We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Linux

Options
karin
karin Posts: 188 Forumite
I am having a new computer built - it will be much faster than my present very elderly pc, which has a fairly slow processor, about 900 mhertz, (whatever that is!!),- only 350mb ram, although it DOES have a 40gb hard disk

I am having windows xp on it as i have tried vista on a friends pc and prefer xp.

I would though like to play around with the old pc until it finally expires, which will probably not be long in the future, by installing linux.

Is that difficult ??

Any tips for doing it successfully.

I have an ''ubuntu'' disk so that would be the one I would use as I don't want it to cost me.

As this is a very old computer will it have enough power to experiment
and play around and experience linux OS??

Some expert advice would be VERY helpful.

Karin
«1

Comments

  • mrscruffy
    mrscruffy Posts: 221 Forumite
    You should be fine.

    Try to get hold of a "live CD" boot disk (which I think is included on the lasted Ubuntu installer CD). This will load a version on Ubuntu onto the computer without installing anything. This will allow you to check that all your hardware is compatible before installing anything. If all is OK then go the whole hog and install a version on Linux.
  • Robin_T_Cox
    Robin_T_Cox Posts: 201 Forumite
    There are various ways to experiment with Linux to start with.

    When I started with Linux, I downloaded the Knoppix distro, which runs from a live CD. You don't need to install anything to your hard disk, and not only does Knoppix include a full suite of free software but it is the best distro of all for sussing out your hardware and installing all the necessary drivers in order to run. The only thing that may slow it down is if you have a slow CD drive, otherwise it's highly recommended.

    Although Knoppix was the first, it is by now not the only distro that runs from a live CD. Your Ubuntu disk may run this way, so to try it you just pop it in your CD drive and boot up. It will boot to a Ubuntu desktop, and if you want to install it to your hard disk you can do it from the desktop menu. But beware: unless you repartition your hard drive to give XP and Ubuntu their own space, your Ubuntu installation may overwrite the XP. It is possible to install the two operating systems side by side, but if you are new to this, wait until you've read a bit more about it.

    You may prefer to try Wubi, which enables you to install Ubuntu inside a folder in your XP system. This will enable you to see how you might get on with Ubuntu on your hard disk, without any risk of screwing up your basic XP system.

    There's more expert advice on Ubuntu in the Ubuntu forums, including a special section for absolute beginners.
  • karin
    karin Posts: 188 Forumite
    I am quite happy to get rid of xp on the OLD computer as I am having a new one and so I can ''play'' happily with the old one and not worry that I will get in a mess.
    Before finally dumping the old faithful it seems too good a chance to miss.
    There are various ways to experiment with Linux to start with.

    When I started with Linux, I downloaded the Knoppix distro, which runs from a live CD. You don't need to install anything to your hard disk, and not only does Knoppix include a full suite of free software but it is the best distro of all for sussing out your hardware and installing all the necessary drivers in order to run. The only thing that may slow it down is if you have a slow CD drive, otherwise it's highly recommended.

    Although Knoppix was the first, it is by now not the only distro that runs from a live CD. Your Ubuntu disk may run this way, so to try it you just pop it in your CD drive and boot up. It will boot to a Ubuntu desktop, and if you want to install it to your hard disk you can do it from the desktop menu. But beware: unless you repartition your hard drive to give XP and Ubuntu their own space, your Ubuntu installation may overwrite the XP. It is possible to install the two operating systems side by side, but if you are new to this, wait until you've read a bit more about it.

    You may prefer to try Wubi, which enables you to install Ubuntu inside a folder in your XP system. This will enable you to see how you might get on with Ubuntu on your hard disk, without any risk of screwing up your basic XP system.

    There's more expert advice on Ubuntu in the Ubuntu forums, including a special section for absolute beginners.
  • bat999
    bat999 Posts: 1,946 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    That's OK karin, but many/most people prefer to set up a 'dual-boot' system.
    They leave Windows installed then make another partition on the hard drive to install Linux in.
    So, at boot up, you get a mini-menu, 'Windows or Linux?'.
    Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
  • Lord_Gardener
    Lord_Gardener Posts: 2,971 Forumite
    I've found puppylinux to be a good starting point for Linux on 'older systems'!

    http://www.puppylinux.org/home/overview
    I'm mad!!!! :rotfl::jand celebrating everyday every year!!!
  • karin,

    I am a member of the PCLinuxOS Community.

    PCLinuxOS is a live distribution of Linux designed for ease of use by the newcomerto Linux and like most it is free to download and use with thousands of applications available for free.

    PCLinuxOS can also be installed easily

    I would suggest you give it a try, PCLinuxOS is known to be the 'DistroHopperStopper' (DistroHopping is the phrase used to describe the habit of trying out distributions on a regular basis)

    There are two official releases at the moment the PCLinuxOS2007 release is the one I would recommend, there are other versions available should you like it and want to see what else is available.

    PCLinuxOS is Developed by a small but dedicated team called 'Texstar and the rippergang' . Texstar is the lead developer of PCLinuxOS. the developers take in suggestions from the community and listen to its members,

    There are various community projects including a project to port over PCLinuxOS to the EEEpc.

    The main site for PCLinuxOS is www.pclinuxos.com

    The Download page is here http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_ionfiles&Itemid=28

    Forums: http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26
    (make sure to read the usage rules)

    The projects site is currently www.mypclinuxos.com

    There are also several IRC chat channels for live help if you need it. (Freenode) #pclinuxos-fixme for example

    There is a java client for freenode channels at http://java.freenode.net (change the channel to join)

    If PCLinuxOS ios not for you there is a great resource www.distrowatch.com that has an extensive list of distributions to download and try, again there are (for the most part) free to try and use.

    Other good 'alternative' operating system includes the *BSD family of operating systems. The esiest of these toinstall/use is PCBSD http://www.pcbsd.org/

    I hope this is of interest


    Jase
  • spud17
    spud17 Posts: 4,431 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I would suggest you give it a try, PCLinuxOS is known to be the 'DistroHopperStopper'

    I agree 100%, it worked for me after trying several distros via their live cd's.

    I now dual boot PCLinuxOS with XP.

    One drawback is that I cannot get my Canon i560 printer to work properly.

    The basics, in broad terms are familiar, Firefox browser replaces Internet Explorer and Thunderbird replaces Outlook Express.

    The latest Ubuntu will work on your PC but each release demands a better PC, I think PCLOS will work fine.

    Another to consider is Mandriva.
    Move along, nothing to see.
  • wolfman
    wolfman Posts: 3,225 Forumite
    Ubuntu is a good choice, and comes in all the flavours (gnome, kde etc...)

    I'd personally go with Ubuntu or Xubuntu (it's lighter and will run on the hardware better).

    They've recently just released 8.04 LTS (long term support) and it works great.

    PCLOS is ok, although I find it less polished and a bit garish. It also by default uses KDE which is heavier than Gnome or XFCE. There is a Gnome version and you can install XFCE, but it's not as smooth as Ubuntu in my opinion.
    "Boonowa tweepi, ha, ha."
  • myhooose
    myhooose Posts: 271 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    As a Linux noob, I'm impressed with puppy linux, running off the live CD totally in ram made it runs fast. It seem a good distro to learn the basics on however the help files seem a little disorganised at times.

    I'm still going to try some others to compare.
  • mdbarber
    mdbarber Posts: 1,116 Forumite
    Been a while since i had a fling with linux but http://www.freespire.org/ was a good place to start.
    Very highly polished and user friendly
    click here to achieve nothing!
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.8K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.8K Life & Family
  • 256.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.