What shall I do with a 13 YO laptop?

It works fine, but switching to Win10 some years back made it so slow as to be nearly unusable. The ram is the problem - 4GB - and there is no provision to add more to this particular Asus model. Every possible program has been removed from it (except Firefox), and it still shows disc usage at 100% most of the time and it's really, really, slow.

Is there a slimmed-down version of Windows that could be installed on it? Is there something it could be used for besides web surfing and photos management? We already have 2 other laptops that run much faster so we don't really need it.

Donate it, maybe - but to whom? Who would want it and what might the find to do with it?

Can you run it with a different OS?

What would you like to do with it? Seriously, it kind of depends on what you want to use it for.

If you want to run MS-based software, or vendor software that's windows-based, you're probably out of luck. If you just want to surf the web or use it as a streaming device, then switching to a different OS is a potential option. markj's link has a good explanation of what Linux might be able to do.

i have a 15 year old laptop and I have looked into this extensively (though mine is a ThinkPad, not an Asus).

First if you are able to swap out the original hard drive, put in a new Solid State Drive (
SSD). This will make a huge difference in performance.

Win10 is really what you should stick with because earlier iterations of Windows aren't supported and you will run into conflicts running a lot of web browsers.

What kind of processor does your Asus have? That is another important factor, and one you likely can't change. But if it is only 13 years old, the processor should be compatible with Win 10.

Since you have other laptops and you don't really need this one, probably best to sell it on Craigslist for a pittance.

I am sticking with my x200 ThinkPad because it is light weight, built like a tank, and every part of it is replaceable/upgradeable. I love the keyboard, and the screen doesn't hurt my eyes (unlike the newer machines with the newer graphics cards.)

I put in a 1TB SSD, 8 gb RAM, and I plan to use the old HDD as my document storage, moved to a separate media bay in the docking station, so the only thing on the SSD is the OS and Office. I have not yet switched the OS to Win10 (right now I have Vista Business), but I am told by many ThinkPad geeks that it should work fine and the SSD makes all the difference.

My processor is a dual core. Likely much, much slower than what is in your Asus.

Linux will work, most likely, on your Asus, and perform much more speedily than any Windows OS, but there is a learning curve. It's a good idea if you want to try Linux that you get a version suitable to older laptops (like Mint), and then you partition the hard drive so that you can dual boot either Windows or Linux. That way, if Linux and you don't get along, you can switch back to using Windows.

If all you want to do with it is browse the web, you can also turn it into a Chromebook.

https://www.pcworld.com/articl...to-a-chromebook.html

I have one like that I have inherited as treasurer. Dog slow, and not nearly as old as yours. I’ve stripped out everything I can, as the original treasurer had tons of junk on it. It’s still dog slow to boot, but otherwise runs acceptably.