Installing Linux

fred246

A few years ago I knew a business that was selling base units for £200. They were shipped with Linux on them, but I think the idea was that people would put their own OS on the machine. However, when they turned them only the booted up super quick and one click on Firefox and they were surfing. Any dicument automatically opened to openoffice. People loved them and the reviews were fab. Then one day I spotted the owner of the business on his facebook page said he had been wined and dined courtesy of Microsoft. After that his PCs all shipped with Windows pre-loaded.

stefano

flashg67 wrote: »

A bootable usb is just a normal usb flash drive formatted so your PC can install programs when you boot your PC

How do I format the flash drive?

Gillor

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stefano wrote: »

Where will I find Linux, and is a bootable stick just a normal stick

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stefano wrote: »

How do I format the flash drive?

Try Linux Live USB Creator:

http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

stefano

NiftyDigits wrote: »

UBUNTU

KUBUNTU

MINT

What the Service Tag? It's written on the underside.

I started reading about it, and I am still not sure which would be best suited to the spec of my old Inspiron 10, as it has small ram and an Intel Atom processor.

Mr_Toad

Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Mint - Try them all and then go with the one you like the best, there won't be a huge difference as they are all Ubuntu based.

I wouldn't keep XP, copy all the documents and files you want to keep onto external media/disk and do a clean Linux install.

Another distro that you might consider is Ubuntu Netbook Remix designed for machines like yours. In fact your Dell is mentioned on the Wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Netbook_Edition

I used UNR on my Acer Netbook and it was pretty much perfect.

Another distro to look at is Zorin.

NiftyDigits

What the Service Tag? It's written on the underside.

System

stefano wrote: »

I have an oldish Dell Inspiron 10, running on XP, which I may want to use on the go.

1. Is it possible to install a different OS like Linux?
2. Will the notebook run better or faster?
3. Would I need to uninstall XP?
4. Would I still have access to my documents?
5. Can Linux be downloaded as it has no disc drive?

Hi

1 Yes, try UNR, Ubuntu, or my preference OpenSuse 13.2 32 bit will run with only 0.5 gig of ram.

2 Yes to both IMO

3 No need, but defrag as said elsewhere, and you may want to create 3 new partitions

/ (root) minimum 10 gigabytes
/home (home for users) minimum 20 gigabytes
swap minimum 3 gigabytes

it can run - work from a single partition (root) / .

4 Yes, you can expect LibreOffice to get installed to substitute MS-Office.

5 Linux is available (try W H Smith's et al) as a magazine coverdisk.
LXF (http://www.linuxformat.com/),
LUD, (http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/)
Linux (http://www.linux-magazine.com/).

Also there are live, try before you install versions.
Linux MultiBoot install will format and install an .iso file to USB memory stick.
OR Universal-USB-Installer-1.9.5.4.exe

So take a step or two and then

If in doubt please ask.

patman99

If you are feeling really brave, then try installing Arch Linux. This has the honour of being the only OS to have no support end date.
Every install is future-proof, but it is not foe the fain-hearted.

For a customer with a Dell Inspiron, I have installed Kbuntu as it has a friendlier face than Ubuntu.
I can also set-up the software centre to link to the Debian repositories for even more software than unbuntu offers.

Give Linux a go, you won't regret it.

henm2

Arch is not really suitable for someone new to Linux based systems.
Moving from XP to the likes of Linux Mint xfce, or LXLE, Zorin Lite, or Peppermint 5 would in contrast be quite easy.
For a good guide to linux in general see this http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/ultimate-linux-guide-for-windows-users.html

Kernel_Sanders

I'm really surprised we've gone a whole page and nobody's mentioned http://distrowatch.com/

GunJack wrote: »

if you run puppy linux from a bootable usb stick, no need to wipe the existing hdd and the docs/music/etc already on the hdd will be accessible

Might add that this one is highly portable as it runs in RAM and data is saved to a partition on the pendrive itself, so it doesn't touch the HDD at all. Will it tether to an Android Phone via USB?

johndough wrote: »

Linux is available (try W H Smith's et al) as a magazine coverdisk.
LXF (http://www.linuxformat.com/),
LUD, (http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/)
Linux (http://www.linux-magazine.com/).

He said he doesn't have a disc drive, let alone the DVD drive that you invariably need with these 'free' discs. (I think he means 'optical drive')[/QUOTE]