Hello all, before I get started I just want to make it clear that I have done hours of research on the question I'm about to ask, so... lol
Anyway, I am completely-totaly new to linux, of all forms, have been a Windows XP Pro guy for years now, and it's what I know inside and out.
Well that's beat, even though I still am using it, and I can't afford a new pc or a new windows cd. I'm broke for now. Besides all that, I like linux so far from what I ahve been woking with. (xubuntu)
[QUESTIONS]:
I bought a notebook from a very desperate crackhead for $20:
Compaq Presario x1000
(not much ram, i think only 256 or 512)
-It's slow as #$@%, but I managed to install Xubuntu on it, and it still sucks. Very. Very slow. I cant watch any videos on it or really do anything other than just look up websites, and that sucks too.
Sorry, nevermind that above, I am just stating that so you see what my first Linux introduction has been. This is what I have got used to so far, and I seem to like it.
I am not at all concerned with this notebook at this point. However, what I am concerned with, and this is my main question:
I have a Desktop:
P4 2.6 GHz /1.5 GB Ram
- I have XP Pro SP3 installed on the 1st partition and I installed Ubuntu v14.xxx (very latest version) on the 2nd partition.
It's extremely slow, but XP runs just fine. I chose the first option upon install where it does the auto-setup running alongside XP.
So far I do not really like it. I have no start menu like I had on the notebook in the upper left hand corner, and I kind of like that.
Well through messing around I'm guessing that is something called: xfce ? Not sure.
Anyway, sorry for rambling about, but here is my MAIN QUESTION:
What Distro of Linux should I install on this PC where it will run nice and fast/smooth?
~thankyou.
Good day everyone,
I'm currently a student and as far as I'm aware I still need windows for some program I need, but I am going over to Linux.
(Thus I'm running Windows 8 at this moment)
Today I was going to install Ubuntu 14.04.01 alongside Windows 8, everything went well till I hit the 4th step (Installation type page) of the installation:
A message like follows showed:
"This computer currently has Debian GNU/Linux (Kali Linux 1.0.7) on it. What would you like to do?"
There are then 3 options available:
1) Install Ubuntu alongside Debian GNU/Linux (Kali Linux 1.0.7)
2) Replace Debian GNU/Linux (Kali Linux 1.0.7) with Ubuntu
3 and 4 is greyed out.
5) Something else (You can create resize partitions yourself, or choose multiple partitions for Ubuntu.
I just want to make sure what option to choose, I cant afford to lose all my data and windows.
Problem: Showing Kali Linux as current OS and not Windows 8.
Possible reason for showing Kali Linux as current OS:
I have a live CD of Kali Linux and ran it a few times in the past, but according to my knowledge it shouldn't have changed anything.
Maybe the 1st option is still the right one even though the current OS isn't listed right? Or the 3rd option is like a manual setting I guess.
Thanks for the time reading and helping!
Hi
I'm a telecom/IT contractor and my work laptop died so instead of buying a new one, I decided to give my spare laptop a try. It's a cheap Lenovo G585 with only 2Gb ram and a AMD E1. Needless to say this is a real slow laptop. W8 was preinstalled and barely runs. Even for simple work related tasks its too slow.
Instead of wasting money on it, I am contemplating the idea of installing a Linux distro. I manage via ssh a few linux servers for my customers (centos, red hat, ubuntu server) but actually never used it as my main OS.
I just want something lighter than W8 so the laptop will be faster. Which distro should I get? I was thinking about LXLE but there's too much distros I can't choose.
Speed is the priority in this case. I also like a good looking UI.
Also, how's Microsoft Remote desktop from a Linux client? Is it fast and well optimized?
Thanks!
Hi,
Before installing Linux Mint 17 to the entire HDD of my HP p2 1317cb desktop, it was running a preinstalled windows 8 OEM UEFI. After several failed attempts of dual booting(no grub menu and boots directly to the windows 8) i then decided to do a erase all and install Linux option. Now i have Linux Mint 17.1 working flawlessly, so far. What i want to now do is, dual boot a windows 7 installation alongside my Linux. Please advise on the best way to do this.
Thank You.
Note: Before doing a clean install of Linux i disabled secure boot,enabled legacy, and disabled fast boot.
I am completely new to Linux. Ready to get as much advice and tips as anyone can offer. First, which version should I install? Are the free online versions safe and functional? I am running windows 8.1 on a laptop. Would prefer to install, if possible, any type of Linux on USB or disk. If not possible, use a partition. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?
I've made a couple attempts at installing these OS's on my machine and am still not getting it. I've actually been using AVLinux for about the past nine months, and it's working fairly well. And, yes, I know XP is down for the count, but for the moment it's the only MS option available to me - and I *need* to get it running for some work related web stuff...
This is all on a 32 bit AMD system btw.
What I've tried: Everything on one SATA drive. Partition one formatted to NTFS (about 20GB) for XP. Partitions 2 and 3 are Root and Home for AVLinux, Partition 4 at the end of the drive as the /swap for AVL.
All the how-to's and guides I've been able to come across point to (usually) Mint or Ubuntu's install dialog, and to select "something else" - which, by the way, is not a function of AVLinux's installation procedure. During install you can install GRUB to the MBR *or* root partition..
So, just to clarify to procedure (as I might have it now, but am very unsure) XP gets installed first (which is done at this point...) then my Linux distro *to the MBR* (?) then I need to add a stanza to GRUB telling it where XP lives? XP is not showing up on GRUB as I'm doing it, but I'm not too sure if installing Linux to the MBR (on the same physical drive as XP) actually wipes out the Windows bootloader....and if so, how chainloading would actually work...
So, any help appreciated, thanks.
I have installed linux(mint and ubuntu) on a few laptops, but i have an ASUS eEEE netbook PC..Atom processor...No DVD drive...
I have chosen PUPPY Linux distro, and I have booted from a thumb a few times to make sure everything seems to work....but...when I start trying to install...well...its asking me about using the partition tool to change the types of partitions that are best for linux...
I am not understanding the instructions...as far as what i need to do...has anybody done this install ,,,the current netbook OS is Windows Starter 7. I just want to REPLACE it entirely with linux puppy. I did not encounter this on my laptop installs..i just said yes...replace the current OS..but somehow the netbook install is acting different....do i need to change the partitions or can i just take the defaults...I forge the exact partition extentsions..something line ntfs and it says to change to ext2 and ext3...not sure how to do that...
Can some direct me to the best way to do this? thx.
Hello Linux experts (because I suspect experts are what I need). Being a newbie I tried to choose a linux distro that I could use most like windows XP in particular, to include apps, maintenance and ease. To me it seemed like ZORIN fit the bill so I installed Zorin 9 on a 500 gb HD and configured a desktop with Cairo Dock (that dock being like the quick launch bar in Windows). So far so good.
Two main tasks I have is finding a back up (clone) utility I can use to clone the entire HD to an external USB HD so that I can simply plug in that clone and have the identical Zorin back exactly the way it was. Secondly I want to install my Canon printer (all in one print, copy, scan, and fax) so that I can use it the same way as with XP.
So far I've been disappointed for both because the clone apps I see available are "dd" (terminal) which does not seem to work and/or if it did the advice is that a clone could take days or weeks? Say what? Is that nuts or what. In windows I can clone my HD in 45 minutes, plug it in the computer and have an exact working copy of the source HD. Obviously days or weeks to obtain a HD clone is not good, and I'm not even sure that if I did it anyway that I would actually be able to plug it in (in place of the original HD),having an exact working copy of all files including boot, system, files and apps.
Next, installing my Canon printer seems unlikely if not impossible because I can't find drivers for that printer available for Zorin.
Did I make the wrong distro choice, and if so which Linux distro should I have installed? Ubuntu? Mint? Or maybe I'm looking for more in any Linux that can be had to date? Any advice please? Save me from having to go back to Windows which everyone knows (including M$oft MVP's)sucks.
Hi!
I am running into a problem as stated in the title. I currently run Windows 8.1 on a Asus S300CA notebook. Not too long ago I installed and shortly after uninstalled Ubuntu 14.04 by simply deleting the partitions via Windows and recovering the original Windows Boot by running command prompt: "bootrec.exe /fixmbr" ... which consequently seemed to get rid of the grub loader.
Now I like to install Elementary Luna, but while installing the boot loader an error message pops up saying that the 'grub-efi' package fails to install into /target/.
After some research and not being able to find too much on the subject, I created an extra '/boot/grub/efi' partition of 100MB. Thereby selecting 'sda5' to mount/install the boot loader in that particular directory/partition. This has not worked and produced the same error message.
* Quick start disabled in Windows 8.1
* Running 'Try Elementary Lunar', the wifi hardware is detected but no signals are picked up, nor can I seem to connect to my landlord's router using their SSID (Just in case someone suggests doing something in the terminal requiring an internet connection.)
What to do? Your help is much appreciated.
* Edit: I just realized there is an entire forum dedicated to making Linux run on notebooks, laptops and netbooks. Mods, feel free to move this message.
Hello
I'm trying to install arch based distro antergos on my system. I have slow but stable internet connection (512 kbps). But unfortunately, in the area I live, there is frequent power cuts. This is creating problem for me. It takes at least 4-5 hours to install antergos linux. Every time installation almost finishes, there will be a power cut, and i have to start it again. This happened 4-5 times, and i have wasted 2 days just trying to install this distro. Still unsuccessful. This incomplete installed linux boots to 'Grub Rescue' screen.
Is there any way I can continue installation from where it went down?
Really be grateful, if someone tells me how, or atleast redirect me to any knowledge base.
Thanks
Hi
I've build my desktop from scratch a long time ago and it's using the standard BIOS.
I am planning to get a laptop at some time and it has windows 8.1 with UEFI. My plan to to wipe windows off the thing and install linux.
I will be dealing with UEFI for the first time, so my question is, do I need to get an UEFI supported distro or will any linux distro detect the UEFI and install accordingly?
Thanks