install mx on the bare metal instead of a vm of it on win10, you’ll prolly even be able to run a win10 vm with better performance than native. also use zram.
Directly on the hardware, not virtualized in a VM.
I second that option. 4 GB of RAM is not enough for Windows 10. Install Linux, and if you need Windows-specific software use then with a VM; I used to do that and used Windows 7 instead of 10 as it is far lighter. This should improve the overall experience IMO.
Keep in mind that, in your current setup, any RAM you allocate to the VM will not be avaiable to Windows, so your 4 GB Windows (which is already low) will become, say, a 3 GB Windows when using a VM.
I understand what you say. This is my brother’s laptop, and he doesn’t have the patience to learn Linux. I believe this computer is not going to work on windows for long. When windows stop functioning on this laptop, l’d boot MX Linux straightaway. There should be no problem in creating a VM then I suppose ?
There should be no problem I think, but will likely have non-optimal performance. Only was to know for sure is trying. Note you’ll need to enable options in your BIOS.
I insist on the Linux migration. That machine is underspecd for 2026 Windows, plus Windows 10 doesn’t receive security parches. Begineer-friendly distro are very easy to use, and you can try a dual boot setup to see if he can get used to it. For begineers I usually go for Linux Mint, or ZorinOS.
Maybe another option is see if you can upgrade a little bit the RAM.
I know about the issues with windows 10. Probably my brother knows too. When he discards this machine completely, l shall wipe away every single data and make it tabula rasa. Then I shall install MX Linux.
installing on bare metal means like the way windows 10 is installed right now; the main operating system installed on the hard drive directly in control of the hardware.
backup any files you want to save from win10 to an external drive, usb, or cloud storage. download rufus or ventoy and follow either tool’s instructions on making a bootable usb with the mx linux iso on it.
reboot and hit whatever key the bios screen gives you for boot menu, you may have to go to bios settings and set boot order there to let you boot from usb first before the hard drive if there is no boot menu or boot order key listed.
now you’re in a liveusb mx linux environment. it won’t overwrite anything on the hard drive until you get to the step formatting the disk in the installer, so you can ignore the installer and poke around and try it out before commiting to erasing windows. shutting down and taking out the usb or changing the boot order back will let you boot back into windows.
I’d love MX Linux. I would like to run android as well.
install mx on the bare metal instead of a vm of it on win10, you’ll prolly even be able to run a win10 vm with better performance than native. also use zram.
What’s bare metal ?
Directly on the hardware, not virtualized in a VM.
I second that option. 4 GB of RAM is not enough for Windows 10. Install Linux, and if you need Windows-specific software use then with a VM; I used to do that and used Windows 7 instead of 10 as it is far lighter. This should improve the overall experience IMO.
Keep in mind that, in your current setup, any RAM you allocate to the VM will not be avaiable to Windows, so your 4 GB Windows (which is already low) will become, say, a 3 GB Windows when using a VM.
I understand what you say. This is my brother’s laptop, and he doesn’t have the patience to learn Linux. I believe this computer is not going to work on windows for long. When windows stop functioning on this laptop, l’d boot MX Linux straightaway. There should be no problem in creating a VM then I suppose ?
Most people just use the web browser anyways. It’s not hard to learn, it’s like getting a new phone. After a week it starts to feel natural.
There should be no problem I think, but will likely have non-optimal performance. Only was to know for sure is trying. Note you’ll need to enable options in your BIOS.
I insist on the Linux migration. That machine is underspecd for 2026 Windows, plus Windows 10 doesn’t receive security parches. Begineer-friendly distro are very easy to use, and you can try a dual boot setup to see if he can get used to it. For begineers I usually go for Linux Mint, or ZorinOS.
Maybe another option is see if you can upgrade a little bit the RAM.
I know about the issues with windows 10. Probably my brother knows too. When he discards this machine completely, l shall wipe away every single data and make it tabula rasa. Then I shall install MX Linux.
installing on bare metal means like the way windows 10 is installed right now; the main operating system installed on the hard drive directly in control of the hardware.
backup any files you want to save from win10 to an external drive, usb, or cloud storage. download rufus or ventoy and follow either tool’s instructions on making a bootable usb with the mx linux iso on it.
reboot and hit whatever key the bios screen gives you for boot menu, you may have to go to bios settings and set boot order there to let you boot from usb first before the hard drive if there is no boot menu or boot order key listed.
now you’re in a liveusb mx linux environment. it won’t overwrite anything on the hard drive until you get to the step formatting the disk in the installer, so you can ignore the installer and poke around and try it out before commiting to erasing windows. shutting down and taking out the usb or changing the boot order back will let you boot back into windows.
good luck!
edit: some typos