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Miojine
February 9th, 2010, 12:38 AM
I have a Gateway Solo, with a 4.2 GB hard drive and approximately 95 MB of RAM (upgraded and rounded), running WIndows 2000 Professional. The exact model is Gateway Solo 9300 Notebook. I have the most recent Ubuntu version (9.10, I believe) on a disk, ready to go, but I had a couple of questions first.

1. Will it auto-wipe my Windows if I just put the disk in the drive and follow the prompts? I don't have enough space free for both (currently 31.3 MB of Hard Drive space free- Hello, Daggerfall), and don't want to screw this up. I only have $200 towards a good computer.

2 Is there word processor compatibility between Linux and Windows/OSX? I can't get the correct drivers for any printers, and do school essays on this piece of junk, and need them to be in a .doc format for printing.

3. Can I go straight to this most recent version? I heard something about an earlier version being needed first.

4. The big one. Can my computer handle this? Will I lag like hell just running this? If I lag/can't run it, I'll just stick with my 2k.

This is all because of my large blue screen history (over 10 last year, only used it for 4 months), and I want a fresh start. help, please.

phillw
February 9th, 2010, 01:04 AM
I have a Gateway Solo, with a 4.2 GB hard drive and approximately 95 MB of RAM (upgraded and rounded), running WIndows 2000 Professional. The exact model is Gateway Solo 9300 Notebook. I have the most recent Ubuntu version (9.10, I believe) on a disk, ready to go, but I had a couple of questions first.

1. Will it auto-wipe my Windows if I just put the disk in the drive and follow the prompts? I don't have enough space free for both (currently 31.3 MB of Hard Drive space free- Hello, Daggerfall), and don't want to screw this up. I only have $200 towards a good computer.

2 Is there word processor compatibility between Linux and Windows/OSX? I can't get the correct drivers for any printers, and do school essays on this piece of junk, and need them to be in a .doc format for printing.

3. Can I go straight to this most recent version? I heard something about an earlier version being needed first.

4. The big one. Can my computer handle this? Will I lag like hell just running this? If I lag/can't run it, I'll just stick with my 2k.

This is all because of my large blue screen history (over 10 last year, only used it for 4 months), and I want a fresh start. help, please.

Hi and welcome to the Forums,

Your hard disk is too full to do pretty much anything with. Puppy Linux or DSL (Damn Small Linux) on a CD may be okay for testing with.

9.10 Ubuntu is not going to happen with 92MB RAM and 4GB of hard disk - even completely wiped.

A good article on Low Ram and Ubuntu can be found here --> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/LowMemorySystems

OpenOffice can read Most of Microsoft word formats. I think your RAM is too low even for Xubuntu 9.10 - but, that thread has the requirements of various options - Try the 8.10 Series as your 1st fall back, then 6.x . There is also coming out Lubuntu, which is an even slimmer version than Xubuntu. Details on Lubuntu can be found here --> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu

Make sure you back up your data, beg, steal or borrow something like an external hard-drive or a 4GB Memory Stick to back up your important data on.

$200 should get you a second hand machine with enough RAM and hard-disk space to run a newer Xubuntu / Lubuntu.

Regards,

Phill.

Miojine
February 9th, 2010, 03:35 AM
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to wait on the new computer, though. Linux was mainly a way to bring my laptop to life for a few months until I can get a new computer (secondhand isn't what I want- I need something powerful.) I have all of my files (sadly not all of it- my laptop is incompatible with my mom's external hard drive /cry), so I have what I really value, and I could easily get about a gigabyte free by deleting Daggerfall.

I'll look into 6.x, then. Thanks again