beginner problem, ubuntu gets stucked, emergency

[kairo11]

hello everyone,
i am a completely new to ubuntu and also no computer expert.
now i do have some serious troubles with it ubuntu that really need a fix.

yesterday i installed ubuntu 11.10 using unetbootin on an asus notebook.
It now gets stucked all time, the mouse courser does sometimes stop moving as soon as the mouse is plugged in and the whole ubuntu seems to be really slow.

after minimizing a firefox window for example it is hard to open it again and i am already a little afraid to hit any buttons because it might crash again.

All i want to have is a good running operation system so i am open to all advice. ( it does not need to be the newest version, just something i can rely on)
i also would not mind to completely erase window form the notebook, the goal is really to get one working system.
are there any upgrades i would need after installing ubuntu 11.10 to make it run smoothly?

looking forward to your advice!

[ajgreeny]

On a low powered notebook or netbook you might be better with Xubuntu or Lubuntu, rather than Ubuntu. However, have you installed any Additional Drivers that might be needed by clicking on the dash button top left and typing "Additional drivers". If not give that a try and you may find that the lag in your system has gone.

If it is a new and powerful notebook Ubuntu with Unity should be fine as long as the hardware is compatible, and you have added the drivers as above.

[kairo11]

thanks for this advice.
is is an asus eee pc 1201n,
are there any other tweaks i should absolutely do?

[kairo11]

i found that the reason for shut down most likely is overheating due to asus programs installed in windows,,,,,,but i am wondering why these seem to cause overheating when linux is running...
is there a way that i can clean the notebook from all windows stuff and only leave the ubunto on it, so that it should run smooth?

[darkod]

When ubuntu is booted it doesn't matter what windows programs you have.

As already said, ubuntu might be too much if this is a netbook machine, although it runs fine on my Samsung NC10 netbook for example.

Try running an earlier version in live mode with the usb stick (you don't need to install to test).

In fact, first try to run this 11.10 version in live mode (using the Try Ubuntu option) and see how it runs in live mode first. If it still has many problems, try 10.04 LTS.
Then try Xubuntu or Lubuntu.

See how that goes.

After you decide what is running fine for you, you can consider installing over this 11.10.