Heavy interfaces will slow your computer, but not crash it. You probably have a hardware issue. Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
I'd recommend starting out with something catered toward new users, and based on Ubuntu for simplicity's sake.
Ubuntu MATE in partiuclar is a superb option for the complete beginner to Linux, and is my go-to recommendation due to how polished and intuitive it is to use. :)
Alternatively Linux Mint and Linux Lite are also good options if you don't like Ubuntu MATE for whatever reason.
My advice is to nuke that bloated monstrosity of an operating system and replace it with ChaletOS, Linux Lite, or Q4OS.
So, if you liked Linux Lite (<shudders at how the distribution spells its name>) and Manjaro and perhaps Pop, why did you return? (If there were a distribution that was more polished and had fewer bugs than any flavour of Mint, and offered the same sort of functionality, and had a fairly large community and, ideally, was based on Debian or Ubuntu, then I'd switch. I realise that Manjaro is not Debian-based. I see that Linux Lite is based on Ubuntu, but it seems to present itself as for beginners and I'm not a beginner.)
I know this is /r/windows10, but I would strongly suggest you install Linux Lite on machines like that.
It runs fluidly on 512MB Ram, single core CPUs and on-board graphics, but unlike Win XP it is actively maintained and updated (duh, it's Linux) Plus it will probably extend the battery life due to the lower processing load. Install Chromium Browser and you should have a better experience than on Windows 7 through 10.
Linux Lite will fly on that hardware and it is an attractive customization of XFCE on top of Ubuntu. https://www.linuxliteos.com/
The XFCE interface paradigm is very similar to Windows 7 and Linux Lite has marketed themselves as a replacement for Windows refugees for years. I think it is a great distro. You don't have to get under the hood and learn to use command lines if you don't want to.
I would say Linux Lite. It's very light on resources. Also Peppermint OS, both are based on Ubuntu so its really resource friendly.
Linux Lite for me was the way to go.
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
True. For low spec I would recommend Lubuntu or Linux Lite. But my Ubuntu suggestion does not factor in new users with low-spec machines. Just new users in general. Also i3 may be a bit steep of a learning curve for new users.
Check out LinuxLite OS and should a Debian based distribution rather than an Ubuntu one be OK with you have a look at the rather excellent Bunsen Labs
Edited for clarity and to fix a typo
Linux Lite is a great lightweight (RAM/processor-wise) Ubuntu-based distro that has a good preinstalled set of drivers and applications. I used to recommend Peppermint and Crunchbang for netbook-level hardware until I came across it.
Often when this question comes up, I see people confusing the size of the distro with the performance on hardware - that is to say, people avoid recommending distros with a lot of stuff pre-bundled, saying it's 'bloated' or whatever. Fact is, HDD space is cheap. My old Intel Atom laptop from 4 years ago has a 160GB hard drive which is more than enough for any distro, so there's no reason to shy away from distros with pre-installed office suites, codecs/drivers, etc IMO.
To that point, that aforementioned netbook of mine, despite my recommendations, is running Elementary OS beautifully - but I wouldn't recommend it as a good starter package unless one is willing to make sure their hardware is supported, and that they can get their codecs and are able to install the software they need. /r/elementaryos is full of people posting that they aren't able to even install it from a USB because their graphics cards aren't supported, etc. It's very much in beta at this point. It's wonderfully easy to use as a newbie and works great on old hardware, but the 'tinker level' is a little high at this point. I mention it, though, because I think that once they hammer out the kinks, it will be one of the best distros for newbies -maybe THE best - alongside Ubuntu and Mint.
Well I would say many linux distros loves old hardware (better driver support) but not ancient hardware tough... The beauty of Linux is that you can find the flavor that you need.
In this example he got a very old pc and would need a "lightweight" distro so I would reccomend Linux Lite
On the support page it says it runs p3 mobile @ 866 mhz fine.
That's hardware failure.
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Linux Lite is a free operating system based on the Ubuntu LTS (Long term Support) series of releases.
so the directions for ubuntu should work on linux lite.
the commands enable the extra repositories and install the software from them.
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
You're looking for diagnostics, not a stress test. Linux will run fine on broken hardware, I use to do data recovery on machines that won't boot windows/MacOS all the time. So a stress test won't tell you much.
For diagnostics, download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
If that passes, check the motherboard components with this command (if anything says "failed" your motherboard is probably dying, or you need to replace the BIOS battery, set the hwclock, and try again):
sudo dmidecode |grep -B 2 Stat
Linux Lite downloads:
That might be Hardware failure. Download a Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
The image itself may not be boot able, even if you marked the USB as one.
Try other USB ports. If it still doesn't work, then you did not create a bootable installation media.
Edit
Follow their guide closely. Try their method of creating the installation media, if it differs from your own. If it still doesn't work, follow the instructions for it not appearing in the BIOS.
~~Is your Linux Lite's x86 version UEFI-supported? If not, well...~~ You may need a different Linux distro. Specifically, a Linux distro which supports UEFI in x86 releases.
If there is no such EFI\Boot directory, create one. Make a folder named EFI
on the root of the drive, then create a Boot
folder inside that.
Side note: Devices with Connected/Modern Standby feature cannot boot in Legacy BIOS mode, since CSM is disallowed on such devices.
>I'm no longer interested in 'learning' Linux.
It's better to know. If your going to continue using Linux.
>I'm just not really good with the CLI, never will be.
Never say never
Here are good ones that might work out for you.
Been using Linux for 13 years. I know how Linux works. And Linux is much more fun to use behind the curtain. At least I think so.
Lite or Netrunner should work great for you. At least try some geeky stuff at a later date. It's really fun to do.
Lite use Xfce and Netrunner use KDE.
Enjoy Linux.
Well you said PinguyOS install over Mint. So was Mint gone? It should of been if you said format whole hard drive and proceed installing the OS I currently installing. Which would wipe out Mint and PinguyOS took it's place.
The same goes with Linux Lite. You just install on whole hard drive. Below that should be a Warning. Warning you that the hard drive will be formatting. And anything current on their will be nuke. And the procedures of installing new OS will continue.
https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/images/install/installwizard/install-ll3.png
Nothing should be choppy. You got to correct that problem.
All your demanding software and tools. It's a simple installment to get all your wants and needs.
>lack of packages, documentation, assistance online for nitche cases of issues.
How can it be lack of packages? I can install any Xubuntu, Ubuntu or Debian packages onto my Linux Lite. Linux Lite package manager contains 47,707 packages. A GUI store center is just an click away. (Lubuntu Software Center) if you want something like that.
Documentation. Here you go; https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/ it's the basics for any new user to start out with. It's very detail with lot's of images. Plenty of outsource documentation if you need it or to become a more advance user.
The assistance online. Any Linux community will help you on any issue. Even Linux Lite has it's own community. http://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/ if you don't get your answer fast enough there plenty of outsources where that came from.
Yes, it's a nice little distro. And can be used as a primary OS. Had this one almost 6 months now.
I'm not trying to say XUbuntu is better then Linux Lite. There really both equal and bounce out. You might have to poke Linux Lite to have the same feel and look as XUbuntu. But, Linux Lite ain't trying to be XUbuntu. It's trying to be a Lighter distro then most of them.
Linux Lite is a beginner-friendly Linux distribution based on Ubuntu's long-term support (LTS) release and featuring the Xfce desktop. Linux Lite primarily targets Windows users. It aims to provide a complete set of applications to assist users with their everyday computing needs
Have you checked out Linux Lite? https://www.linuxliteos.com/
I haven't tried it in a year or two, but it was extremely fast on my older hardware. I dual booted it and the Ubuntu it was derived from, and the Linux Lite booted way faster and felt snappier to me. I'd check them out if I were you if for no other reason than knowing what else is out there. You never know which one you'd like more until you try them.
on linux DeaDBeeF uses the window-theme you set for the system, so you can change the look system-wide (GTK/QT theme). Additionally you can heavily customize everything like layout and colors or import settings from other users by copying their config file. Example: https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/screenshots/deadbeef-grey-theme/
>GTX 660
>
>you should try this!
>
>https://www.linuxliteos.com/
>
>runs so much better than xp, 7, 8.1, on old machines. i revived a pentium 4 with this. youtube actually works!
It can be overwhelming for some, I like the way LinuxLite presents it, for new users its a breeze to understand. It is not as detailed nor complete, but it is easy to use
I would start with checking if your hardware is compatible with linux in the first place. My ASRock motherboard gave me some trouble with ACPI GPE interrupt flooding, causing my CPU to be in spinlock. The response from ASRock was that they don't support linux. The solution was to add acpi_mask_gpe=0x6F
as a kernel boot flag but it left a sour taste in my mouth.
My point is to research the components that you choose for compatibility and to be ready to test and return your parts as soon as you get them (during the return period).
Check out these linux hardware compatibility databases:
define what you mean on lightweight as there are several distros that require very little resource as you could go with arch as you can create it how light you want(even easier to setup now that the arch installer exist), if you want to go with a distro that is lightweight on resource but has support for Ubuntu software(i think i have never used said distro) would be Linux lite as it only uses 1-2 GB of ram to run smoothly https://www.linuxliteos.com/
That's hardware failure.
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Probably hardware issues. Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Here's some steps you can take to diagnose the hardware and figure out what broke. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
https://www.slant.co/versus/2689/5001/~ubuntu_vs_linux-lite
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/on-topic/why-ubuntu-why-linux-lite/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zICJaVMyC_Q
It was not hard for me to find this info.
Not an answer to your question, but create a data partition on the ssd (before or after migrating) and mount your Windows/Linux home directories to that partion. If an OS fails you don't have to worry about recovering data from it, since all of your files are saved in the data partition. Also, the partition can be used to share files between different OS partitions on your machine.
Here is the structure of my data partition. The manjaro folder is the home directory for the admin account, and there are home directories for a guest and another user. The files in home directories can only be accessed by the associated user or from an admin account. Files dropped into root of the data partition can be accessed between different users (any user can access the last two files shown in my data partition).
I'm only commenting because I recently had to do I fresh install b/c my system crashed (from installing a new theme) and I wasn't able to recover my data. Now that I have my data seperated from the OS (and with periodic backups of my data partition), I don't have to worry about anything crashing except my ssd, which will probably outlive me.
Here are some steps you can follow if you are interested in seperating OS/data: https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/tutorials/howto-create-and-use-a-separate-data-partition/.
I'd suggest Linux Lite as it's relatively low on resources and it works out of the box. It also has a Windows-like interface so it won't be too unfamiliar to use (I'm assuming that you've got a 64-bit laptop though).
$300 is reasonalbe if you want something disposable. Which, I think, is something we frown on in this sub. A three hundred dollar laptop won't time proof your purchase, you'll need something a bit more powerful. I would suggest starting at $600 for 'new' budget laptop. Such as a hp-pavilion-laptop-15z-eh00. If you can only spare ~$300 your best choice is to get something used. For your price, I would try to find an older 'workstation' laptop. Something like a Dell Precision 6000 or 7000 series. Workstation laptops are made from better quality parts and the main components are less likely to crap out on you. Purchase something refurbished if you want to be reasonably sure the periphreal components like the harddrive and monitor will last and you don't want to repair those components yourself. If you want something a little more mobile you could look for an old ultrabook like a 1st gen Lenovo X1 Carbon and throw a linux OS on it. I think any of these options would get you by for a year or three.
Also, check around for a local PC recylcing buisness. They usually have pretty good deals AND you don't have to feed the beast that is online retail. Lastly sometimes governments have surplus programs. Mid-Large sized state run enterprises are lifecycling equipment every 1.5 to 3 years. You can sometimes find real bargins if you hit the surplus store at the right time.
Btw, Linux Lite is purported to be a lightweight, beginner friendly, flavor of linux. Note that when we talk about operating systems, "beginner friendly" and "lightweight" are almost mutually exclusive. YMMV.
I believe "Linux Lite" is beginner friendly , every other distro might need you to install user level packages or modify settings a bit to become user friendly but "Linux Lite" was good, comes with libre office builtin, iso size is comparatively small, has all the desktop functions similar to a windows.
check it out once before trying Ubuntu URL: https://www.linuxliteos.com/
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Ubuntu server + webmin. If you're going to want a GUI, just use Ubuntu desktop, there's nothing that the server version gets that the desktop cannot.
That being said, that sounds like a hardware issue. Here's how to run diagnostics, assuming it's PC hardware:
Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
The thing is tho, it wasn't heavily customised at all — the disc was actually just a copy of Linux Lite, completely unmodified.
Their (rather lengthy) installation instructions are here: https://www.webhouses.co.uk/lite/helpinstalling.php
The funny thing is, all they're doing is selling a copy of Linux Lite which you can get for free! Even the creator of Linux Lite responded to this on the LL forum
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
I used Linux Lite on my Lenovo Thinkpad X140e. I tried using Linux Mint and Ubuntu but after time they get slower. So then I found Linux Lite which does not need a lot to run it. It has a base of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS but it's more optimized for older hardware.
I wouldn't rule out hardware failure so quickly. Sometimes windows is too stupid to know it's on broken hardware. Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Well this is Linux Lites official response:
https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/software.html#deskenv
Basically they don't support changing your session to a different desktop environment or window manager. This leaves you editing the xsession file as described in other comments or installing a different display manager (login screen). Linux Lite seems to use LightDM as the display manager. I do too, on Debian and it has a small button in the top right to change which session I want. Looks like Linux Lite may have disabled this functionality or as they don't support it (I really don't know why they don't) they may have not configured the packages for other WM's and DE's to place the needed configuration in the right places.
A lot of details on how Display Managers create a list of sessions the user can select before login can be found here in the Session Configuration section: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/display_manager
Switching to i3 may be easier if editing your .xsession file in your home directory to have "exec i3" in it. If Linux Lites Display Manager uses the . xsession file it should launch i3 every time you log in.
Es una distro bastante ligera, en el subreddit de Linux he visto que la han recomendado bastante para PC viejas o con bajos recursos. Yo no la he probado pero en la pagina estoy leyendo que no usa muchos recursos, usa una version modificada de XFCE y que ademas se basa en Ubuntu por lo que te seria bastante parecido a usar linux Mint, ademas de que presume de ser "User friendly".
You can actually run diagnostics on it using free open source tools, but you need a desktop computer to plug it into. Here's instructions:
Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it (on windows you can use a program called Rufus, or just burn it to a DVD).
You then need to boot from the live USB/DVD, instructions vary by computer model, but f10 and f12 are often the key to get the boot menu when the computer first starts.
Once you get into the Linux Lite operating system, open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Linux works fine on that model, you're probably dealing with hardware failure. Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Looking at the specs online LINK if this is correct it's going to be painfully slow.
I have an old ThinkPad X220 with a sandy bridge i5, SSD and 16Gb of ram and Windows 10 is slow. Running Ubuntu Mate or Manjaro it's much better. I can't imagine how horrible Windows 10 would be on that low a spec computer. Not sure WinXP would be much better if I'm to be honest, WinXP got quite bloated by the end.
Have a look at Linux lite LINK runs very well on Windows XP eria computers.
I would teach him how to properly use his phone first. Teach him to not download third party software, not browse the wrong websites, etc. Once this is done, he should consider looking at computers.
I truly apologise for being extremely rude. I myself have sat down and taught people how to use their phones and computers, make them understand by explaining and by example. It helps people learn new things. So take your time with your relative.
Having said this
That's bad memory. Here's instructions for testing it (and your internal HD, which is worth testing as a backup option, if I'm wrong about the memory).
Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
Multiple programs crashing/random reboots/system freezes/failure to boot on Linux is often Hardware failure. Download an Linux Lite iso and make a live USB/DVD out of it. Boot into it on your computer, and select "test memory" from the first menu you see.
If that passes without any red errors showing up on the screen, reboot back into Linux Lite. Open the "Disks" app, select your hard drive from the panel on the left, click the three bar icon in the top right, and select "SMART data and self tests". Then run a short SMART test on your drive.
SMART test instructions with pictures (the disks app is pre installed these days, so you can skip the "apt-get install" step):
https://askubuntu.com/a/528077?stw=2
Linux Lite downloads:
I didn't make any changes to bashrc. There is a powerline but it's default. I'm including the contents of bashrc below. I'm not knowledgeable enough to see if there's any code that could cause trouble.
> cat ~/.bashrc
# enable bash completion in interactive shells
if ! shopt -oq posix; then
if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
. /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
elif [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
. /etc/bash_completion
fi
fi
alias usage='du -sk * | sort -n | perl -ne '\''($s,$f)=split(m{\t});for (qw(K M G)) {if($s<1024) {printf("%.1f",$s);print "$_\t$f"; last};$s=$s/1024}'\'
alias ls="ls --color"
# Powerline
if [ -f /usr/share/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh ]; then
source /usr/share/powerline/bindings/bash/powerline.sh
fi
# Linux Lite Custom Terminal
LLVER=$(awk '{print}' /etc/llver)
echo -e "Welcome to $LLVER ${USER}"
echo " "
date "+%A %d %B %Y, %T"
free -m | awk 'NR==2{printf "Memory Usage: %s/%sMB (%.2f%%)\n", $3,$2,$3*100/$2 }'
df -h | awk '$NF=="/"{printf "Disk Usage: %d/%dGB (%s)\n", $3,$2,$5}'
echo "Support -
<code>https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/</code> (Right click, Open Link)"
echo " "
If it's stock Ubuntu, you can just hit the Super [ Windows ] Key and type 'Task Manager'. A system monitor will come up.
If you want something that's fast and looks like Windows 7, take a look at Linux Light.
It sounds like you have a plan so this may be too late to help. Good luck.
I typically suggest linuxlite as a beginner distro. I also toss it out there if someone says they have an older computer, limited resources, if I need a quick (sometimes disposable) vm for a short term thing. It's Ubuntu based, but it's stripped down and looks similar to windows. Puppy Linux and a bunch of others will work, but I keep coming back to linuxlite unless I need something super light. Alpine and TinyCore are rediculously light, but they also basically just have BusyBox as installed applications so you have to know what you want to install and have the time to do it. Have fun necromancing that box.
You probably need the Linux Lite version for computers with UEFI Secure Boot: https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/linux-lite-software-development/uefi-build-test/msg44253/#msg44253
This will allow you to download Linux Lite 4.2, for which the makers of the distro made a special UEFI Build. After install, you'll be able to upgrade to 4.6.
Thank you. No I am not running a VM, just the default Linux Lite OS.
I googled the vbox.addservice and found this thread: https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/installing-linux-lite/failed-to-start-vboxadd-service-(on-boot)/
I've just entered the following commands as suggested by firenice03 over there:
Will try again now and report back in a bit.
you should focus on the exact tasks you are wanting to do with the system, and figure out what Desktop Enviroments suit your work style.
People way to often focus on somewhat meaningless buzzwords of 'lightness' and get way to worried about looks.
A lighter desktop environment can make for a less loaded system, but once you start actually running programs most of the gain can be lost since the programs required resources outweigh what the DE is using.
Linux lite seems to be using the XFCE desktop enviroment, which offers a good balance of features vs resources.
I Imagine almost any mainstream Distribution that uses XFCE will be similar in performance on a modern machine.
Linux Lite seems to be based on the LTS release of Ubuntu, which may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the needs of the end user.
Just skimming the decent set of docs, I am not really seeing any outstanding features over a normal Xubuntu LTS install, except linux lite is more tweaked in some areas, and has some helper tools for beginners.
Check the docs for yourself and decide if you need the features it offers. https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/start.html
Some specific parts of the manual suggestions i do not agree with.. but to each their own ideas i guess.
Not to say that Linux Lite is a bad Disrto. But for something you might want to use for the next 4+ years, its hard to justify getting worked up about.
The bottom line is, try it for a few weeks, see if you like it, if not there are dozens of others out there if you want some variant, or go back to the Mainstream Distros.
I have just became rather skeptical over the years with all the hype many new distributions try to generate, too often they just toss out 'light and looks good' as the main features, and over look areas where innovation could be made.
Try Linux Lite.
If all you've known is Windows, and you're just after something simple, user-friendly, configurable and with a ton of support that'll let you get comfortable with Linux, it's a great distro. There's a built-in manual and the folks on the forums are all super-friendly and helpful.
Other's I like are.
Lite; Debian; Xfce
Voyager; Debian; Their default now is GNOME, but they still have a Xfce option.
MX do have other unofficial version from other MX users. Some are minimal.
I would recommend Linux Lite
It is very comfortable to use for windows users and is based on Ubuntu LTS, so it is very stable. I know you said you're trying to move away from ubuntu, so if that bothers you, I'd suggest MX Linux which is based on Debian. Alternatively, Kubuntu is ubuntu with KDE Plasma desktop which is very customizable.
If you'd rather actually get a link to the distro instead of having to read through this poorly written spam blog, here it is
I started with Linux Lite as a lightweight, transition-from-windows based distro, when I switched two years ago. Some bumps, many reinstalls, and I still use it. Completely different context, my pc is used by various adults and children as a media center, so functioning like and looking like windows is important. Will be experimenting with some more advanced distros after I get a chance to learn more bash and scripting, for sure, especially now that I know I can share a home folder between them.
Really, everyone loves to promo their favorite distro, but I would recommend making at least 2-4 partitions, and put a different one on each. Ubuntu, arch, gentoo, red hat, mint, pick some you want to play with, and try them out. The good thing is that you will get the essentials (bash) from every distro the same, and for many (non-developer) users, the differences are trivial. Apparently Kali is custom-made for hacking, so there is that. Enjoy
I've been switching clients to Linux Lite. It's a Windows 7 interface clone, and has some extra tools to make Windows refugees feel at home. No complaints so far, from the "we'll never go Win10" group.
I've been distro hopping, mainly bc I want the 5.0 kernel for freesync support. I really liked Solus but the lack of software is frustrating. I've found that it's hard to beat the support Ubuntu distros get.
I tried Manjaro and again, didn't like having to try to figure out Aur and the shitty software center it came with.
Then tried Ubuntu 18.04 and 19.04, just don't like the restrictions of gnome.
So now I'm back to Kubuntu, except now I chose 19.04, even though it's not an LTS. Gives me the 5.0 kernel, and the software availability that ubuntu has. Lot of people bitch about ppa's, I actually like it. I also appreciate the stability of Ubuntu and love the Plasma DE, I can customize it however I want and it works well.
I thought about Pop OS but I just don't see the advantage besides some aesthetics. The other one I was considering after hearing about it on a podcast, was Linux Lite. It's Ubuntu based and is designed for complete Linux noobs since it has thorough explanations and tutorials. The prompts to the user are all in very clear statements that aren't too technical. Even though it says lite, I guess it still comes with a lot of useful software pre-installed. This is all just what I've heard. I thought it sounded interesting because I'm all about making it as easy as possible.
I highly recommend a data ntfs partition. I symlink the folders from my home directory in Linux. Then I mount it in windows too.
Very easy to back up and share files across operating systems.
Here is an example.
I too would not actually like to use PayPal at all. I have donated to Linux Lite via a regular "wire transfer" with no problems:
Bank: Westpac New Zealand
Account: JRG Bezencon
Swift Code: WPACNZ2W
IBAN: 0301230321162000
https://www.linuxliteos.com/donate.html
-maybe MX could have similar?
​
Take a look at Linux Lite (www.linuxliteos.com), version 4 just came out.
Couldn't find the specifications for that laptop you got, but Linux Lite's minimum requirements are 1Ghz CPU, 768mb of RAM and 8gb of disk space.
Anything Ubuntu based is great for beginners. The light weight options will be better for that machine. I recently discovered Linux Lite, and it's almost as light as Lubuntu, but has a full sized Distro feel. If anything, it's layout is too Windows-ish for me.
It also has a tool to install programs that don't install by default in Linux (TeamViewer and various other programs Windows users will be accustomed to). All of those programs can be installed in linux without this tool, but doing them all at once instead of searching the web for installers is awesome
My two cents, I also just switched over, trying several distros... but for personal reasons, I did not like Ubuntu. If you really want to keep the look/feel of windows without the bloat, try Linux Lite, it is my favorite, it is literally designed to transition people from windows, and has an active community if you need help. A few notes (goes for all distros) - any specialized apps you use, you will have to really search for a version that works on your distro (common apps, browser, media player, text editor, etc are usually included), and linux is so small, you can partition up a regular drive and install them simultaneously if you want (grub will usually handle all of it, so you just pick one at boot). I have three parts on a 2nd HDD, each with a different distro, though I almost always use LL. But as you can see (this question gets asked a lot) there are as many answers as there are people answering.
I've recently installed Linux Lite on a 13 yo Pentium 4 desktop and I really like it. It is based on Ubuntu stable so it uses apt and debs. Very little memory usage and a very usable (XFCE I think) desktop.
EDIT: More info about Linux Lite.
It's a very good distro.
Linux Lite is a refined Xubuntu, I put this in the granny systems I build for seniors and everyone is happy with it. https://www.linuxliteos.com/download.php
Should you want more than this system offers then please try Ubuntu Pack XFCE, its much better than the original Xubuntu by a long way.
https://ualinux.com/en/download/category/20-ubuntu-pack-16-04
It's already been stated that my distro doesn't support UEFI, so that was the issue.
I've already tried the other things you've mentioned... Of course.
EDIT: Hmm... I have found this... wonder if I can create a USB with two distos with the resources I have.
Nothing was mounted? If that is true, then you'll need to mount the Windows drive first. Here's the manual page that walks through what I mean: https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/install.html#mountpartdrives
Linux Mint is pretty straightforward and easy to use for new users- even those coming from Windows. If you're aiming specifically for lightweight, use the Xfce edition. There's also always Linux Lite, which is designed to be efficient and light on low end hardware.
Or, y'know: Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE...
Using a netbook. You need all the resources you can spare. Start out using a light DE or no DE at all. Xfce or LXDE would be good DE for you. Try out Openbox with tint2 or something like i3. Then your browser should work a little better for you. Midori should be a good light browser for you. Just make everything as light behind it as well.
Try out Lite 2.6 default DE is Xfce. I'm sure your netbook should run a little better.
I'm not that experienced with it, but I think a lightweight linux distro would be your best bet. Something like Linux Lite, Ubuntu MATE or LXLE.
linux Lite. It is meant to be a direct replacement for Windows XP. All the menus are the same including right click. Comes with everything you need...everything, and plays well with Dell machines.
Spend all your computer time on just using Linux. Get rid of the crutch(Windows). In a short period of time, Linux should grow on you.
Which Linux Distro have you try out? If your machine is nearly new, not more the 6 years old. Try out Netrunner 16 – Ozymandias It use KDE as the Desktop Environment. KDE can be heavy, if you don't have a machine that can run it, correctly.
If you have a much older PC. Try out any Linux Distro using Xfce as it's Desktop Environment. My machine can handle KDE. But, currently I'm using Linux Lite 2.4 Xfce. A great Linux Distro, and it flies on my machine.
Make a list of all your computer task, including using all your peripheral hardware. Then go one by one down that list. To get those computer task working in Linux. If you need any help just PM me.
>Ended up using Ubuntu because it was the only thing that worked with this Broadcom WiFi card
Which mean by default Ubuntu has the correct driver out of the box. And that's all it means. Meaning any Linux distro will work, you just have to install the correct driver for your Broadcom WiFi card. I always wired my laptop. Until I get the Wifi going. Then I go wireless. Just find out what driver Ubuntu is using. And just install the exact wifi driver in any other Linux distro.
I'm current using Linux Lite 2.4 Xfce. Give it a try if you like.
I'd basically download live images of various distros and try them out. You can write them to a USB stick and boot them from your PC. You'll find instructions on that if you google it. Below is a link to Linux Lite, a distro based off Ubuntu, which is a popular distro.
Other, more "mainstream" distros are Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora/Redhat. These are more straight forward and "user friendly" (although Debian might be a bit more advanced than Ubuntu or Fedora). Once you get comfortable with a distro, move on to learning the command line because you can do things faster and easier with it than with a GUI.
In any case, just remember that Windows and Linux let you do the same things - it's just that they have different ways of doing things. People get discouraged because they go into Linux thinking everything will work exactly like Windows, or that if something isn't like Windows then it's broken.
Have you been to the Linux Lite forums?
(https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/index.php)
The forums are fairly active and you are much more likely to get distro specific answers there.
I have used Linux Lite on a netbook in the past and as far as I'm concerned it is definitely a real distribution and a very nice one at that.
For people coming freshly from Windows I suggest Linux Lite. Skype works fine with it. It is based on Ubuntu LTS 14.04. I'm running it at home and work and it has been rock solid.
I'd suggest looking in your distro's repository if there is a package for Steam. Since you don't use Debian, but rather a Debian based OS there might be something more that is needed. This is just an idea though, I use Fedora so I really don't know much about Debian.
Alternatively, this page might help: https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/ (search for Steam on the page, click "Steam Driver Requirements")