Posted: 6/4/2012 2:20:40 PM EDT
|
I am looking for a Linux OS to install on an old computer to get comfortable using it. This computer will be dedicated to this purpose only.
Details: 800 P3 processor, 256 mb ram, 20 gig hd I have a blank hardrive now so need to know what I need to do to get the OS unto it. I do have the Windows disk to reinstall that OS if necessary. This compiter will not have an internet connection. I am also interested in playing some of my old flight sim games which ran under Win 3.1/95 if that is possible. Let me know if you need more info. Thanks. |
|
Can you add more RAM?
You can make it go with 256MB, but not with Xwindows... you'll be CLI only. Or maybe download a really old distro of Fedora or Red Hat from when 256MB was an acceptable amount? ETA: http://www.tuxradar.com/content/whats-best-lightweight-linux-distro Try Damn Small Linux |
|
http://xubuntu.org/
an even lighter-weight option http://www.slax.org/ |
|
The Fluxbox version of Linux Mint says it will work with 256MB.
http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=65 Mint XFCE version is a lot more user friendly (IMO) and also claims 256MB minimum requirement: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1483 Previous posted is correct though, if at all possible to increase the RAM to 512 or larger, you'll have a lot better experience. All you need to do to install is download ISO, burn to disk, then boot up the target computer from that disk. |
| DSL (damn small linux) will work as well. I'd go with xubuntu to start, but I'd upgrade the RAM if possible. If you have a powerful machine at home, you could always just use Sun Virtualbox, and install a new distro you can run right from your desktop, without doing anything to your current OS install. |
|
I suggest you try puppy linux. I run it on old P3's with 256 Mb of RAM just fine. Don't think you'll be running any windows games in it, I don't think it supports WINE or anything like that. http://puppylinux.org |
|
That's about a 1998/1999-class machine. I don't think I'd recommend learning linux on something like that, you're going to be running such a limited or old distribution that you'll probably be frustrated doing anything modern. Unless you're just looking to dink around with a unix-like environment, that could be OK. But if you want to do much with it, I'd be looking for some cheap or free cast-off machine, something in the '06-'08 vintage or newer should be OK, especially if you max out the memory. |
|
DSL and Puppy are good distros for insanely old hardware like that.
However, if you have a more capable machine and just want to play with Linux. Download VirtualBox, install it on your more capable machine and then create a Linux Virtual Machine. This is much easier than trying to get old hardware to work and you can create multiple VMs –– allowing you to try several Linux distros. |