Taking a step back : Technological upgrades are necessary at regular intervals, as you cannot keep using the same stuff for longer times. And every new switch often asks for capital investment that might not be suitable to you at times. So, it is obvious for you to look for an upgrade that is not only low-cost but also meets your regular workload and further helps you in safeguarding it. The inception of Chrome OS has aided many in getting a low-cost OS change and as an icing over the cake, now you can easily convert/ change your Old or existing OS into Chrome, without having to invest in hardware change. Isn’t it exciting? Our blog for the day would be covering up on this matter and clear your queries on it eventually. :
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Beginning with the pre-requisite : Neverware Cloudready
You cannot directly install Chrome OS into your system and expect it to work perfectly, because Chrome OS is a closed source and would work only in the stock Chromebooks. But recently, a company named Neverware has developed a tool called Neverware Cloudready that can help you in booting your existing Windows OS to the new one.
This tool has been built on the top of Chromium, which is an open-source software of Google and is also the base for Chrome OS. Thus you would get an OS with more than 90% similarity to the original Chrome OS and functionalities the same to it. Follow the steps mentioned below to download Cloudready and you just need one USB thumb drive for this:
- Visit the official website of Neverware.
- Select Download USB Maker on the website and click on it to download.
- Once this file is downloaded, run it and begin with the installation procedure.
- Insert the thumb drive into your laptop and follow the steps that come in the further process.
Thus, your installation USB would get setup within the USB drive and now you are ready to boot it into the system.
Installing the new OS : Cloudready
Follow these steps to install the Cloudready OS into your system and replace the existing Windows OS:
- Make a backup of your files on an external hard disk before starting the process, as you might lose many important files. Alternatively, you can back them up into your Google Drive also.
- Turn off your laptop after creating the backup.
- Plug in the USB Thumb Drive and then turn on the laptop.
- While it starts, press the key to start up the Boot menu on the laptop.
- Select the Thumb Drive from the list of the boot devices.
- Adjust the BIOS settings of the laptop as per your manufacturer’s specifications and this would ensure that the pre-setup of Cloudready is done successfully.
Once the Cloudready logo appears, you would know that the pre-setup is done and keep the drive inserted in the port.
Now, you can install Cloudready into the system as follows:
- Click on the profile picture icon on the bottom right corner.
- Select Install Cloudreadyà Erase hard drive and Install Cloudready.
- The installation would take some time and post-success, the device would turn off.
- Remove the USB drive and then turn on the laptop.
Thus, you would find the new OS to be successfully installed on your device and your device has become a new Chromebook. Keep in mind to prevent your laptop from going into sleep mode during the entire process.
Difference [ Chrome OS vs Cloudready ]
The new Cloudready OS is about 90% similar to Chrome OS and there are certain minute differences that you would find from the original Chromebooks. You would not find Google Play Store or Android support and there would be a logo of Chromium instead of Chrome.
You will need to go to Settings to install some additional files if you want. Thus, congratulate yourself as you learned today a completely new process. Let us know if you face any issues in the comments section.