all managed through Windows). This eliminates the need for external media. Tools like unetbootin demonstrate this approach. Numerous other solutions exist on the web. The main drawback is that the Windows partition stays attached during installation, which can restrict the Linux partition size—often forcing you to resize it beforehand and place it toward the end of the disk. This may not be ideal depending on your requirements. In particular, you’d need to either a) keep the entire media in RAM (requiring a compact image that loads into memory) or b) create an additional partition at the end for the installer, allowing you to delete it later and resize the Linux part accordingly. Nevertheless, if the installation fails, your device might remain unbootable, requiring another boot method. Updated October 1, 2020 by Wild Penquin clarified the final point, though I believe the concept was already evident.