Neverware CloudReady

[Ditto]

Having managed to create a bootable USB stick to install ChomeOS on a Samsung NC10, we've decide the performance isn't quite good enough. What I'm trying to work out now, is whether the USB stick can be converted back to an ordinary USB stick and if yes, how?

[jmak]

Various ways, but using Diskpart is free and fairly straightforward.

 

The main thing to watch out for is that you don't wipe the partitions on the OS disk of the machine you're using - that tends to end in swearing.

 

Someone else's instructions here:

 

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/restoring-your-usb-key-partition/

[MatthewL]

On the subject of your NC10's have you found anything that is useable on them yet?

[jmak]

Porteus?

 

Runs in RAM on the NC110s I have.

 

http://www.porteus.org

[Ditto]

On the subject of your NC10's have you found anything that is useable on them yet?

Firstly, for anyone else trying, I needed to manually install. I believe the instructions I followed are here. In terms of usability, I guess all I proved is that it is possible to convert a NC10, even though it is not on the officially supported list. I'm managed to run Chrome browse on the device, which was the main test, and the GSuite office type apps ran. I also managed to have the proxy filter up and runninf (using RM Broadband's filtering).

Speaking to Neverware support, the 1GB of memory was probably just too little. If you have 2GB (I believe the max these devices can run), which even most bottom spec Chromebooks have, you might find it better. The school has about 30 of these and realistically they are just a bit too old now. We're just looking to use a few, mainly for 1-1 use for SENDCO to deploy for basic browsing/reading/typing. The devices are currently on XP. They have Office 97. I've removed IE, had an old Chrome browser v8. They boot to being ready for use in relatively quick fashion, and the converted ChromeOS one was not noticeably better. I didn't get to the point of getting a trusted virus checker running. Our older version of AVG free wouldn't install and I didn't manage to find out way. My job with the school finished yesterday, so I have handed over to my replacement. The plan was to see if a free Sophos version could be installed (on XP), but I recommended not trying too hard. I hadn't used these devices before, and I can see why many liked them, but really the school has to accept they are overdue an upgrade. I was quite surprised by the price people were willing to pay for them on ebay - perhaps selling the makes sense, but of course you have the whole Data protection issue to consider and suddenly it's doesn't make financial sense.

 

In terms of converting older laptop/netbooks to Chromebook type devices, I still believe it's worth considering. What I learnt from Neverware is they are dropping support for 32 bit soon, so Atom based Samsung's don't make sense. However, we had a fair few i3 Acer's, with 2 or 4 GBs. I don't think ours were on approved list, but I'm more confident they'd work. Now that I've left the school, on top of the fact the school is not pursuing O365 and abandoning GSuite across the trust, I won't be finding out! However, to end on a positive note, I'll be joining a new school in March, so I might get a chance there to have another go - and open their eyes to GSuite as they haven't seen what's possible yet.

[Ditto]

Various ways, but using Diskpart is free and fairly straightforward.

The main thing to watch out for is that you don't wipe the partitions on the OS disk of the machine you're using - that tends to end in swearing.

Someone else's instructions here:

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/restoring-your-usb-key-partition/

Thanks, I thought Diskpart came in to play but didn't quite get there. Words heeded on the disk selected, I triple checked last time I was using Diskpart.