Upgrade your system from Windows 10 to 7 or another version!
Upgrade your system from Windows 10 to 7 or another version!
I’m struggling with a budget laptop. Last Christmas I imagined getting a cheap, travel-friendly $200 machine, but it turned out to be more of a letdown. I currently use an HP Stream 13 running Intel Celeron N2840 at 2.16 GHz with just 2 GB RAM. My partner pushed me to switch to Windows 10 from 8.1, and it’s holding up for now. Still, I run into issues—mostly because the limited RAM prevents smooth multitasking with Chrome, Skype, and Spotify. I’m trying to figure out ways to improve performance. Should I downgrade to Windows 7, stick with 8.1, or try a Linux setup that supports those apps? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
Between 7 and 10, I think 10 is the optimal choice for RAM usage. A brief check of their official disassembly guide shows that most components are soldered, making upgrades unlikely. If you're interested in Linux, your current Manjaro installation with 930MB/6GB RAM is working fine. I've seen lightweight distributions like Lubuntu with under 200MB usage, which would free up a significant amount of memory on your system compared to a Windows setup on a smaller machine. You might try setting a large swap file; in the past, I used 16GB for retro games and it worked well without crashes. Note that the Manjaro install runs from an SD card, so no swap was used.
Windows 7 uses more system resources compared to Windows 10. For a very lightweight option, consider using Linux.
Occasionally I think I'm the only person who checks the thread first before adding a comment.
It seems the idea of lowering your system specs won't solve your multitasking issues with that specific CPU. Back in the day, you could function well on a Pentium processor with just 2GB of RAM, but times have changed. Modern applications depend heavily on JavaScript online, and many programs now load large amounts of data into memory. @manikyath recommends trying LUbuntu if possible, provided you can turn off Secure Boot on your HP laptop. (There are methods to install Ubuntu even with Secure Boot active, but I haven’t pursued it.) @techguru suggests a viable alternative, especially if you can't add more RAM. I’ve heard from at least four friends who successfully upgraded Windows 10 from older versions like Windows 7 and 8.1. They faced driver issues and stability problems, with one even losing login access due to incorrect disk permissions locking him out of his account. I’d advise making a full backup of important files and performing a clean reinstall from scratch. The simplest approach is to use Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool with a 16GB USB drive, wipe the drive, and start fresh—this avoids any risk of corruption from previous OS or unwanted software. If you need assistance, feel free to ask and we’ll help.
It’s interesting to see how well 10 runs with just 2GB of RAM works. This setup is similar to what I’ve tried on older low-end laptops, though you could actually replace the RAM if needed. It isn’t overly complicated—just a good soldering iron and a bit of patience. Confidence and steady hands make a big difference.