I would look for a slightly better Hardware(CPU) , If you don’t intend to run “Baremetal” HAOS , in a VM you have very few resources, and beside No
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) ‡ == No
VM install is not a good idea.
The question here is do you consider this better than HA green?
AND
Do you believe the purchase of a new PC will provide more value, benefit or performance than the use of this existing free Laptop? or is there other recommendation in the regard?
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Im not sure where you are going, or what you are after with your post here ?
First i just “delivered” facts about his current Hardware, would i considered running a VM on windows on that ? NO
Would i run a baremetal HA, i might, with my current experience
As a “newbie” about 100EU/$ for a Green, would be a cheap and “sorry free” initial cost, taken in consideration how much he will invest the coming year in IOT Devices
- New build House … doesn’t to sounds like 100bucks is anything to consider, beside for about that price, he can also get a better used Laptop, if not some of his friends/relatives have something in the closets/storage
Additionally i would recommend him to draw, tubes(specific for TP-cabels) in the walls not TP-cables direct , They kind of “get stucked there”
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I think I understand what you are saying. The old laptop really isn’t enough. That said. I see 2 options. One HA Green for $70 US. Or buy a mini PC preloaded with HA for $200. These are specifically built for using with HA. Available locally.
Unfortunately the new build is complex. I am no longer able to live on my mini farm. Unable to care for the land, house, or live stock appropriately. I live alone. I am selling the farm and investing in this build where I will live rent free, across the street from family. Daughter and SIL (electrician) own the new house and land.
We didn’t talk about smart home until the last month. The new place is about 2 weeks from move in.
Sorry TMI ! He and I both wish we would have talked about this sooner. He didn’t think I was interested. Silly guy!
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Some times people “start out fast” with help of this Forum and friends, others start “small” and grow( Gets addicted ) into this “world” with time/knowledge.
You seems to know what you want, Green with a few High-Res cams, and simple Voice commands etc, +3 dozens of switches,lights,thermostats, thermometer etc, and Automations is no problem for Green
AI, LLM’s is very resource demanding And not for Green (Spec. is available in the DOC’s for this)
And no, i wouldn’t recommend you using that windows machine, you will get problems/hit the wall, either ways you try to use it.
With Green/MiniPC/Better Laptop, you could as mentioned use your
*Tablet for wall
*Old Laptop for “Editing HA etc” (Soon, you won’t get even security updates for windows, so you need to block it from internet(but it’s still able to edit HA, local)
*Your old “custom build pc” Most likely consume 10 times more power than a Green 3w, laptop 20-30w, PC +30-50w
But surely there could be lot’s of use-cases where this could be of use, depending upon it’s Spec. i.e processing AI/LLM’s , external Backup etc
TP in the Wall is not a prerequisite, also depends upon your House and choice/demands upon equipment and choice of Device “Protocols”
SIL, as electrician !, Just tell him to draw the cables as if it was in his Home, not as just another “assignment” … no offense SILL 
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My Home Assistant host PC is an Intel NUC i3
Shhhhh. OP doesn’t need to know the depth of this rabbit hole yet.
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Servers are intended to be running 24/7, and laptops aren’t. After a few hours, the heat buildup in the case will cause the processor to throttle-down. A mini-PC is built to run 24/7.
@Cortner1195 - Start with a Green. Yes, you may outgrow it in a year or so- response will get sluggish, you may experience random restarts if you run out of memory. If you start with a Green you will learn a lot. How to use the UI and maybe some proficiency in YAML. When you decide to upgrade your server host computer, just do a full backup on the Green, install Home Assistant on the new PC and restore from the backup.
If you decide to dive into the deep end with a mini PC, you can buy a used Intel NUC i5 on eBay for less than the cost of a new Raspberry Pi5. If you want to go this way you can ask me to evaluate your finds on eBay. (I have purchased 6 or 7 used NUCs over the years). Sometimes you get lucky- I recently scored a new-in-box Intel NUC i9 for $100.
You will find many expounding the virtues of Proxmox, Virtualization or Containers. I am not one of them. I run Home Assistant bare-metal and measure my uptime in years. I do not want nor need the extra learning curve and vectors for problems that containers and virtualizations introduce.
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And ? , Do you know how many different i3 there is on market ?, you should know better than that , just posting
Check his Spec.
UI, as he most like won’t stand infront of his Tablet on the wall and creating Dashboards etc
Right ( in many cases ) his Laptop, for SURE, i know windows10 can run on 2 CPU’s (and 2GB ram )then he have 2 Threads (and 2gb ram) to run HA, might also get problems with adding anything on USB to his VM, doo to that cpu, limits. +
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) ‡ == No
so 2 Threads x 2.5ghz for windows and VM, and 2x2.5ghz for HA … don’t throw him into a dark hole
Thou i see you have giving OP more good “insight” in how he could/should start 
, he would be up and running sooner than he knows, and start getting familiar with HA
Can I play devils advocate? Laptops are specifically designed to be low power. What if they are throttled down during periods of low activity - they still have enough grunt. The battery, left connected on float charge, acts as a fully integrated UPS giving you freedom from power interruptions.
You don’t need the screen during normal operations as HomeAssistant is a remotely accessed server in normal operation, so you can turn off the screen to save even more power, and only use it for troubleshooting, when it becomes valuable.
As for heating up, I would question many corporate users that exclusively use their laptop as their only PC, day in, day out, and gamers, glued to the laptop all day. I think this is an ancient fallacy.
As far as running virtual machines on obsolete operating systems, you become an expert on things you don’t need to worry about if you buy hardware that is correctly specified, after careful research and understanding of all the relevant issues. Do it up front, or do it in hindsight. Either way, the ultimate goal is a working HomeAssistant server, hopefully not hanging on the wall.
First try walking, before you run a marathon. Mt Everest should not be your first climb Buy the green, play with it. When you come up against the limitations, you will probably have enough understanding to choose your upgrade path confidently and wisely.
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Yes I wouldn’t immediately worry about Windows, I Have HA in VMWare, on a windows laptop for 4 years, and Windows IP blocked in FireWall for Internet-access, no need for irrelevant traffic, or Microsofts “desire” to Reboot, install, retrieve, poll etc.
Only time windows.ver could become an issue, is if i want/need to upgrade VMWare, which still is “old” V.16, beside lots of “garbage” can be either uninstalled, or disabled, so it only runs the needed(and some forced) i.e Services.
On a good day, (shitty weather outside, and bored) i shut down HA and VMWare, enable(open) windows IP in Routers Firewall again, and run windows update, i would have to reboot some times 3 times, then Block IP, start up VM again, Time for lunch, and it will rund again for month.
However it would be much better with a 4 CPU/CORE’s , 4-8 Threads(for future needs/requirements), and as you say, such (with right performance and conf. ), will basically be Idling, on as low power-consumption as possible down to 10-12W , and function as a convenient UPS
NOTE: another benefit i like with this setup is. every time i want/need to shut HA down, i Copy, the whole VM folder(Image etc), to my backup-Device.(huge convenient benefit)
I still haven’t had a need for a high-performance Mini-PC or NUC, My laptop is about 15years old. ( 4-Core 8-Threads )
NOTE: As a “sidetrack” i actually recently bought a Green, for specific-purpose, and had only minor issues setting it up ( And there was no, and still is none battery in it 
lol )
I’m, also surprised about the power consumption, eventually i will add an SSD, when i’ve made up my mind in regards to it’s setup, im not the fastest Snail in the forest, and my thoughts is running around like an Ant
It’s still a “project investment” , Im Having “issues” with accepting all changes past year or so, to the UI but also many of their Native integration(Thou alot of good stuff and improvements has indeed seen the light, also ) , thou feels like they make it harder for some Custom integration, and Don’t nurses some of their Native, or simply f them u. (Depends ofcause which integrations one needs/want, but 1 of my “thoughts” was only native, seeing the mess there seems to be now, im not sure what to think)
Laptop is fine.
HAOS without VM.
Not sure why everyone want to run vm
Laptops run hot on laps because blocked venting. On desk they run 24/7 all the time.
The build pc is also good choice if not currently in use. Maybe still good choice if in use depending on what it is used for.
I’m not one for e waste so I prefer used or recycled. I also know entry level HA hardware leads to bad experience. If that’s stuff is sitting unused make use of it. If it’s currently in use then maybe purchase is best.
Or because the OS is not capable to control the Hardware
Thanks everyone! The lap top I was considering was purchased as a bank recycle from a local business. I’ve owned several of their units over the years. Maybe I should stop in there and see what they have to offer. That’s where this old laptop and the PC are headed, so a 2 in 1 visit.
I’ll chat with my SIL and we will decide between a nuc and the green.
I 100% recognize the rabbit hole I’m headed into with eyes wide open!!!
I’m the dork that learned to make aged cheeses from raw milk, to owning goats and milking twice a day. It’s in my nature
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