Planning on installing Linux (Ubuntu?) for the first time

El_Mayo · Oct 8, 2011

I have a very old laptop which slow as hell, so I want to install Linux on it and give it to my mum (she literally just browses the internet)

I've never used Linux before, but I've read you can boot linux and run it from a USB stick; I want to do this first before installing it to the hard drive to see what it's like

I've tried this , but it says "an error occured while executing syslinux. Your USB drive won't be bootable"

Also on the drop down list provided in the install app, which version of Ubuntu should I install? 'cos there's loadsss

MilkyWay · Oct 9, 2011

Assuming the laptop has a dvd/cd drive you can download a live distro that will allow you to test it without installing.

Dont get ubunut for an old computer get xubuntu or Lubuntu, Puppy Linux and DSL (damn small linux) are also lightweight although not based on ubuntu.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
That program will install a linux distro from the drop down menu to a USB stick, you need the iso file for a distro first.

Universal USB installer is a similar program but ive never used it before. The advantages of installing it to a flash drive is it will act like a properly installed operating system rather than a live distro which gets wiped from the ram when you shut it down.

El_Mayo · Oct 9, 2011

MilkyWay said:
Assuming the laptop has a dvd/cd drive you can download a live distro that will allow you to test it without installing.

Dont get ubunut for an old computer get xubuntu or Lubuntu, Puppy Linux and DSL (damn small linux) are also lightweight although not based on ubuntu.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
That program will install a linux distro from the drop down menu to a USB stick, you need the iso file for a distro first.

Universal USB installer is a similar program but ive never used it before. The advantages of installing it to a flash drive is it will act like a properly installed operating system rather than a live distro which gets wiped from the ram when you shut it down.

Well it's a laptop from 2004, but the more lightweight the better

I'll try Xubuntu first

eightclicknine · Nov 21, 2011

unetbootin is another easy program to use to install bootloaders and images to flash drives, btw. Try linux mint if you dont have your heart too set on ubuntu, its also pretty good for beginners.

HalfAHertz · Nov 21, 2011

Yah as others have said stay away from the latest Ubuntu. I'd personally suggest the XFCE (maybe LXDE if the pc is too old) Linux Mint versions/ I have an old laptop from 2005 which buzzes along happily with Mint Katya under Gnome. Mint is based on Debian just like Ubuntu and I don't know why but it feels faster and speedier.

eightclicknine · Nov 22, 2011

I have been meaning to try the latest mint, but I agree, even with the graphics effects turned all up, it still seems really quick. Unity I believe is alot of the sluggshness in newer versions of ubuntu. I run ubuntu 11.10 with gnome 3 at work, on a pentium 4 box w/ 2gb of ram and it seems to fly. you wont see many compatibility issues with either distro really. hell I even got the ubuntu pc to join the windows domain with ease.

eightclicknine · Nov 22, 2011

MilkyWay said:
Assuming the laptop has a dvd/cd drive you can download a live distro that will allow you to test it without installing.

Dont get ubunut for an old computer get xubuntu or Lubuntu, Puppy Linux and DSL (damn small linux) are also lightweight although not based on ubuntu.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
That program will install a linux distro from the drop down menu to a USB stick, you need the iso file for a distro first.

Universal USB installer is a similar program but ive never used it before. The advantages of installing it to a flash drive is it will act like a properly installed operating system rather than a live distro which gets wiped from the ram when you shut it down.

Totally didnt notice you had already mentioned unetbootin, my bad. :rolleyes:

mlee49 · Nov 22, 2011

I installed Mint 11 just the other day, very friendly. Ubuntu will be just like it, easy install, lite on the hardware, and probably will work fine.

brandonwh64 · Nov 22, 2011

Mlee has a good point, I would install Mint!

El_Mayo · Nov 22, 2011

Is it possible to install Mint without burning to CD?

Drone · Nov 23, 2011

whatever ...

Peter1986C · Nov 23, 2011

Better do it with Unetbootin (let it put the .iso file on a USB), assuming that the laptop can boot from USB. And consider the LXDE version of Mint, which is more simple than the Gnome shell that Mint uses.

pantherx12 · Nov 23, 2011

El_Mayo said:
Is it possible to install Mint without burning to CD?

Not sure about linux but with windows you can start the installtion process from within windows just by running the iso.

Just loads the file into the ram/page file and adds a note about it so when it restarts it carrys on.

I would be quite surprised if linux didn't have that yet.

eightclicknine · Nov 24, 2011

El_Mayo said:
Is it possible to install Mint without burning to CD?

Yes, download the unetbootin, presuming you have Windows currently, as it doesnt seem to work too well in Wine. Use yer flash drive, 2gb should be enough, and you can install it that way.

ThE_MaD_ShOt · Dec 4, 2011

Oh you should be fine with Ubuntu on that rig. My Main Ubuntu rig is based off a Athlon xp system. It runs just fine

System Name	N/A
Processor	i7-4790K
Motherboard	Asus Z97-A
Cooling	Thermalright True Power 140
Memory	2 x 8GB GeIL Potenza 2400Mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 970 Gaming
Storage	2TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	24" Samsung 1080p LED Monitor
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro
Power Supply	Corsair TX650W
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Corsair K70 (Brown MX)
Software	Windows 8.1

System Name	N/A
Processor	i7-4790K
Motherboard	Asus Z97-A
Cooling	Thermalright True Power 140
Memory	2 x 8GB GeIL Potenza 2400Mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 970 Gaming
Storage	2TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	24" Samsung 1080p LED Monitor
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro
Power Supply	Corsair TX650W
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Corsair K70 (Brown MX)
Software	Windows 8.1

System Name	penguin
Processor	R7 5700G
Motherboard	Asrock B450M Pro4
Cooling	Some CM tower cooler that will fit my case
Memory	4 x 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury 2666MHz
Video Card(s)	IGP
Storage	ADATA SU800 512GB
Display(s)	27' LG
Case	Zalman
Audio Device(s)	stock
Power Supply	Seasonic SS-620GM
Software	win10

System Name	The Dove Box Rev 3.0
Processor	i7 8700k @ 4.7GHz
Motherboard	Asus Maximus X APEX
Cooling	Custom water loop
Memory	16GB 3600 MHz DDR4
Video Card(s)	2x MSI 780 Ti's in SLI
Storage	500GB Samsung 850 PCIe SSD, 4TB
Display(s)	27" Asus 144Hz
Case	Enermax Fulmo GT
Audio Device(s)	ON BOARD FTW
Power Supply	Corsair 1200W
Keyboard	Logitech G510
Software	Win 10 64x

System Name	N/A
Processor	i7-4790K
Motherboard	Asus Z97-A
Cooling	Thermalright True Power 140
Memory	2 x 8GB GeIL Potenza 2400Mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 970 Gaming
Storage	2TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	24" Samsung 1080p LED Monitor
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro
Power Supply	Corsair TX650W
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Corsair K70 (Brown MX)
Software	Windows 8.1

Planning on installing Linux (Ubuntu?) for the first time

El_Mayo

MilkyWay

El_Mayo

eightclicknine

New Member

HalfAHertz

eightclicknine

New Member

eightclicknine

New Member

mlee49

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!

El_Mayo

Drone

Peter1986C

pantherx12

eightclicknine

New Member

ThE_MaD_ShOt

System Name	desktop \| Odroid N2+ \|
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 \| Amlogic S922X \|
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550M DS3H \|Odroid N2+ \|
Cooling	Inter-Tech Argus SU-200, 3x Arctic P12 case fans \| stock heatsink + fan \|
Memory	Gskill Aegis DDR4 32GB \| 4 GB DDR4 \|
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 6600 (8GB) \| Arm Mali G52 \|
Storage	SK Hynix SSD 240GB, Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB, Toshiba DT01ACA100 1T \| Samsung 850 Evo 500GB \|
Display(s)	AOC G2260VWQ6 \| LG 24MT57D \|
Case	Asus Prime 201 \| Stock case (black version) \|
Audio Device(s)	integrated
Power Supply	BeQuiet! Pure Power 11 400W \| 12v barrel jack \|
Mouse	Logitech G500 \|Steelseries Rival 300
Keyboard	Qpad MK-50 (Cherry MX brown)\| Blaze Keyboard
Software	Windows 10, Various Linux distros \| Gentoo Linux

System Name	My pc
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	Asus Rog b450-f
Cooling	Cooler master 120mm aio
Memory	16gb ddr4 3200mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI Ventus 3x 3070
Storage	2tb intel nvme and 2tb generic ssd
Display(s)	Generic dell 1080p overclocked to 75hz
Case	Phanteks enthoo
Power Supply	650w of borderline fire hazard
Mouse	Some wierd Chinese vertical mouse
Keyboard	Generic mechanical keyboard
Software	Windows ten

System Name	Selene / Yoda
Processor	Fx 8350 @ 4.4 / Phenom II x6 1090t @ 3.6
Motherboard	Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 r4.0 / Gigabyte 890XA-UD3
Cooling	H100i / Xig Dark Knight
Memory	4x 8gb G.Skill Snipers / 4x 4gb G.Skill Ares
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte R9 290x / XfX DD & VisionTek HD6850's C'fired
Storage	256gb ssd, 2x 2tb Wd Blacks & 1x 1tb Wd black / 1x 1tb
Display(s)	Dell Ultra Sharp 2408 WFp / Hp w2207
Case	Raidmax Vampire / Chieftec Alum. Dragon Blue
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Hd Audio / Onboard Hd Audio
Power Supply	Corsair TX 850 watt / Corsair TX 750 watt
Mouse	Logitech G500s
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe
Software	Win 10 pro / Win Vista Home prem. 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	What are benchmarks anyway?