Often you just need to install it. If it's a really really old system then pick something that is minimal or designed to be lightweight. In the old times something like xubuntu would do the trick, but nowadays I don't know what's out there.
You can also try some more "heavy" distros. I have a 2014 macbook air (4GB of RAM), with full gnome 3 and it works really really smoothly. If you have some money to spend, adding a small ssd, even with adapters, will make a whole lot of difference.
If the drivers have been removed from the kernel, you'll need to find a more "antique" distro too, or go deep into customization (I can tell you more if you want, do ask!)