Linux on an old PC?

[PDA1]

I have an old Dell notebook...pre- year 2000

I want to put a Linux distro on it. The notebook will be only used for internet browsing so extra software isn't needed.

The USB on theold Dell DOES NOT support USB 2.0 and the notebook won't recognize any flash drive I connect to it so any installation I do will be done using another Dell computer while plugging in the intended hard drive that'll be used on the old Dell.

I've tried putting Linux Puppy on it but can't figure out how to do it as there's always some problem

I've tried to install BrowserLinux...no success.


I had already put Ubuntu 11.04 on to the old hard drive but the system runs really slow so I want to try a different distro.


Do you have any recommendations?

Again, I must be able to install a Linux distro using a flash drive (or CD) to the intended hard drive...and the installation must work...confound it!

[snowpine]

If you already have a fully functional 11.04 install (it's just too slow) then you don't need to reinstall. You can simply install a lightweight desktop environment like Xfce (Xubuntu) or LXDE (Lubuntu) from the Software Center, then you will be able to choose it from your login screen.

Care to tell us the hardware specs? :)

[ottosykora]

I have also one old dell notebook, it came with w98se originally.

I am running w98se, w2k, and ubuntu 10.04 on it.

However, ubuntu 10.04 is very slow on it, can be used, but not so much fun.
I have also the xubuntu desktop on it. OK, little bit faster, but it is also anything but useful when compared with the w2k which runs on it fast and stable, while any linux seems to have problems with display driver stability etc.

To be able to install anything, I have some external CD player to it.
I had to upgrade ram, as the original 128mb were fine for w98 and w2k, but already in times of ubuntu 8.04 I was not able to install it with GUI, had to use the alternate CD.
Now I have 512mb on it, well it works, but no real fun.
For the USB, I have some pcmcia card with two usb2 ports on it, this I stick in the card bay and can use also my usb sticks reasonably etc.

I think my one is called latitude c600 or so.

[mastablasta]

as i know USB 2.0 sticks do work on 1.0 USB plug. perhaps it doens't boot from it. to boot from it you can use plop boot manager which you can put on a floppy :-)

you didn't write what CPU and GPU you have. You have plenty of RAM for Lubuntu (or also Peppermint OS). Lubuntu has alternate CD if needed. You can also try Bodhi linux (which is Ubuntu 10.04 LTS based and uses E17 desktop environment). It runs on 350 Mhz CPU and 128 MB ram.

if you want to go away from Ubuntu well you already tried puppy, but there are also Chrunchbang (or if you go to the source then Debian stable), Slitaz and TinyCore. Chrunch bang now uses only Openbox window manager which is maybe not as user friendly, but you can easilly install another one from the repositories (for example LXDE). too bad cause their install is very easy and user friendly (compared to debian) and their XFCE desktop was one of the best implementations with low memorry footprint.

[lkraemer]

Other good choices are:
1. Debian 6 "SQUEEZE" (Gnome 2.x) (XFCE LXDE can be installed from LiveCD) You can also do a Minimum Install! Supports i486 too!
2. TinyCore 4.3 (XFCE)
3. Vector 7 (XFCE)
4. Slitaz
5. AntiX M11 IceWM Rox Default (Fluxbox, wmii and dwm also installed)
6. Arch Linux (XFCE) - Source Distribution
7. Porteus 1.2 RC1 (XFCE)
8. Puppy
9. CRUX - Source Distribution
10. Slackware 13.37

There's lots of options. Burn some of the LiveCD's on a CDRW and give them a test. (Arch is a Source Distrbution......Well worth a test! GREAT Wiki/Forum & Documentation)

I've been playing with CRUX, but so far my compile fails......


lk

[PDA1]

XFCE or Lubuntu....can't remember which, was installed on the old rig.

For web use it's rather slow with all of the fancy graphics and flash stuff that appears. But, it works.

I tried Puppy on a usb flash drive last night and really enjoyed the look of it. The only problem was I couldn't figure out how to to get adblock installed on Seamonkey.