New Project - OS advice?

This rig will be solely for trading stocks, reading financial reports, streaming live charts and news.
I will be doing this on my dad's old work computer (=~4 years old), an Elite Book as shown in pic related.

Considerations for which I am looking for some advice:
1) It is currently running Windows 7 Pro. But this is the version that the company has installed. I.e. they have access to everything and anything on the computer. It still requires a working company ID to log in etc.

What is my best bet for an operating system?
-Is there some way for me salvage the current windows key for a fresh install which will leave no traces of the company? I have the computer login details and such.

If not, then a new OS is required. Which is the best bet:
Win 7
>concerned about approaching end of life
Win 8.1
Win 10 botnet (which I can currently purchase a key for $10)
Ubuntu
>I don't know if my broker account desktop application is Linux compatible?

2) Would the hardware be sufficient to power two additional monitors concurrently hooked up? It has a DisplayPort and a VGA out so I will hook them up that way. It does not have a dedicated graphics card. The external displays' are 22" 1080p (I already have them). I have never hooked up more than one additional display to a laptop and couldn't find a concise recommendation online.

You can even make a hackintosh out of it. Win7 or Ubuntu should run fine and you can still upgrade to 10 for free

Honestly? on a elitebook the sky is the limit.

DESU i'd hackintosh it it's pretty stable and considering most stock programs run on OSX you'd be gucci without too many worries.

I would try booting xUbuntu. Ubuntu, Ubuntu mate, Ubuntu etc. are mostly botnets and use lots of ram. Just use xUbuntu. Libreoffice is also free.

Great to know. Thanks. I was actually thinking of a hackintosh but due to some compatibility concerns, I think Windows would be easiest. Do you know if/how I can do a fresh install of Win 7 using the current license? Or do I need to buy a new Win 7 license for $30 on the MS store?

Also if you hackintosh it there's no way you'd be able to run those two monitors. Why not sell it for a same-era desktop with a good graphics card that could support multiple monitors?

Here are the specs for reference.

No idea, but you could just use windows loader for free. You can get it from mydigitallife forums if you register.

>Also if you hackintosh it there's no way you'd be able to run those two monitors.
Didn't know this, thank you.

>Why not sell it for a same-era desktop with a good graphics card that could support multiple monitors?
Are you saying the laptop probably won't be able to support two extra monitors then?

I have a similar model and my serial number is written on the case under the battery. If you have a removable battery try checking for the number under it.

Just removed the battery, and I have the serial #, and Microsoft Product key.
Is this all I need to do a fresh install? (please forgive my ignorance).

And any additional software that is on the PC that gives the company complete access to the pc... was that stuff installed after a clean version of windows was initially installed? Again, sorry for my lack of knowledge here.

I think that serial is all you need for a fresh reinstall. The garbage that is on it from the company was prob installed after the windows install. It prob has that meme hp windows restore partition and garbage like that. Just do a clean install of windows and youll be good. I use dual boot windows and fedora on mine and it works like a charm. Elitebooks are quite good laptopa.

On an OS with proper drivers it might, and even if not, if your CPU is powerful enough and your programs not that intensive, you won't have that many problems. I wouldn't try using photoshop or anything on it.

It should be fine even for basic photoshop.

Awesome to hear, thanks for the info.

>I use dual boot windows and fedora on mine and it works like a charm.
Aside from taking up some drive space, is there any downsides to dual booting this computer performance wise that will show when I am running windows? I wouldn't mind having the ability to play with some new distros. If I screw something up while in linux, could it affect my windows partition?

But not with OSX, right? I'm not talking out of my ass when I say it can't into graphics on anything but apple hardware right?

OSX should be fully compatible with the intel GPU in it. Except for multi monitor output.

Just realized bottom of pc completely comes off with a small lever. That's insanely convenient/easy to get into. I certainly understand the hype about the quality of these business class machines. The thing feels absolutely solid.

Good to hear.

Yep, they are well built.
Consider getting an extra 4GB RAM for somewhat better GPU performance.

I will keep an eye out for a deal, thanks. Just to gap my understanding, why would more RAM enable better GPU performance? Is it so the GPU doesn't need to process any additional memory from the HDD that would be overflow if I am using more than the 4GB of ram I currently have?

Just use daz loader or kmspico retard

>uses confirmed botnets
>calls others retards

I just quickly looked into those two softwares. Are you referring to both being botnet, or just "kmspico"?