Learn how to recover your devices effortlessly with Google ChromeOS Flex. Follow our step-by-step guide for a hassle-free recovery process.
How to Recover Devices with Google ChromeOS Flex
Google ChromeOS Flex is an operating system specialized in the recovery and maintenance of personal computers. Although the company has focused it on educational and business markets, it will also be very useful for any user who wants to bring back to life computers that are no longer in use due to their age or limited features, but that could still work with a light and cloud-focused system .
The original conception of this version is based on the CloudReady software. Although there were other methods to do it, it was probably the best solution to use ChromeOS on PCs other than Google’s own, such as Chromebooks . Google acquired its developer (Neverware) and from there a new path was opened that has ended up materializing in Google ChromeOS Flex.
Of course, the system still maintains the potential of CloudReady, but with official support from Google and all that this entails in terms of version updates, quality and security, which the company has put at the same level as what it offers for ChromeOS. It has also added key features to a development that is already well-founded, since it derives from the open source project ChromiumOS , with its Linux kernel , web browser, software of all kinds and native Google Apps.
It is not a system for everything, nor for everyone, but Google has been improving it and the truth is that it promises especially for the proposed objective: updating old equipment with a modern operating system to extend its useful life. Or getting those that we have abandoned to work again. Of course, it is totally free and easy to install on a PC or Mac as we will review in this guide.
Google ChromeOS Flex, requirements
As we mentioned above, its focus on older PCs is met with extremely minimal requirements by today’s standards.
- Intel or AMD x86 or 64-bit CPU
- 4 GB RAM
- 16 GB of storage space
- BIOS that supports booting from a USB device
In fact, Google claims that the system will run fine on almost any computer built after 2010 and even earlier, although some of its components, such as older integrated GPUs, will not meet performance standards.
How to create a media for Google ChromeOS Flex
The system can be installed on the internal storage of a PC (hard drive or SSD) like any other Linux or Windows and can also be used as a “Live-USB” without affecting the system you have installed. In both cases we need to create a USB installation media with at least 8 Gbytes of capacity . From there, Google offers everything necessary for its creation from a computer with Windows, Mac or Linux. Let’s go step by step:
- Open the Chrome Web Store in the Chrome browser and install the Chromebook Recovery Tool.
- After adding the extension to your browser, launch it to start a utility that will allow you to create a bootable Chrome OS Flex USB drive.
- When you start the recovery setup process, the utility will ask you to identify your Chromebook. Click Select a model from a list and select “Google Chrome OS Flex.”
- Another drop-down list will appear allowing you to select the version of the operating system you wish to install. Currently, only the Developer-Unstable version is available.
- Finally, it will ask you to select the USB device where you want to store the image and the process of downloading and creating the image will begin.
The process time will depend on your Internet connection speed and your computer’s hardware. In our case, it was completed in just a few minutes using a USB 3.2 flash drive. We recommend using the highest performance media you have and connecting it to the most advanced port version of the computer you are testing it on to get the best performance possible.
Facility
We tested the system on a couple of laptops, one with current hardware on which we used the “Live” format and another older one where we installed the system to check if it really is a “PC recovery” as promised by Google. The first step in both requires going to the BIOS/UEFI to place the created media as the first boot drive. If you don’t know how to do it you can check this handy access key tutorial .
Live USB»
It is a tremendously practical and simple method of running software since it does not require installation. In addition, it does not modify partitions, files, data or configuration of the operating system installed on the machine, making it an ideal option for testing software , whether systems or applications, anti-virus media or rescue and maintenance disks .
Running Chrome OS Flex this way is trivial. Once you’ve made the BIOS change mentioned above, the PC will boot from the USB and you just have to follow the installer’s instructions to run it from there. It should be noted that, unlike other media of its kind, this one uses persistent storage , meaning it saves the account and options you’ve configured so that the next time you start the same media you don’t have to repeat them. It can also store the files you create/save.
Not everything is an advantage with this method, as we will see later when discussing the user experience, and the performance is always lower than that of a standard installation or the use of virtual machines, even though for the test we use fast connection ports and a high-end ASUS TUF laptop from 2021.
Facility
Since the real goal of the test was to assess Flex’s ability to recover and maintain older PCs , we installed it on a 2012 HP ENVY with a lot of production work behind it. With a dual-core processor and 4 GB of RAM, it is incompatible with Windows 11 and is just fine with Windows 10 and even a standard Linux like Ubuntu. It is a prime candidate for testing this system, which is still a “lightweight Linux”.
Installation is similar to installing any other system. If you use a fast USB drive, the Chrome OS Flex setup screen should load within a few seconds. We change the language and keyboard to Spanish (it has options for Spain and Latin America) and optionally activate ChromeVox, the built-in screen reader in Chrome OS.
You can also connect to the Wi-Fi network at that time if you are not using Ethernet and manage Bluetooth, accessibility options, screen brightness or sound. It must be said that the Chrome OS Flex installer recognizes the hardware of the computer at first sight , as well as the shortcut keys for screen brightness and multimedia of the laptop where we are testing it.
The installer will ask you if you want to install the system on the internal storage drive or run it from the USB device. If you install it as we did in the test, it will overwrite all the data on the computer.
After managing the Internet connectivity and approving the terms of service, we can configure the usage profile, work or personal account or another if it is going to be used by the little ones in the home. We start with our Google account, complete the two-step activation and activate (it is optional) the Google assistant.
The installation is completed in just 5 minutes . It should be noted that the laptop’s original hard drive was replaced by an SSD, which makes the task easier.
User experience
Although it was not our main objective, we must say that the direct execution on the USB has not been as satisfactory as we expected . Google itself warns of the limitations in performance (and storage) if we use this method. We have tested it with a second pendrive also with a 3.2 interface and the performance has improved slightly, but not to the desired degree. For a simple test and to take a look at the system it may be worth it, but not for continuous use.
The opposite happened when installing the system . It was extremely fast in starting up and running applications despite having only 4 GB of RAM. In addition, it perfectly recognises the system hardware, the Internet connection via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and peripherals that we additionally connect such as a Logitech mouse.
Otherwise, Flex is a Chrome OS with the advantages of simplicity, ease of use, administration or security that we know and the basic functionality and features that Google offers in Chromebooks, but without having to purchase a dedicated machine and with official Google support, which guarantees that we will have version updates, quality and security in the future.
Like Chrome OS, Flex is derived from the open source Chromium OS project based on the Linux kernel and the Chrome web browser . From there, Google adds software of all kinds, with a focus on native Google Apps, the ability to run progressive web apps, native apps available in the Chrome Web Store, and the thousands available for Android once the Play Store is officially supported. Today, potentially any Android app can run on Chrome OS and Flex.
Google has also started supporting Linux apps on some Chromebooks, and the upcoming arrival of Steam on Chrome OS promises to cover the big games section beyond the Stadia cloud platform, although we will need computers with higher performance than the one we have used for Flex. We can also run desktop applications such as the great image editor Gimp in the cloud using rollApp, the Creative Cloud graphics suite (Project Photoshop Streaming) or even the Office suite after a resounding agreement with Microsoft.
Looking at the interface, if you haven’t used Chrome OS for a while, you’ll be surprised by the huge progress since the beginnings of a development for and by the cloud and without typical desktop elements. Based on the hardware-accelerated graphical environment “Aura”, Google has completed an interface that, without losing its simplicity and ease of use, doesn’t look out of place with Windows or macOS and offers all the components of a modern desktop such as multiple desktops, taskbar, animated transitions, status bar for each of the open applications, desktop backgrounds, overlapping windows with the possibility of maximizing or varying their size, and much more.
As for internal tools, and as expected, the most notable feature is the ability to sync with Android phones, which can even be used as a method of authentication on the PC, while the Near Share function can be used to transfer files between Android devices and Chrome OS or from Chromebook to Chromebook.