I tried Tiny11 on a Laptop from 2008..

Summary

In this video, the creator experiments with reviving a 2008 HP laptop by installing Tiny 11, a debloated version of Windows 11. While Linux performed well on this old machine in previous tests, Tiny 11 is tested to see if it offers a better experience compared to stock Windows 11. The video walks through the installation process, highlighting Tiny 11’s ability to bypass TPM requirements, and demonstrates the system’s performance with web browsing and video playback. Ultimately, Tiny 11 is praised for helping older PCs run Windows efficiently, though Linux still provides better overall performance.

Takeaways

• 🖥️ The video features a 2008 laptop with a dual-core CPU and 3GB RAM, initially running Windows Vista.
• 💿 The creator previously tried running Linux on the laptop, and now aims to install Tiny 11, a lightweight version of Windows 11, to compare performance.
• 💻 Tiny 11 is a stripped-down version of Windows 11, removing a lot of pre-installed software for better performance on older hardware.
• 🔧 The installation of Tiny 11 bypasses TPM 2.0 requirements, allowing it to be installed on older systems.
• ⏳ The installation process took a long time due to the laptop using a traditional hard drive rather than an SSD.
• 📊 Once installed, Tiny 11 used around 50% of the laptop's RAM, but the CPU usage was relatively low, making basic tasks possible.
• 🌐 Web browsing and watching YouTube videos were possible, although there were some performance issues with skipped frames.
• ⚙️ The creator further optimized the system by disabling unnecessary animations, transparency effects, and background features.
• 📉 Tiny 11 provides better performance than stock Windows 11 for older hardware, but Linux might still offer a smoother experience.
• 👍 Tiny 11 is recommended for users with old PCs who want to use a lightweight version of Windows without manually debloating it, but for those already using Windows 11, manual debloating might be a better option.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to demonstrate how Tiny 11, a stripped-down version of Windows 11, performs on an older laptop from 2008, and how it compares to both Linux and stock Windows 11.

What is Tiny 11 and how is it different from standard Windows 11?

Tiny 11 is a lightweight version of Windows 11 that has been de-bloated by removing a large amount of pre-installed software, making it more suitable for low-spec or older PCs. It bypasses the system requirements like TPM 2.0, allowing older machines to run Windows 11.

Why does the user suggest using Tiny 11 over Linux on an old PC?

The user suggests that while Linux performs better on old PCs, some users might prefer Windows due to familiarity or specific software needs. Tiny 11 offers a more lightweight Windows experience without the heavy system load of stock Windows 11.

What issues did the user encounter with stock Windows 11 on this laptop?

The user found that stock Windows 11 did not perform well on the 2008 laptop due to its resource-heavy nature and bloatware. Programs like Netflix and TikTok come pre-installed, adding unnecessary strain on an already limited system.

How does Tiny 11 handle the TPM 2.0 requirement?

Tiny 11 bypasses the TPM 2.0 requirement, allowing users to install Windows 11 on older machines that do not meet the official hardware requirements.

What optimizations did the user make after installing Tiny 11 to further improve performance?

The user disabled transparency effects, simplified the desktop background to a solid color, and adjusted system performance settings by turning off unnecessary animations and visual effects to reduce memory usage.

How did the user create a bootable Tiny 11 installation?

The user downloaded the Tiny 11 ISO file from archive.org and used a tool called Rufus to create a bootable USB drive for installation on the old laptop.

How did Tiny 11 perform in terms of memory usage and CPU load?

Tiny 11 used around 56% of the available RAM and about 10% of the CPU when idle. During web browsing or running videos, CPU usage peaked at nearly 100%, indicating that while usable, the laptop was still under strain.

What limitations did the user observe with Tiny 11 in terms of usability?

Although Tiny 11 significantly reduced system bloat, the user noted that performance was still sluggish, especially during web browsing and video playback. It performed better than stock Windows 11 but still couldn't match the efficiency of Linux on the same machine.

Is Tiny 11 recommended for users with more modern hardware running Windows 11?

For users already running Windows 11 on more modern hardware, Tiny 11 is not necessary. Instead, the user recommends using tools like Geek Uninstaller to manually de-bloat the system, which might offer similar performance improvements without switching to Tiny 11.

Outlines

00:00

🖥️ Reviving Old Tech: Running Tiny11 on a 2008 Laptop

The speaker discusses their love for old computers and introduces their 2008 laptop with a dual-core CPU and 3GB of RAM. Previously, they ran Linux on the machine but are now trying Tiny11, a lightweight version of Windows 11, to see how it performs compared to Linux and standard Windows 11. The speaker acknowledges that Linux is often the best option for old PCs but wants to test Windows for compatibility reasons.

05:03

⚙️ First Impressions and System Performance with Tiny11

Tiny11's stripped-down version of Windows 11 shows a minimal desktop, with only Edge, the settings menu, and file explorer. By checking the task manager, the speaker finds 56% of the RAM is used with minimal tasks. Most of it is from background processes like Windows Defender and Widgets. CPU usage, at around 10%, suggests it's still usable for light tasks such as web browsing, though performance issues remain.

10:03

🌐 Web Browsing and Video Playback on Tiny11

Testing Tiny11 for web browsing and video playback, the speaker finds that YouTube runs relatively well at 720p with some skipped frames, despite CPU usage spiking to 100% when opening multiple tabs. The speaker notes that although Windows 11 can run on older hardware, the performance still shows limitations, and Tiny11 may be a good lightweight alternative for such situations.

🚀 Optimizing Tiny11: Reducing RAM Usage

The speaker experiments with ways to reduce RAM usage on Tiny11. They disable features like transparency effects, switch to a solid background color, and turn off certain animations in the system settings. By closing unnecessary apps like Microsoft Store and Widgets, they manage to reduce RAM usage below 50%. However, the speaker notes that these tweaks won’t drastically improve performance.

🔍 Final Thoughts: Is Tiny11 Worth It?

The speaker concludes that Tiny11 is a viable option for older machines, particularly for users upgrading from Windows 7 or 8. While Linux may offer better performance overall, Tiny11 provides a cleaner and lighter version of Windows 11. However, for users already on Windows 11, they suggest simply debloating the stock version rather than switching to Tiny11. The speaker emphasizes Tiny11’s value for those with older hardware but tempers expectations for significant performance boosts.

Keywords

💡Tiny 11

Tiny 11 is a streamlined, debloated version of Windows 11 designed to run on older or lower-spec hardware by removing unnecessary software and services. In the video, the creator installs Tiny 11 on a 2008 laptop to test if it can outperform stock Windows 11, showing that this version of Windows allows users to bypass hardware limitations like TPM 2.0.

💡Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an older version of Microsoft's operating system, released in 2007. The laptop in the video is initially running Windows Vista, which is noted for its slower performance on modern software, motivating the creator to experiment with other operating systems like Linux and Tiny 11 to enhance usability.

💡Linux

Linux is an open-source operating system known for its flexibility and efficient use of system resources. The video highlights how Linux can perform well on older hardware, with the creator previously testing a Linux distro, Lubuntu, on the same 2008 laptop and noting its superior performance compared to stock Windows 11.

💡Rufus

Rufus is a software tool used to create bootable USB drives. In the video, Rufus is used to create a bootable drive from the Tiny 11 ISO file to install the operating system on the older laptop, a crucial step in testing how well Tiny 11 performs compared to other OS options.

💡TPM 2.0

TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) is a hardware requirement for installing standard versions of Windows 11. However, Tiny 11 bypasses this requirement, allowing users with older hardware, like the 2008 laptop in the video, to install Windows 11 without needing this component.

💡Debloating

Debloating refers to the process of removing unnecessary software and services from an operating system to improve performance. Tiny 11 achieves this by stripping away pre-installed apps and services, such as those found on stock Windows 11, and focuses on delivering only essential functionality, which is a key topic in the video.

💡Web browsing

Web browsing is a central task used to test the performance of Tiny 11 on the old laptop. The video shows how Tiny 11 improves the browsing experience, allowing for relatively smooth YouTube playback and multitasking with multiple tabs, despite the laptop’s limited resources.

💡Advanced system settings

Advanced system settings is a feature in Windows that allows users to tweak performance by disabling unnecessary animations and effects. In the video, the creator uses these settings to further optimize Tiny 11's performance on the old laptop, showing how these tweaks can reduce memory and CPU usage.

💡Animations

Animations in the context of operating systems refer to visual effects like fading and window transitions. The video suggests disabling these in Tiny 11 to save system resources, which is particularly helpful on low-spec machines like the 2008 laptop being tested.

💡Windows Defender

Windows Defender is Microsoft's built-in antivirus software, which is running in the background on the Tiny 11 installation. The video points out that this service consumes a significant amount of system memory, and the creator considers alternatives, such as third-party antivirus solutions, to further optimize performance.

Highlights

The user discusses the appeal of restoring old, obsolete tech and making it functional again, using a 2008 laptop with Windows Vista.

Tiny 11 is introduced as a stripped-down version of Windows 11, which removes much of the pre-installed software that comes with the official version.

The creator of Tiny 11, NDV, recently released an updated version of the operating system, downloadable from archive.org.

Tiny 11 bypasses the TPM 2.0 requirements, making it possible to install on older hardware without needing to meet modern Windows 11 requirements.

The installation process of Tiny 11 took about 15 minutes, and the long setup time was likely due to the old laptop still running on a hard drive instead of an SSD.

Upon completion, Tiny 11 was running smoothly on the 2008 laptop with limited resources, offering only a few default applications like Edge, Settings, and File Explorer.

Tiny 11 drastically reduces RAM usage by eliminating non-essential background apps, with the task manager showing that it only used 50-60% of RAM at idle.

The user tests YouTube playback on Tiny 11, running at 720p with decent performance, but CPU usage hit 100% when running multiple tabs.

To optimize Tiny 11 even further, the user suggests disabling transparency effects and other visual animations through system settings to conserve RAM.

Switching the desktop background to a solid color and disabling unnecessary visual effects further reduced resource usage, enhancing performance on the old laptop.

Tiny 11 allows web browsing and light tasks, but struggles when running multiple resource-heavy operations simultaneously due to the laptop’s limited hardware.

Compared to Linux distributions like Lubuntu, Tiny 11 performs well, but the user still finds Linux better optimized for low-end hardware.

The user notes that Tiny 11 is especially beneficial for people with older hardware who want to run modern Windows without bloat.

For users already on Windows 11, the recommendation is to use tools like Geek Uninstaller to manually debloat the system instead of switching to Tiny 11.

In conclusion, the user appreciates Tiny 11 as an efficient project for those who prefer Windows but want a lighter version, while also recommending Linux for even better performance on old machines.

Transcripts

I love old computers and there's

something oddly satisfying about taking

obsolete Tech and making it functional

again like our good old laptop here from

2008 running just a dual core CPU and

just 3 gigs of RAM it's probably not

something that you would call fast it's

currently running Windows Vista of all

things and while it's responsive I think

we're going to need something a bit more

modern to make it usable in our previous

video we ran Linux on this PC and a lot

of you commented about about tiny 11 a

deep loaded version of Windows 11 I

always wanted to try tiny 11 but never

have and in fact I did run Windows on

just stock Windows on this PC and it

didn't run great at all so let's give

tiny 11 a try and see how it compares to

Linux and stock Windows

11 now I know some of you might be

wondering why even bother with Windows

Linux is the best for old PCS in fact

like I mentioned in the intro a Linux

drro called labun worked surprisingly

well on this machine definitely go watch

that video after you're done with this

one but after making numerous content

about Linux I received comments daily

about how Linux isn't for everyone which

is totally true especially if you're

already been using Windows for a long

time switching to a new OS might be a

little intimidating plus not all

programs and games work with Linux but

obviously Windows especially in recent

years has become quite bloated here's a

start menu of stock Windows 11 and I

suspect companies like Netflix Spotify

Tik Tok and others have some sort of

deal with Microsoft to include their

apps by default obviously there's

nothing wrong with that but as a person

who doesn't really watch Netflix or use

Tik Tok I wish there was some sort of an

options menu where I could select which

apps I want or don't want kind of like

how you can do on Nite and it goes

without saying that I kind of missed the

days of Windows 7 where you would only

get the absolute Necessities needed for

using your PC so let's shift our Focus

to Tiny 11 now tiny 11 is like a strip

down version of Windows 11 it achieves

this by removing a ton of pre-installed

software that I mentioned earlier the

Creator ndv released a new version of

tin1 just recently on his archive.org

page so follow along with me and let's

try to get this HP laptop to run Windows

11 and hopefully it runs much smoother

than stock version of course by the way

before we started shooting this video I

couldn't figure out why I wasn't able to

connect to Wi-Fi on this machine and it

turns out that the Coss battery has

probably died long long time ago and

because of that the date in Windows was

set to 1980 thus Firefox wouldn't load

any pages so there's a little Pro tip

for you if you're already using a super

old PC like me anyway with that out of

the way let's head to archive.org and

download the ISO file for tiny 11 the

file comes in at 4.2 gigs and compared

to the official ISO that's around a gig

or so Slimmer which is already a decent

difference there after downloading we

can use Rufus to create a bootable USB

and begin the installation by the way

check out this funny thumb drive that I

got it's seriously so tiny it fits this

video so well once Rufus has finished we

can boot into BIOS and change the boot

order to install okay now that I'm in

the installation screen here you might

be wondering how are you installing

Windows on this PC or specifically

Windows 11 don't you need to have TPM

2.0 for that well tiny 11 is awesome

because it completely bypasses the TPM

2.0 requirements so you can install it

even if you don't have one all right so

after what felt like an eternity no

seriously I was staring at this loading

screen for good 15

minutes which is yeah there was a point

where I thought this is not going to

install because this is crazy but

thankfully the setup screen did come

back and everything did install just

fine so long setup time aside everything

went well and I should still point out

that this laptop is running a hard drive

and not an SSD so that's probably why it

took so long now guys for the real

experience we're going to have to bring

in our second camera here so excuse it

here in the background here it is we're

going to put it live so we can see

what's going on on the screen all right

so we set up the camera so you guys can

see the screen now and here we are this

is Tiny 11 running on a laptop from 2008

by the way if you're enjoying the video

thus far please give it a thumbs up this

takes time to install all these versions

and I I would really appreciate

appreciate it okay so first impressions

just uh scrolling and and doing nothing

pretty much on the LA on the desktop

here try opening up start menu let's see

if that works and wow the developer of

tiny 11 wasn't joking this really is

Tiny version of Windows 11 and here we

only have Edge the edge browser we have

the settings menu and we have file

explorer so yeah there's literally

nothing here and I open up Edge by no

reason so yeah okay I think the first

thing we need to check out is the task

manager so if we right click over here

and go to task manager we can see how

much RAM we have used up by default so

let's take a look okay and here we are

so looks like 56% of our Ram has already

been taking up by just nothing I guess

uh so at the top we have the anti-

malware service executable that's

probably Windows Defender doing it doing

its thing so uh I probably wouldn't

recommend disabling that or I would

recommend something like shark antivirus

which you can get as well and that's

probably going to have a bit less usage

there on your CPU we also have widgets

so that takes up around 130 Megs of RAM

and we for some reason have uh Edge

that's probably uh a saved up TX we can

just remove that and see how that

removes uh some of the memory and we

still have around 50% being taken up so

yeah in terms of CPU I'm actually happy

to say that we are using around 10%

which is pretty good that means means

that we probably will be able to run

like video and stuff like that okay so

the number one thing where tiny level1

will help you out is probably web

browsing um since it does remove quite a

bit of ram from those uh apps it can

free up and you can use it on something

like YouTube instead okay so here we are

loading up YouTube so web browsing is

possible uh but let's see if we can play

video as you can see at already it's not

exactly smooth so let's go to our

channel here start truck Academy once

again drop a sub if you're watching and

uh let's play just one of our videos

here okay man n I'm something that I

really appreciate right now the touch

pads nowadays are a 100 million times

better than they were when this PC came

out let me tell you that latest TR news

okay so we are running currently at 720p

which is actually pretty surprising and

as you can see the playback is actually

pretty decent uh we are getting some

skip frames but overall it's pretty

usable now what's interesting to try is

something like if I open up another Tab

and do like a Google search or open up

Ser shark.com for instance so let's see

how it's going to react now and I'm

going to be monitoring this on the task

manager at the same time so we can check

out how it looks like so here on the

task manager as you can see our CPU is

at 100% almost and we still have a bit

of memory left actually even though we

have two tabs available here now believe

it or not YouTube has actually gotten a

bit harder to run over the years since

they do add new features all the time

but again on this PC it actually runs

pretty all right it's not great but you

can use web browsing and things like

that but I guess one thing that's kind

of wild to me as I'm making this video

right now is that you we're running

Windows 11 and and it really shows you

that you can run Windows 11 on pretty

much anything which is something that

you cannot say the same on like

something like Mac OS right like I guess

you could do it in a hacky way but doing

this this way on Windows is so much

easier so it's kind of surreal and I am

enjoying the experience but at the same

time I'm seeing how slow things are here

all right so one more thing I wanted to

do in this video is that if you have t

11 installed can we reduce RAM usage

even more is it possible well we're

going to do it right now here live on

camera so number one we're going to open

up the task manager again and see how

much RAM we have to work with and again

it's hanging around and around the 60%

range 67% range so probably number one

thing that will increase performance is

by going to uh uh our settings here and

going to personalize here if we go to

Colors we can actually disable

transparency effect so that's number one

we can also enable dark mode but I'm not

going to bother with that for now I'll

just keep it on light mode but you can

change that here as well so if you're

running an old PC definitely disable

this uh these transparency effects

another thing that you can do actually

and this is a bit underrated but if

you're running a really really bad GPU

you can actually change the background

to something like solid color so if we

change this from picture to solid color

we can leave it either black or

something like that and it will also

help just a little bit we're also going

to change our desktop icon so I can

actually access my computer so I'm just

going to select that and apply and now

we can head here and actually change a

bit more stuff so by right clicking on

this PC going to properties and

then if it

loads we can actually go to Advanced

system settings over here and you can

also see our specs here if you're

curious and here on this system

properties window we can actually go

ahead and go to Performance and and also

disable additional animations like

animate controls animate Windows animate

animations uh you can also disable

enable Peak you can fade disable all

these fade outs and uh also I think this

slide open combo boxes so again these

are certain animations and even disabled

a translucent selection rectangle you

can also disable Shadows for icons which

should help a little bit again and we

can see how much RAM it's probably not a

ram thing it's but it's going to help

either way so you can already see it's a

bit smoother but again that's probably

not going to reduce memory that much if

we can see what's actually using up our

memory we have Edge so let's end the

task there Microsoft store let's end

that task here um we're going to leave

that widgets we're probably going to end

the task there all of them and we're

actually below 50% now which is pretty

nice start menu can we end the task the

task for start menu uh yeah not much

that we can do there all right so after

all that let's go to the conclusion is

Tiny 11 worth it look I seen the

comments asking if tiny 11 is the best

thing out there and it might where well

be the right thing for you to install

since I did try to use Linux on this PC

I would say that it still felt so much

better compared to this due to maybe not

having as many fancy animations and apps

running in the background and yeah tiny

11 for all that it does it can't remove

every little bit and for that you're

probably going to have to use something

like Powershell and at that point really

messing with the system at at such a

deep level where it can impact certain

things and stability but and this is a

big butt for lightweight Windows tiny 11

is as good as it gets now the question

is on whether it's worth it or not

compared to stock Windows 11 look my

advice is this if you're currently

running an older machine mid-spec or

lower spec with something like Windows 7

you're still on that older Windows

version or Windows 8 or Windows 10 and

you're planning to upgrade to Windows

Windows 11 then tiny 11 is probably

something that it's worth investing in

downloading instead of the stock version

because if you're going to debloat your

system anyway tiny 11 is going to

LeapFrog you and you don't have to deblo

it yourself and it's already nice and

clean from the get-go on the other hand

if you already have a PC with Windows 11

and you thought wow tiny 11 is going to

give me like super good performance and

stuff like that uh you might want to

tune down your expectations in instead

what I would do if I already had Windows

11 is I would deep load it myself and we

actually did use things like geek

uninstaller we shared it how to do it in

one of our videos which I will leave

here in in the description below and you

can do it yourself so it's probably not

worth it so to sum up I think tiny 11 is

a wonderful project that allows people

with lesser Hardware to run modern

windows I still think that Linux will

give you a better experience in terms of

overall performance but if you love

windows and you just have to stick with

it then tiny 11 is as good as it gets

guys that'll be all for this video thank

you so much for watching if you enjoy

our content definitely hit the Subscribe

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check out more windows content right

over here on the side like that Windows

Vista video that we made that one was

pretty crazy and yeah that'll be all for

this video thank you so much and I'll

see you next time byebye