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how to download stuff in free How to install Windows on a . Between web apps and Android apps in Chrome OS, there’s a lot you can get done on . However, for those who have always used Windows-based products, it may not be a smooth transition. You may miss some of the Windows features. Or, maybe you’re just missing the familiarity of Windows. You might not have thought it was possible, but you have a few different options for bringing some of that Windows goodness to your Chrome OS machine. There is a multitude of ways to make this work — and we can show you where to go. Here’s how to install Windows on a Chromebook. Further reading. A warning. Installing Windows 10 on a Chromebook is difficult, and the end result may not be great. For starters, manufacturers select specific components that complement Google’s lightweight, web-centric OS. Most mainstream models have less than 64GB of space, around 4GB of memory, and no dedicated graphics chips. Moreover, both Google and Microsoft do not support Windows 10 running on Chromebook-focused hardware. That means you may not find Microsoft-certified drivers and must fall back on possible third-party solutions. The biggest issue regarding Windows 10 on Chromebooks, however, is the process of installing Microsoft’s platform. Most Chromebooks include a write-protect screw on the motherboard that prevents you from installing any . To get Windows 10 on the machine, you’ll need to remove the bottom shell, remove the screw from the motherboard, and then flash new firmware. Finally, your Chromebook may not even have the hardware to support Windows 10. To determine if your Chromebook is compatible, check out CoolStar’s list. With all that in mind, it is always worth considering our list of alternatives further down this article if you don’t want to completely hack your Chromebook. If you still want to learn how to install Windows on a Chromebook, though, read on. Before you begin. Before setting off on this grand hacking adventure on setting up Windows on your Chromebook, you should back up any important data you have on the system. Messing with your operating system, firmware, and BIOS can have serious effects on your system, and you could lose anything that isn’t otherwise protected. If something does happen and you find yourself unable to use your Chromebook, you can create a USB drive from another computer to try and recover the system. This will erase all of your data though, so are a must. Use if you don’t have an external drive handy. How to install Windows 10 on a Chromebook. First, you’ll need the following tools: A screwdriver. 1x USB drive for Windows 10 installation media. 1x USB drive to back up the Chromebook firmware and store downloaded drivers. A second PC to create the Windows 10 USB installer drive and download drivers. A USB-based mouse and keyboard. Next, search online to find the write-protect screw’s exact location in your specific Chromebook model. Step 1: Hold down the Power button until the Chromebook turns off. Step 2: Flip the Chromebook over and remove the bottom shell. Step 3: Locate and remove the write-protect screw. Step 4: Put the bottom shell back on the Chromebook and plug in the power adapter. Step 5: Press the Esc + Refresh + Power buttons to turn the Chromebook on in Recovery Mode. Step 6: When the screen says “Chrome OS is missing or damaged,” press the Ctrl + D keys. Step 7: Press the Enter key to turn OS verification off. Step 8: The Chromebook should reboot into Developer Mode. When the screen states “OS verification is OFF,” press the Ctrl + D keys to boot into Chrome OS. Step 9: After booting into Chrome OS, press the Ctrl + Alt + T keys simultaneously. This opens the Terminal. Step 10: Type shell and press the Enter key. Step 11: Type the following command and press the Enter key to download and run a script file with root privileges: cd; curl -LO https://mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh && sudo bash firmware-util.sh. Step 12: Type 3 and press the Enter key. This selects the Install/Update Full ROM Firmware option. Step 13: Type Y to continue. Step 14: Type U to install the UEFI firmware. Step 15: Insert a USB drive to create a of the Chromebook’s current firmware. Step 16: Turn off the Chromebook after the new Windows-friendly firmware installs. Step 17: Go to your second PC and follow the instruction in our separate article, How to download a Windows 10 ISO file legally and install Windows 10 from it . You essentially use another USB stick to create a bootable drive that will install Windows 10 on the Chromebook. Step 18: On your second PC, go to CoolStar’s website to see what Windows-based drivers you’ll need to install on the Chromebook. Find them and download them to the USB drive you previously used to back up the Chromebook’s original firmware. Step 19: Connect a mouse and keyboard to your Chromebook and then install Windows 10 from the bootable USB drive. Step 20: Once Windows 10 is installed, remove the installer USB drive and insert the USB with the downloaded drivers and update accordingly. Alternatives. Here are methods to get the Windows-like hack-free experience without opening the Chromebook and installing new firmware. Use Microsoft’s free apps. If you are primarily interested in accessing Microsoft’s office apps and don’t really care about any of the other Windows 10 apps, this is by far the easiest option. Step 1 : Launch the Chrome browser and navigate to the Office website. Step 2: Log in to your Microsoft Account. You must have an account to use these free web-based apps. Step 3: Select the web app listed on the left. It opens in the same tab — no downloads necessary. Use . Chrome Remote Desktop is that simply allows you to access another desktop while using your Chromebook. In this case, it streams a Windows 10 PC to your Chromebook while enabling remote interaction via a mouse/trackpad and a keyboard. The key to this method — and the caveat — is that you need that second Windows 10 machine connected to the . That’s the only way this works. Step 1: With Chrome open on the Windows 10 PC, type the following in the address bar: remotedesktop.google.com/access. Step 2: Click Download listed under Set Up Remote Access . This downloads and installs the host software. Step 3: Choose a PIN with six or more digits and then click the blue Start button. Step 4: Wait for the Windows 10 PC to read “online.” Step 5: On the Chromebook, make sure it’s logged in to the same account, and type the following address in Chrome: remotedesktop.google.com/access. Step 6: Click on the shared Windows 10 PC displayed under Remote Access . Step 7: Enter the PIN you created on the Windows 10 machine and press the Enter key. Step 8: Given screen sharing isn’t ideal in the Chrome browser, click the square icon with the angled up arrow in the address bar to move the screen to the Chrome Remote Desktop app. Step 9: Click the blue and white button tucked away on the app’s right (or left) edge. Step 10: Make the necessary changes, like selecting Full Screen, enabling clipboard optimization, and more. You should now have remote access to the Windows 10 PC. You can move the cursor with the Chromebook’s trackpad, and type on the keyboard as usual. On the Windows 10 PC, you’ll see a small pop-up with a Stop Sharing button. Note: This is a very good remote desktop app, but remote desktop solutions still have their pitfalls. They are highly dependent on internet connections and can experience delays at times. This works best if you have a high-speed internet connection between both computers. Use CrossOver. CrossOver, by CodeWeavers, is a software solution that allows you to run specific OS apps on other operating systems. That includes running Windows software on your Chromebook. Due to the software requirements involved, CrossOver isn’t available for everyone. Specifically, you can only run it on -based Chromebooks. If you want to involve any Android devices or apps, they need to be compatible with Android 5.x or later. Also, certain functions like mouse locking (used often in FPS games) won’t function. Next, CrossOver isn’t free. The current full version costs $40, whereas you can get the full version with 12 months of updates for $60. If you have money to blow, you can spend $500 to get the software with lifetime updates. At that price, however, you might as well buy a Windows 10 PC. Here’s what you need to do: Step 1: Enable by opening the Chromebook settings and selecting Linux (beta) . Follow the on-screen instructions. Step 2: Visit the CodeWeavers website and enter your name and email address to access the free trial. Step 3: Click the red Download Trial Now button. Chrome will retrieve a DEB file from the website and save it to your default download location. Step 4: Locate and double-click on the download and click the blue Install button. Step 5: Click the blue OK button to confirm. The app installs via Linux. Step 6: Open the Launcher followed by the CrossOver app. You’ll likely find it within the Linux apps folder. Step 7: Click the Install Windows Software button. Step 8: A pop-up window appears. Click the Browse Available Applications link at the bottom to see what you can install. Alternatively, if you already have an installer, click the Select Installer tab instead. In many cases, you can confirm the software you want, and CrossOver will begin the installation process with no trouble. In some cases, you may have to choose the right installation file from a list, so pay close attention to file names and make sure you are choosing the one that you want. You may also have to consent to License Agreements and similar contracts at this time. After the installation is complete, you should have the ability to launch it directly. Remember that large programs will take up significant space, which not all Chromebooks have . Luckily, there are alternate ways to use Android apps on Chromebooks and save space. Google’s Project Campfire. We’ve got the impression that Google was quick to take up the idea of Windows-compatible Chromebooks several years ago. That connection would give users the chance to load and run Windows 10 through a dual-boot setup. Chromebook users with an eye for code may have caught sneaky references to “Alt-OS” within ’s OS code. “Project Campfire” promised to blend the two operating systems together on a single device. Google supposedly halted this project in 2019. We believe that Google may have switched their efforts to perfecting Android and Linux in Chrome OS. However, recent reporting suggests that the project may not be dead after all. Chrome in the repository gives some indicators to Campfire running on Eve— that’s Google’s nickname for the . That specific code actually refers to an “Alternate OS mode,” similar to what we’ve seen before, and “HID for Eve sensors Alt-OS.” One of the most notable features of Chrome OS is its excellent source of scarce system resources. Unfortunately, though, Windows 10 demands a lot more horsepower to fire up and run than any Chrome OS. So it’s likely that only higher-end Chromebooks, like Pixelbook, could have the capabilities to hold up to that OS requirement. How to Install Chrome OS unofficially on any Computer. Do you know that you can install Chrome OS on your computer ? The process of installing Chrome OS on a PC is quite straightforward and simple. In this article, we will talk about several Chromium OS-based operating systems available on the Internet and how you can install any Chrome OS on your standard computer or laptop. Have you seen a Chromebook running on Chrome OS, it’s simple, and browser focused. If you’re a person who mainly works on the internet and doesn’t need Microsoft OS or MAC OS but a simple operating system that cut all the crap and let you surf the Internet and get things done. The Chrome OS is slowly rising, and it’s just perfect for Bloggers, writers, editors, etc. Windows 10 has gone too far for some people, and Google offered them this operating system which is perfect and works out of the . Hopefully, the internet is full of computer operating systems, Android operating system for computer and even tweaked Linux systems. Maybe I should tell you that Remix OS is also there based on Android that is fully optimized to run on computers. A little tip : However, Chrome OS and Chromium OS are similar, but there is something I must tell you, the Chrome OS is proprietary that comes with official Google certified Chromebooks. Chromium OS is a free project anyone can tinker around with and compile a build from . It means Chrome OS is based on Chromium OS with better features and Google support. In this guide “Chrome OS” and “Chromium OS” are referred the same. What do you need. Chrome OS image file. A media creator tool. A USB Drive (8GB or +) Creating Chrome OS Bootable USB Drive. In order to install Chrome OS on your PC, you must get a “Chrome OS” image file from the internet. There are a few providers that offering Customized and compiled Chrome OS (image) that you can flash into USB drive and simply boot from it. Step 1. Grab a compiled Chrome OS: we tested this compiled Chrome OS image (64-bit) you’ve to download an image according to your computer architecture. You can use an Internet download manager to download it, once downloaded extract the file using 7Zip or WinRar, and save it to any place you can easily find it later. RELATED: 4 Best Chrome OS forks for your regular computer. Step 2. Download a media creation tool: we’ve used Win32 Image Writer, choose the “Image file” that you earlier downloaded and click on the “Write” button and wait for a couple of minutes. The extracted file size is about 7+GB, so it will take some time to write it on USB Drive in case you’re using a USB 2.0. Otherwise, USB 3.0 will do the job more quickly. You can also use tools like Rufus or balenaEtcher. // You will notice that the USB Drive become inaccessible and Windows 10 may prompt you to format it, don’t do that. Booting into Chrome OS on PC. Turn off your computer (disable fast startup to access hard drive access when using Chrome OS). Start your computer while the USB drive plugged in and press a boot device selection button, on my HP laptop I can access boot devices selection menu by pressing F9 key. You must select “External USB drive” from the boot device menu. A computer must have a boot manage or boot device option to boot from a USB. If things go right, you’ll find a couple of menu items to choose from, Select “Image 1” and press the enter key. Local Image A. B can be used as 2 instances of Chrome OS. The Verified images ensure some capabilities and features. I’m quite unsure about the alternate USB boot option, guess if the options fail to load the Chrome OS that’s the option you can try (I did check, and it booted me to the saved session of Image A). Few minutes, the Chrome OS will load and ask to connect to a Wi-Fi network. Remember you can’t get past without an Internet connection, Chrome OS is likely unusable without an active Internet connection. But fortunately, after setting it for the first time, You can use some offline applications without the need for an active Internet connection. You need to use your password when you boot again to it. Alternatively, you can always add other users. Chrome OS on non-Chromebook; First Impressions. This is a brief review of the Chrome OS installed on my HP Envy with 8GB RAM and Intel i7 Processor. After the quick essential setup, the Chrome OS will launch, Clicking on the round-start-icon let you type anything to search or open apps. Chrome OS in 2021. Since we updated this article, we’re leaving an old image to compare the Chrome OS in 2021 vs 2017. This is chrome OS in 2017. You see the touch-optimized taskbar that opens the installed app list with drag, and a bunch of icons on the right side, clicking on them you can switch/toggle WiFi networks and control volume and brightness. You Also find the sleep and turn off button there, and you need to enable the Accessibility options to show here manually. Update : New version includes both the volume and brightness slider. This compiled Chrome OS was based on Chromium R87, and I installed the 64-bit version. You can also download its 32-bit and ARM variant. Of course, it is mostly about Chrome Browser (Chromium Browser) so that it supports online apps and extensions available on the . The Chrome store is not very lonely, in fact, you will get almost all the best applications you’were using on a Windows machine e.g. Team- viewer, . However API doesn’t seem to work on this build we tested, and that’s a real bummer if you like to dictate (type using your voice) and search using your voice. Where it is good. Chrome OS brilliant and works great on a cheap laptop or Desktop computer. Since it is mainly based on the Chromium Browser you can, of course, install thousands of Apps and Extensions from Chrome Web Store. The File Manager comes with all kinds of essential tools including image, video viewer, and does all sorts of tasks. It’s pretty similar to what we see on other operating systems, on the left sidebar you’ve shortcuts to other Hard Drives and removable storage. In order to access your hard drive, you must have disabled the “fast startup” option in Windows “ what power button will do ” settings. You don’t have to consume GB’s of bandwidth, thanks to the compressed image file that is only 500MB (R87/64-bit), Despite the fact that it’s not a lightweight operating system the uncompressed image file size is around 7+GB. Chrome OS support multiple users, and it’s convenient to let other use your computer, after all, its a simple operating system that does save preference to your Google account and sync them if you log-in again with that Google account. Where it falls short. We’re not going to talk about the stupid logic here, and Chrome OS is built for the Web users, it’s fast and delivers a good result. When I used it for a whole day, I didn’t miss Windows 10 because what I do on Windows + Chrome Browser is just the same. But I faced that there is no Bluetooth support so you can’t add a Bluetooth headphone or printer. Perhaps, wireless Mouse/keyboard should work, because that uses a receiver to transmit singles. Chrome OS is a great way to move to something else and something completely different from Windows operating system. There are a few another look-alike operating system, one such is CubLinux, which is based on but gives a familiar interface (despite the fact it’s discontinued now, if your preference is less resource hungry OS, you can check fast operating systems to skyrocket any older computer. Google working to bring the full Chrome browser to Fuchsia OS. Every good operating system needs a , especially as more and more apps move to the web. To that end, Google is preparing to bring the full Google Chrome browser experience to Fuchsia OS. For years now, the Fuchsia project has had a lot of overlap with Chromium, sharing both code and hardware with Chrome OS. In 2018, we even showed a simplified web browser running on Fuchsia, which used the core Chromium browser engine as it base, though without the usual interface surrounding the webpage. Fuchsia still makes use of the Chromium browser engine today, with Fuchsia-powered smart home devices like the 1st-gen Nest Hub occasionally offering search results from the web rather than a direct answer from the Google . However, despite full support from the Chromium project, there hadn’t been any signs of the actual coming to Fuchsia. According to the Chromium bug tracker, a new effort began in May to “Build the Chrome browser binary” for Fuchsia OS. In layman’s terms, this means bringing the full “Google Chrome” browser experience to Fuchsia, complete with critical features like sync and eventually newer, less important ones like Click To Call. Chromium-based browser running on Fuchsia (2018) As you might expect, adding support for an entirely new operating system to Chrome is no small undertaking. At time of writing, there are over 40 individual “bugs” filed for things that need to be done to get Chrome up and running, or to be done shortly after Chrome works on Fuchsia. At first, the work is focused on getting the “stubs” or bare minimums of each feature working, to get the browser to build at all. From there, Google will work on making each of Chrome’s features work correctly on Fuchsia, including surprising challenges like how to download to an easily accessible place in Fuchsia’s uniquely designed file system. Fuchsia will also apparently, if unsurprisingly, support Progressive Web Apps, powered by Chrome. Incredibly, despite the significant challenge presented, the bug tracker currently lists the effort to get an initial build of the Chrome browser onto Fuchsia as being completed in time for version 94, which is set to release in mid September. In one especially noteworthy code change, a Googler outright states that “for all intent and purpose, Fuchsia is a desktop platform.” This is a far cry from past indicators from Google, such as in 2019 when Hiroshi Lockheimer pointed to Fuchsia as more of a candidate for IoT devices, rather than a replacement for Android and/or Chrome OS. In the world of IoT, there are increasing number of devices that require operating systems and new runtimes and so on. I think there’s a lot of room for multiple operating systems with different strengths and specializations. Fuchsia is one of those things and so, stay tuned. We believe that Google’s effort to bring the full Chrome browser to Fuchsia strongly points to the now up-and-coming operating system growing beyond the Nest Hub and into the desktop space in the not-too-distant future. What exact form that expansion will take remains to be seen, but now that Googlers are talking more openly about Fuchsia, it may not be long before we find out. How to Install Chrome OS on Laptop PC (Intel and AMD) Google’s Chrome OS is gaining a lot of attention lately owing to its ease of use and overall functionality. In fact, Chromebooks cover the majority of the education market in the US. You might be wondering why I should install Chrome OS if I already have Windows? Well, the simple answer to that is performance and battery life. Chrome OS is not as heavy as Windows and hence can work relatively better on low spec PCs. Also, the ability to run Android apps natively is a bonus. If you are a casual user who spends most of the time browsing or binge-watching the latest shows on Netflix, you should install Chrome OS on your PC. With that out of the way, let us have a detailed look at how you can install Chrome OS on your old PC. Table of Contents. Background Check on our PC. The PC we are using for this guide is a twelve-year-old Sony Vaio and is currently running on Windows 11 (we wrote a guide on how to install Windows 11 without TPM). The device runs on an Intel i3 M330 chipset which is clocked at 2.13GHz. Furthermore, it has just 4GB of RAM and Intel UHD graphics. We installed Chrome OS on this device, and it has been a smooth experience so far on this 12-year old machine. Let us have a detailed look at how you can do the same. Prerequisites for installing Chrome OS on laptop. Download Linux cinnamon Download Chrome OS (Intel) Download Chrome OS (AMD) (Credits- Jagat Gyan ) USB drive (minimum 8GB) Quick Disclaimers. All the Intel Gen 1 GPUs support only support versions up to Google Chrome OS 80. All other generations support the latest version of Google Chrome OS – (Currently Chrome OS 91) Users with legacy boot must download the Brunch MBR Fix file. That being said, users with UEFI boot should not download the MBR fix file. Both Intel and AMD CPUs are supported. Check the list for supported AMD CPUs here. All data in the disk you are installing on Chrome OS will get wiped. Installing . Why are we installing Linux Mint? This might be the first question in your mind. The reason is we are first going to boot our PC into Linux Mint using a USB stick and then continue the Google Chrome OS installation process. Let us have a look at how to create a bootable drive using Rufus. Creating a bootable drive using Rufus. Open Rufus which we downloaded earlier. After opening Rufus, connect your USB flash drive to your PC. Please note- All the data on the USB flash drive will get wiped. Now choose your USB in Rufus. Once that is done, just below devices there is an option to choose an ISO file. Click on Select ISO and choose the Linux mint ISO. Under the partition scheme, there will be 2 options – GPT and MBR. Now, this will depend upon your Disk. In our case, it is MBR so we chose MBR. Hit start and wait patiently as this may take some time. Steps to check partition (MBR or GPT) As we saw in the steps above, it is essential to choose the correct partition scheme. If we choose the wrong partition scheme, then the trick to install Chrome OS on PC will not work. Let us have a detailed look at the steps on how you can check your partition scheme. Go to the start menu and search “ Create and format disk partitions ” and open it. After opening, you will see all your drives. Here, click on the drive you are going to install Windows 11 on and right-click and select Properties . In the properties tab, click on Hardware and choose Properties again Look for the Volumes tab and select it. Hit Populate and you will find the partition scheme under the partition style. Now, you can go back and continue making a bootable USB drive. Managing Files (Intel) Connect the USB flash drive we just installed Linux mint to PC. Once connected, create a folder named ” Chrome OS ” inside the USB stick. Now, Extract the brunch 91 and MBR fixes file which we downloaded earlier using WinRAR. Once both the files are extracted, place the extracted files inside the Chrome OS folder in the USB stick. We also have to extract the Chrome OS file we downloaded earlier. Extract the file and place it in the Chrome OS folder. Here comes the most important step. Rename the Chrome OS file to “rammus_recovery.bin”. Finally, also copy the install.sh file inside the Chrome OS folder. Managing Files (AMD) While the process is same for AMD users, the file names are a bit different. Where intel users renamed the chrome OS file rammus_recovery.bin. The AMD users have to rename it to zork_reovery.bin. AMD users also need to change the name in install.sh file. So lets do that. Open install.sh file with a text editor and change rammus_recovery.bin to zork_recovery.bin. Click save and continue the installation process. Booting into Linux Mint Cinnamon. Open BIOS settings on your laptop. That being said, the process to enter bios (boot menu) is different for different manufactures. In our case on Sony Vaio, it is the F2 key when the device is booting. After you have successfully entered bios settings, search for the boot preferences. Again, this differs from device to device. In the boot, preferences select USB device as first boot priority and restart your device. During bootup from USB, you will see multiple options, choose the Linux cinnamon option. Boom, you have now successfully booted into Linux Mint. Installing Chrome OS on Laptop PC. After booting into Linux Mint successfully, it is extremely important to connect to a Wi-Fi network. The installation process will get hampered if you do not connect to the internet. Once you have successfully connected to the internet, click on the green file manager icon in the bottom left of the taskbar. In File Manager, click on the file system option in the left panel of the screen. Under file manager, navigate to the cdrom folder. In the cdrom folder, go to the Chrome OS folder. Now, right-click anywhere in the folder and choose the open terminal option. Here, type ” sudo sh install.sh ” and press enter. The Google Chrome OS installation process will now begin. During the installation process, it will ask permission for wiping the data. Here, type yes and press enter. That being said, make sure the internet connection is up and running. After successful installation, it will display a message saying Chrome OS installed. Now, Shut down your pc and remove the USB drive from your PC. Turn on your PC and choose Chrome OS. Done, you have successfully installed Chrome OS on your Windows laptop. It’s now ready to be used for browsing the internet with Google Chrome, access your Google Drive files, or anything else you would normally do with a Chromebook. Fixing Common Chrome OS Issues on PC. After installing Chrome OS and logging in with your Google accounts, there might be chances that you might face certain issues. Like in our case, the trackpad of the Laptop was not working. Similarly, a few things might not work for you as well. Don’t worry. The developers have already found fixes for these common issues. You can check the complete list of commands here. Let us have a look at how you can apply these fixes. Troubleshooting the Trackpad issue on Chrome OS. Open Chrome and press Ctrl + Alt + T together to open the terminal. In terminal type “shell” and press enter. Now type “sudo edit-grub-config” and press enter. Here go down and right next to cros debug type “options= alt_touchpad_config2”. Similarly, do the same under Chrome OS debug. Check image for reference. After adding the lines, press ctrl+x and then click on Y. Finally, press the enter key and restart your device. (It might take some time to boot and apply changes) Troubleshooting Internal Hard Disk (Applying multiple fixes) Open Chrome and press Ctrl + Alt + T together to open the terminal. In terminal type “shell” and press enter. Now type “sudo edit-grub-config” and press enter. Since we already added a touchpad fix just add a comma and type command for the hard disk. Similarly. this way you can add multiple fixes. After adding the lines, press ctrl+x and then click on Y. Finally, press the enter key and restart your device. (It might take some time to boot and apply changes) Frequently Asked Questions. Let’s take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions. 1. Can I install Windows again if I do not like Chrome OS? Yes, you can always go back to Windows again on your laptop or desktop if you don’t like how Chrome OS works or for any other reason. That being said, it is crucial to create a bootable Windows USB stick as a backup if you face issues while installing Chrome OS. 2. Do Android Apps work on Chrome OS running on a PC? Yes, there is support for the store. One can simply sign in and enjoy their favorite Android apps on their PC running Chrome OS. 3. Will I get future Chrome OS updates? The answer to this question of automatic updates is a bit tricky. Yes, you can add a command to enable Chrome OS update, but you might want to do this at your own risk. As sometimes, it might leave the PC unbootable. 4. Can you dual boot Chrome OS with , 8, or 10? Technically, yes. You can dual boot Chrome OS and Windows on the same PC. But the procedure is too technical for this guide. If more people are interested, we can do a dedicated guide for dual-booting Windows and Chrome OS by raising a separate partition on Windows to install Chrome OS. 5. What’s the difference between Chrome OS and Chromium OS? Chrome OS is built on top of Chromium OS. Chromium OS is a free, open-source project that anyone is encouraged to take and freely use. Therefore, you can get pretty close to a Chrome OS experience if you install Chromium OS like Cloudready on your computer. There is, however, a certain level of technical expertise required. 6. Can you download Google Chrome OS for free? Chrome OS was previously reserved for Chromebook users but is now available on other devices as well. Unlike Windows or Linux, it doesn’t require installation and can be used without a system. All you have to do is download Chrome OS to a USB drive and make it bootable using Etcher or some other software. We have provided link to download Chrome OS above (for both Intel-based and AMD-based PCs). How to get Chrome OS for FREE and put older computers to good use. As you may have heard, the brand new Chromebooks running Chrome OS are being rolled out by Google this week. These are the first devices marketed towards the average user, schools, and students that don’t run the more familiar Windows or Mac operating systems. It really pushes the whole computing concept to limits we haven’t before experienced. But what if you want to try out the operating system before shelling out the $380+ for a new device or committing to the education subscription model of $20 per device per month? You can download the open-source version, called Chromium OS, for free and boot it up on your computer! Since we expect at least some of our users to begin using Chrome OS in the near future, I thought I should test it out. Plus, I wanted an excuse to give Chrome OS a spin. So I set out to get my own copy, and have written this entire blog post from the new operating system on an older laptop I had lying around. For the record, since Edublogs is completely web-based, the blogging experience is pretty much the same. The only tricky parts come when editing and uploading images, as the file system is not at all what you will be used to (but it’s also fun to figure out). Chromium OS vs. Google Chrome OS vs. Chrome Browser. First, the title of this post is admittedly a bit deceitful. You see, there are two versions of the Google Operating System (OS) out there. This can get even more confusing because there is also the Chrome browser available for Windows and Mac machines! That’s a lot of different but similar Chromes. 1. Google Chrome OS – this is what comes pre-loaded on the new chromebooks and offered to schools in the subscription packages. 2. Chromium OS – this is what we can download and use for free on any machine we like. It’s open-source and supported by the development community. 3. Chrome Browser – a web browser, like Firefox or Explorer, which looks almost identical to what you see when you load up either of the operating systems. Chrome OS and Chromium OS share the exact same code-base – in fact they are much more alike then different. However, Chrome OS comes with automatic-updates and more reliability since it is built specifically for certain machines. There is also a PDF application that is only available on Chrome OS. Why Chromium OS may be huge for schools! We’ll get to the play-by-play on how to test out Chromium, but first, a discussion on why school technologists and teachers might be interested in trying this out. More than likely, there are more than a few older laptops and desktops that have been fazed out at a school or that are now running so slowly they practically aren’t usable. Installing Chromium OS could breath in new life to out-dated computers. Why? A much lighter OS that doesn’t use as many resources – on my laptop it takes nearly four minutes to fully launch Windows 7 to the point that I can use a web browser. On Chromium, that time on the same laptop was right at two minutes. On a true chromebook, that time is supposed to be around 10 seconds! With no further software to install, no need to worry about licensing fees or updates. Supporting these devices over the long- term should be easier and less time consuming. Similarly, virus protection is built in and if a problem arises, a fresh install of the OS can fix any problems without losing any user data. If you are already using Google Apps for Education, then existing login names and accounts work immediately and seamlessly – or users can always login as a “Guest” and data is wiped away after they log out. This is perfect for library computers to give access to the web for research or in older computer labs running clunkier operating systems that are causing problems. Or even better for a couple of extra classroom computers for students to use for blogging Possible roadblocks and barriers. It’s not all roses and bliss. The first time I booted up Chromium OS everything froze. I restarted and things have been good, but it is temperamental with buttons strangely disappearing and fonts that don’t look right on some websites. It also isn’t compatible with all hardware. Some searching shows that a common problem is not being able to use a wireless connection on many laptops – but an Ethernet connection usually works. The wireless adapter did work without any problems for me. I haven’t tried to troubleshoot, but my webcam doesn’t seem to be working currently. Chrome OS and Chromium OS will not be good solutions in situations where special software is needed. For example, while there are some online video and photo editing apps and websites, they aren’t as powerful as the desktop versions. Same with products like Word and PowerPoint. I’m still experimenting with this and very new at it, so please leave any comments with other points or advice that you may have! How to download Chromium OS and run from a USB drive. This may sound scary at first – but don’t worry, the process isn’t too bad on a Windows machine. *You will need a USB flash drive with at least 2GB of memory on it. It must be one that you don’t mind deleting everything else off of it!* 1. Go here to get the latest version of the Chromium OS. 2. Scroll down and click on the latest build’s icon of a USB stick. This is a pretty big file so it may take some time to download. 3. Be sure to save the file to your desktop or to a folder that you can easily find again. 4. You will need an extraction software such as WinRar (free!) to extract the file you just downloaded. 5. Unzip the ..gz file you just downloaded in step 2 . 6. You will now need another piece of software called Image Writer for Windows (also free!). Download it here – you want the one on top that ends in binary.zip. After unzipping this file, click on Win32DiskImager.exe to run the program. 7. Once running the Disk Imager program, click on the blue folder to choose the .img file you extracted in step 5 . Choose the file letter associated with your clean and empty USB drive, and click on ‘ Write ‘. Accept the warning that shows up. 8. Put the USB drive in any computer that you want to test out Chromium OS on. Restart the computer and choose the boot settings before Windows launches. On most machines, this is done by hitting f12 as soon as you turn on or restart a computer. You have to move quick here and other f keys may be needed depending on your computer. 9. Select the option to boot from USB. 10. Login using your Google account or Google Apps account. Welcome to Chromium! What about ditching the USB drive? It is possible to install chromium on a machine and not require the USB drive and extra steps to boot from USB. However, this process is a bit more involved and unique to the device you are using. It also requires either erasing your existing hard drive or partitioning one to allow for a dual boot option. With some work, it could be made so that Chromium OS is the only option users have when hey start up a computer – ideal for school and classroom use. Hopefully the tutorial above will let you try out the operating system first to see if that is a route you want to consider. It should also give you a similar experience to see if you are interested in purchasing one of the new chromebooks as well. Though I imagine the speed and easy of use will be better on those native Chrome OS devices. So what do you think? Is Chrome OS a game-changer in education? Can Chromium OS salvage a few more good years out of older machines? Share This Post: 28 thoughts on “ How to get Chrome OS for FREE and put older computers to good use ” We’re looking at doing this with the arnoldthebat build, with 200 machines in our several schools. However, the inability to enroll them for domain device management is a problem. can also be used on a desktop instead of a laptop Thanks. How about LaTex or Tex, does Google support it or have plans to support it? It could be one way to support large files and still keep it small. I’ve used Google Docs and Sheets, but the only problem I’ve encountered so far is that Google Docs won’t accommodate large documents. Large documents have to be broken down into several smaller components. Even if a document is slightly under Google’s 1,042,000 characters, it still won’t open and Google can’t automatically save it. That’s a Google docs problem. Too bad Chromium OS won’t allow Microsoft Office to run under its system. Large docs will open and run in both Windows and the Mac environments. Hi, If the Chromium OS doesn’t work on your hardware take a look at the http://chromixium.org/ which was created using a mainstream Ubuntu. It appears to have much broader hardware support. I am very pleased with my experience so far. Chrome OS is really good for kids. It’s like a Thin Client and is Cheap, just $80-$400. But i don’t prefer buying a web browser for money. I can use the metro mode in Microsoft Win 8 that doesn’t exactly look like Chrome OS, but some places look the same. It breathes new life into my old personal computer. I brought a low end one for grandma. It boots like in a few seconds from an USB-SSD. But Chromium doesn’t have flash plugins preinstalled. It can run on 512MB of RAM. At least it doesn’t work on my apple lisa and the older computers that i kept, and not a programma 101. It has like kB and and bits of RAM. I’m retired and do volunteer work for Seniors and Vets. All my computer “BUY MORE MEMORY”, ” BUY AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE” advice after I’ve got their machine up and running worked out well for a while. Now, I tell them “THE FASTER YOU GET ON YOUR COMPUTER IS WHY IT’S GETTING SLOWER”. Buy a new one. I’ve never charged anything for services, so I tell to take the money saved and buy a new one. These people are from the Moose & Elks Lodges, the senior Center and the American Legion. Some do, and they donate the old ones to me to repair and give back to others. Your blog may have saved the day. Why not dump the unsupported and slow Microsoft XP duds and give them new life with CHROMIUM OS….. I have 12 machines here that could be Xmas presents for some needy people. Thank you Plenty, Donsco. I run off a wifi as an ethernet cable is just not possible. Is there anyway of booting from USB without a cable? You should be able to book from USB with wifi in most cases. If anyone is interested you can get full chrome os after installing chromium i have had a better experience how this link shows how: http://zzsethzz.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/install-chromium-upgrade-it-to-chrome.. Thanks for this. Will give it a look. Very keen to get Chrome on old Netbooks, Laptops etc. hi did anybody installed chrome OS on desktop, because when i try to boot from a pendrive which already have OS image in that system is getting blankout, can any one help me out in this. Can you enroll Chromium OS devices in GAFE and apply settings through the management console? Hi Joshua – unfortunately I don’t personally have any experience with GAFE to be able to help you. Hopefully someone else stopping by may know more. I have a question, can u put any regular browser on the USB drive and transfer it to a regular computer? Hi Lilly, you most likely can put the files for any browser onto a USB drive and transfer it to a regular computer. Though it is probably easier to download the browser of choice directly from the web. Just to make sure for anyone reading the comments, this post discusses Chrome OS, not the Chrome browser, which is different in that with it you can’t/don’t also run Windows or Mac OS – Chrome OS is everything. I was really hoping you would tell us how to install on a desktop hard drive not just on a USB. Have you done this? Can you also run this on a desktop? I would really love to have the latest build google has released. It really has come a long way! I think I would use it more than ubuntu. Should work just as well on a desktop I guess if your computer is too old that there is no configuration in the BIOS to boot from USB, you’re out of luck, right? Do you know if anyone has set this up in a school classroom environment? I’m an avid Google fan. I love google Chrome and have been using Chrome Canary for a while now. It works super good, it’s fast and has a simple yet elegant design. Go Google! It does indeed seem their expanding is aggressive but for me quality matters most. And Google means quality for me! I’m assuming win32diskimager won’t run on a Macbook. I have a folder with an .img file, how does an Apple “write” it to a USB… Hi Paul – From what I can tell (I don’t have a way of testing), Chromium support isn’t all that good on most macbooks. But these links might be helpful: I’d love to hear if you have success! Just an FYI, the cost for education subscriptions is $20 per device per *month*. Eeek – I knew that – guess it was just wishful thinking on my part. Thanks for pointing that out Lauren, it should now be fixed. Sounds like a great opportunity to try it out! And I do have an old laptop lying around… now I only have to find that usb drive! I got one of the Cr-48 Google Beta Chromebooks back in december [ http://www.facebook.com/thecr.48 ] and I love it. Still working on getting the 3G capabilities sorted out with it (partially cause my coverage area is bad) but Google really is taking over [ http://www.uwpexponent.org/2010/03/11/column-global-google-domination-imminent/ ] but that may not just be a bad thing… their motto is afterall “don’t be evil” iCloud is being talked about being the Windows killer, we’ll see where that goes…