What is Reddit's opinion of
Puppy Linux?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
➔ Puppy Linux website
By popularity on Reddit, this Service is:
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
At 7 months I think you are in the clear to install Puppy Linux.
I haven't seen any specific Linux distribution for a full grown dog, most likely because you can't teach an old dog new Linux, but as long as you install soon it should all be covered with apt-get dist-upgrade.
at that level performance, i would debate whether or not I would use the latest rasberry pi instead of that laptop.
512 RAM is bit too little to run a modern web browser. i would use something like puppy linux
http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm
software installation is not that great on that distro.
It's also possible to run Linux completely from a RAM disk (after it has been loaded to RAM from some other form of storage) and some lighter distributions/rescue CDs (like the SystemRescueCd or Puppy Linux) have this as an option you can choose at the boot time.
This is especially awesome for things like rescue CD's, because when you run them from RAM, you can remove the CD/USB drive after the system has loaded. This can be a life saver if you run into a system that has trouble booting from USB (somehow these systems still exist; for example I had a laptop that failed to boot from USB after a BIOS update, but thankfully that issue was fixed soon with another BIOS update), because you can load a rescue CD to RAM and still use the optical drive for something like Windows install disc (I've done this to replace some corrupted system files that made Windows unable to boot and which the repair function on the Windows install disc was unable to fix).
RAM disks are also old as time. Back in the 90's I used to have my own über-DOS-boot-disk (as in: 3.5 inch floppy), which contained more stuff than usually fit on a single floppy. The trick was to compress all that stuff to fit on a floppy and still leave enough space for a RAM disk driver and a decompression utility, so you could make a RAM disk big enough for that stuff (I had whopping 12MiB of memory, so a 4MiB RAM disk was not a problem ;) and then automatically decompress the archive to that drive (easy to do with AUTOEXEC.BAT).
I'm fairly certain that back then I had the coolest boot/diagnostic disk of the block (or the whole town actually, since I grew up in a little town), but for some reason that didn't make me the coolest kid on the block... :P
Running Windows 98 in this day and age is just asking for trouble, it is insecure and also incompatible with most modern software.
If you really want to use if for something then I'd recommend installing some lightweight Linux distribution like Puppy Linux on it.
Doing that should allow you to run some somewhat modern programs on it and keep it secure, though the performance will likely still be pretty poor due to the extremely old CPU and low amounts of RAM that I'm sure that machine comes with.
You have two options.
The first is to boot an entirely new OS from your flash drive. There are several Linux distributions that support this (it's called running "live"). Puppy Linux is one example. There are several upsides to this approach. For example, it bypasses any software keyloggers or similar that your brother might have. But the big downside is that you have to restart the computer each time you want to use it, and it may look weird for anyone looking over your shoulder.
The "softer" option is to encrypt your flash drive using BitLocker. Remember to store a copy of your Recovery file somewhere safe, for example in your email, Dropbox, or on a printed paper.
You can then start filling your flash drive with portable software. PortableApps is a good place to start.
Remember that flash drives and USB ports can differ greatly in speed. Pay attention to drive read/write speeds the next time you buy a flash drive.
Spendy ways to speed up your laptop:
Swap hard drive for an SSD.
Increase RAM to the maximum supported by your OS (4 Gb for 32-bit, 8 Gb for 64-bit). Note that if it's an older laptop, you might not be able to get larger RAM modules for it and if you can, they might be more expensive than it's worth. I wouldn't consider using second-hand RAM unless you get it for free or know for a fact that it's been handled carefully.
Non-spendy ways:
Swap to a less graphic-intense interface. You can go into Windows advanced system settings and tell it to prioritise performance over appearance. If you use a Windows version that supports Aero, turn it off.
Either set Windows to automatically manage swap file space, or configure swap file space to be 1.5 x the amount of RAM you have. Make sure there's at least that amount of free space on the hard drive. Running without a swap file or with restricted swap file space will slow you down a lot.
Get rid of programs that like to run update services in the background. Google Drive, iTunes, etc.
Consider replacing fat programs with thin ones. Sumatra PDF instead of Adobe Acrobat, Sylpheed instead of MS Outlook, etc.
If you use the laptop for internet browsing, email and routine word processing/spreadsheets, think about ditching Windows for a Linux version with a lightweight desktop environment, like Lubuntu. Or go for a Linux variant designed for older hardware like Puppy. Both of these have the advantage that you can run them from a live CD, so there's no need to install them.
Methods that only make sense on REAL old hardware/software:
Run a registry cleaner (but make sure to back up your existing registry first).
Install a utility to defrag your registry and Windows swap file on startup. Booting your laptop will take longer, but the tradeoff is it runs slightly quicker afterwards.
There are versions of Puppy Linux that have been created for low spec, older machines, and also designed to run entirely from a thumb drive or CD if you want.
You could try Damn Small Linux, it might run a little easier on limited hardware. Or Puppy Linux, which is also meant to run on older, more limited hardware.
> Takes 30 seconds for Firefox to open
You can probably make Lubuntu lighter by removing things you don't need, but the main problem here is Firefox.
256MB is very limited for current standards, and modern web browsers like Firefox or Chromium are resource hungry applications. You should find lighter alternatives for your daily programs, probably sacrificing some features you give for granted.
If you don't know were to start you can either switch to a distro that claims to work with such low specs, like Puppy Linux, or antiX , or at least get inspiration from their sowtware selection if you'd rather keep Lubuntu.
Puppy Slacko? Just came out. It doesn't default to KDE, as it's gotten pretty bloated from when I first played with Slax back in '08, but it should do everything nicely. Any Puppy release would, actually.
Hello. Firstly, welcome! You've made the right choice ;-) The specs you have posted aren't that great, so don't be expecting top of the range performance. However, chances are linux will run faster than windows.
You might hear distros (Yup, you had the right word) like ubuntu, opensuse etc. They are good (I personally use Ubuntu) but I wouldn't recommend it for your computer (as it has quite modest hardware).
Although I personally have never used it (My computer is fairly new), others in the community recommend puppy linux .... It is designed to run well on older machines like yours. Give that a go and see if you like it. Any other questions just feel free to reply or pm me any time, I'm happy to help
I use Slacko and love it. Super speedy and with a few tweaks you can get any browser to pretty much be acceptable. That said, the new Xenialpup looks pretty handy.
You can try Puppy Linux.
You might also want to search through Distrowatch, select "Old Computers" in the "Distribution category" drop down box.
You'll want to use Puppy Linux since your working with such little space, it only uses 256MB w/ OpenOffice installed and should have anything you would need.
And if you are low on RAM you may want to think about adding another USB stick just for swap space.
Lubuntu, would be good alright, I would also say Mint or Puppy if they want an easy ride to linux land, or build it from scratch if they are really interested in learning Linux.
I always use [Ubuntu[(http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download) purely for ease of use, but you can also use Puppy Linux or Damn Small Linux (probably better) is you need them off fast.
Just remember that the hard drive is mounted at /mnt normally.
Check out puppy linux. It's a lightweight, but still easy to use, distro that should run very well on that machine. You can also try it from either a usb stick or a cd before installing.
As a side note, you can boot most linux distro's from cd or usb before installing to see how well they will run on your system. They might be slower due to running from a slower media, but it should give you some idea of the performance you will get.
I've found debian with lxde to be significantly faster than lubuntu on an old HP laptop I tried it on.
you might also want to try puppy linux, which runs entirely in RAM so it can avoid having to use a slow hard drive. It can boot from USB, or even better would be to use an SD card so you don't have something sticking out the side all the time.
There's actually a version of puppy made just for eeepc called puppeee. I tried it on my old eeepc 900hd and it's faster than anything else I've tried on there (lubuntu, peppermint, other versions of puppy). I don't like the limited software available, especially because puppeee is based on an older version of puppy, but if you're just browsing I think that might be your best option. Since it's meant to boot from removable storage, though, there's not really any reason to limit yourself just to that and not keep a full debian/lubuntu/manjaro or whatever installation on the hard drive.
Of course, no matter how light your OS is you'll still probably get some lag trying to use modern web sites with a modern browser. There's not a whole lot that can be done about that.
It is unfortunate that manufacturers can not be bothered to put meaningful specs on their alleged support pages.
It would be nice to know what chip set the wifi card uses. Other than that you should be good with that box.
You can find out easy enough if the wifi will work by running a live usb.
It will probably run it, but I don't think ReactOS is really viable for everyday use yet. You really should look into some form of Linux instead; many distros run great on old hardware while still providing a more modern experience, such as Puppy Linux.
If you like debian, check out Crunch Bang Linux. Puppy Linux runs pretty fast on older hardware too.
I prefer the availability of the debian repositories myself...
The only reason I can think of to keep Windows is if were being used for educational/vocational purposes, specifically MS Office.
And yeah, Puppy seems to have a good reputation for breathing new life into older machines, There's also different variations called Puplets if the main release isn't to your liking,
It's exciting :D
A friend told me that you can Google around for the Digital River URLs that host the official Windows ISOs, and just use one of those in trial mode until your copy arrives in the mail. MS even has an official tool to transfer that ISO to a USB and make that bootable.
It's a big download, though. You could grab Puppy Linux in the mean time, if you're eager to get up-and-running. Just 130MB (and good to have anyway in case of emergency).
Puppy can use this program to install its ISO on a USB stick.
The same disk is being used in this case?
I suspect the burn (disc) is bad.
Try this, go to http://puppylinux.org/ and download an iso. If that one gives you an install/working screen then you can be fairly sure the machine is good, but the windows disc is bad. I picked puppy linux since it is a small size so easier to test quickly.
I'm off to bed. I hate leaving you hanging, but i am pretty sure it's a bad disc.
You could use a virtual machine (VM). That's a program that simulates an entire computer. Install Linux to it (a light distribution, ideally, like Puppy Linux), use this browser extension for proper playback, configure the VPN within the VM only and you're good to go. I would suggest Virtual Box, since it's free, easy to use and lightweight. A simple VM running a light version of Linux should not cost too much performance while gaming.
Puppy Linux uses Joe's Window Manager and it is lightning quick.
When I personally want speed I boot my SLAX Linux distro from USB and let it copy itself to RAM. I find having a full Slackware-based KDE system running this way to be insanely fast and productivity-enabling.
You can't get any faster than a distro that runs entirely in memory.
The Whonix Gateway uses 256 MB or RAM, already has Tor set up and is hardened for its use case.
That seems like a good base to work from:
Puppy Linux has a GUI and works with 128MB of RAM, though 256 is recommended. So for 512 you can get a Whonix Gateway and an isolated VM on a virtual network, which is a pretty robust setup.
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm
Anything modernish (vista era) should be fine with mint. Ive tried ubuntu, ive tried other various distros, but mint seems to have the best compatibility.
Now on older things, I've had more luck with puppy linux, particularly slacko puppy, using the non-pae version.
Usually works fine with unetbootin. Even has pretty good coverage of wireless drivers and a GUI interface for ndiswrapper.
Boot to a Puppy Linux CD and then you can easily see and copy whatever data files you need to save. It helps a lot if you try this out before it's an emergency. Puppy Linux boots right up to a graphical environment, it all loads into RAM, super easy to use. Source: Used it for several years now.
I am curious if you thought about Puppy Linux? It's #14 at distrowatch, and likely the most common live focused distro.
Here's an excerpt:
Small size, ~100MB! This lends itself to some very useful and unique features. 'Live' booting from CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, and other portable media. Runs from RAM, making it unusually fast even in old PCs and in netbooks with solid state storage media. Very low minimum system requirements. Boot time is well under a minute, 30-40 seconds in most systems. Includes a wide range of applications: wordprocessors, spreadsheets, internet browsers, games, image editors and many utilities. Extra software in the form of dotpets. There is a GUI Puppy Software Installer included.
I see a new pet in your life. :-)
Those machines are beasts for Puppy.
Puppy loads itself into RAM and then creates a RAM disk to act as a local file system.
When you shutdown the system, the filesystem changes are flushed back to the secondary storage.
You can download an XP iso to burn to a disk, that will accept your key - doesn't have to be the original disc.
Also, if you are just trying to breathe life into an old computer, consider using something like Linux instead of a decrepit OS like Windows XP. Puppy Linux for example will run fast on almost anything, and it is free.
(1. there is also a list of repositories, here
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/PuppySites
(2. Puppy is created entirely by volunteers. New releases come out when a developer feels motivated to fix or add something.
It's pretty much a lightweight live CD/USB version of Linux that runs in the RAM so you can do stuff fairly quickly. I doubt it's the best for a permanent system, but it's fun to mess around with.
I'd have to agree with you, although I'm only really using it in VMs Lubuntu is small and quick. However, with a computer that old you won't be able to use a graphical installer from a LiveCD. You'll really need to download the lubuntu-core image. Puppy image is a great liveCD, but since you have so little RAM I don't know how well it would do. They have documentation on an HDD install, but it isn't as noob friendly.
! has this on their page: "CrunchBang Linux is not recommended for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. CrunchBang Linux could possibly make your computer go CRUNCH! BANG!"
I haven't played with Slitaz.
Well it does have decoy operating system but I get what you're saying you don't want it to be a dead give away you know anything about encryption. Away around that would be to have two drives, and build with a physical intrusion detection system if someone opens the tower. And you could always store stuff on the drive with the hidden OS from the decoy OS to make it look like just extra space.
For a laptop, there's always Puppy Linux. You would do the same thing except you boot from the puppy linux usb/cd instead of having two drives. Encrypt both the USB and the laptop's drive, and store all the large files on the laptop. It can be done in a way that it doesn't matter what you have the boot partition for puppy linux on so you don't have to worry about losing a USB drive and all your data on the laptop becoming useless. Puppy linux just searches for profiles in general when it boots so as long as there is one on the laptop, your information could would still be entirely secure.
Let me know if any of this is something you consider or actually try out. I haven't taken the time to do any of it yet, I was just speaking in hypotheticals. I am making this my NYR though.
Before settling on any distro, it's best to perform a diagnostic stress test on your hardware.
Lucky for you there is a distro that is built for stress testing your exact hardware: Puppy Linux!
[Note: stress testing can cause premature malfunction on new hardware... including--but not limited to--a torn jugular.]
Download the .iso file and burn it to a CD.
Boot from the CD.
Install Puppy to your hard disk.
Fiddle. Puppy does not try to emulate the Windows or Macintosh user experience. It will do everything you want to do, but not in the manner you will expect to do it.
You should approach learning to use Puppy with a clean slate and a sense of wonder.....
OP - What is the exact model number of the laptop?
Windows 98 is a pretty decrepit operating system, and should be avoided pretty much at this point esp. if it's going to be on the internet as a number of security holes have not been patched and you will get trojaned or viruses. Nobody is writing software for it anymore and "new anything" won't run on it. Even the hardworking unofficial support forums aren't releasing new updates.
As others have recommended, I'd move to Linux. But not necessarily ubuntu. Puppy Linux or maybe pclinuxos or one of their variants.
The reason being that Ubuntu doesn't include a number of non-free codecs/software (for various reasons) and these other distributions also are easier to navigate for the noobs coming off from windows.
If your laptop is powerful enough or can be upgraded with more memory (and the reason I asked about specific model number) I would try to put it on windows XP.
I'm a big fan of small computing and have fond memories of windows 98 until the virus writers targeted the platform to the point of being unusable. That and most new software isn't going to run really points to moving on to another platform (if you can afford to) or another operating system (i.e. Linux).
If you do dig up a Windows 98 disk (save your product key) be sure you install the "unofficial service pack 2" that will at least take care of some problems.
I take it you aren't to experienced compiling, so I suggest downloading the .pet. If you still want to compile it, I would suggest you read the the puppy compile guide. You'll also need the proper devx.sfs to compile. I take it you aren't to experienced compiling, so I would still suggest downloading the .pet
It's light and fast, if you go to their forum you can find other variants, based off of Slackware and Debian and some other more specialized Puppy variants.
Though intended to be more of a live distro install, you can do a permanent install.
Pupy has it's own repositories, but the recent Lucid Puppy can pull in anything from the Lucid repos. And the other versions based off of Slackware/Debian, can pull in, or convert most packages.
Lastly, Crunchbang Linux, the most recent Statler version is Debian based, previous iterations were Ubuntu based. Nice, clean, fast, minimal...
To be honest, it takes a little getting used to. It's not as nearly "Windows-like" as most distros. But it works. Quite well.
Do not use XP anymore, it's full of unfixed exploits and completely outdated. There is little software support and you would put your children's data at risk.
Instead, I would recommend using a light version of Linux. Don't worry, it's just as easy to install and use as Windows. I would recommend something like Puppy Linux, which is so lightweight (100MB) that it boots entirely into RAM, making it incredibly responsive even on ancient hardware. You will also not have to worry about getting any malware. Simply use Firefox with uBlock Origin and your kids will have a safe device for fun and education.
You can quickly and easily create a thumb drive with the operating system (both for live use and installation) using this tool:
100% of the time with a great performance will be difficult.
Try using a distro geared towards older machines. Puppy OS is one such distro(http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Installation_on_Apple_Macintosh), as is Lubuntu.
I know about the Puppy "install", don't worry.
Slacko is a Slackware-compatible Puppy Linux, and is one of the two directions they are going nowadays. See http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm#slacko
Puppy Linux would fly on that. Also, it can run from, and be saved on, a USB. So, if you're thinking the internal hard drive is too slow, you could use a USB instead. However, the laptop will be fine.
Bodhi is another great alternative.
For more of an overview of the lightweight distros, you could have a look at this.
to be honest, yes -- most likely. i've used an ATA/133 drive in a pentiumII system. most i've used will back down to the maximum slower speed/rate. though, you might be limited with accessible storage space, partition sizes, depending on which operating system(s) you decide to run.
i recommend Tahrpup or Slacko (Puppy Linux)
http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm
but there are a dozen others such as Windows, OS/2, and DOS
I tried nanolinux64 a couple of days ago (liveISO). Big fan of lightweight OSes and this thing just flew on my system. So far, I haven't come across anything that's faster, including Puppy. I'm talking click and all apps tested opened up in a blink of an eye on an old Intel Core2 Duo (T7200) @ 2.00GHz (3gb rams).
Having said this: I wouldn't install it. Run it through it's paces as a LiveISO. I couldn't get WiFi to work, not sure what kinds of GUI apps it supports. I think it's limited to FLTK but I'm not turning up lots of info right now. Love the default (and possibly only) browser for the system, Dillo, but it's definitely going to run into lots of problems on "modern" sites.
Puppy is your best bet for decent application support on an old 1GB system (cpu not identified), as /u/RedHotFooFecker mentioned. It is regarded as the default suggestion for systems like yours (ever since DSL died off).
Still... very impressed with nanolinux from a lightweight OS perspective and plan on figuring it out (playing with it some more) later. As a tinkerer, I find nanolinux exciting.
Try Puppy Linux. It's designed to run on ancient hardware like yours. It's a live only distro so you don't have to reformat your hard drive or anything.
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm
Can you go back right away and UNDROP the course? Because it really isn't that difficult. You shouldn't give up so easily.
Do a google image search for loops in scratch and booleans in scratch, then go to the Scratch site and try those things out. Spend a couple hours on it, you'll see how easy those two concepts are. Scratch is for kids and beginners, you can use it (temporarily) to learn stuff like that. And then those concepts transfer over exactly to C++ or anything else.
As for Linux and VirtualBox, did you get it running? Because that should take less than an hour. Download VirtualBox, install it, click "Machine" "New" then follow the prompts. Use Puppy Linux 6.3 for an easy and small system. Then it will just start running inside a window. You don't need to reboot or format or do anything weird. Any problems? You can ask here, but google things first to practice getting info that way.
The one I use all the time is Puppy Linux, you can try the latest version from that page, it runs in VirtualBox, or pop it on a USB stick and boot from that.
You might think about Puppy Linux. It's designed to run on low-spec machines. It runs from USB and loads entirely into RAM, requiring 256 Mb. I've even used it on a laptop without USB boot support by installing PLoP boot manager.
You should try to install a lightweight Linux distro on it like Lubuntu or Puppy Linux
It is very likely that this will run better and you could also still receive security updates and use a modern web browser.
By the way, Thinkpad are popular among Linux users because they are usually working very good with this OS.
In your case, I strongly recommend puppy linux. Odds are extremely good it will work out of the box. link
Not all distros use network-manager, though you can usually install it.
If network-manager is not present, you can always check to see if the file at /etc/network/interfaces is controlling WiFi. You can check for the existence of a /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf file which may be controlling the WiFi configuration.
Live CD/usb is just a CD /USB, which you can boot from them. You could try Linux distro such as puppy http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm or hiren boot cd
How to Create a bootable USB http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-bootable-usb-cd-dvd-install-windows-using-iso-file/
Using that you can go to your hdd and delete the folder
I use Puppy Linux all the time for this, just pop in the USB and reboot to it. Puppy is designed to load completely into RAM, so if you have 1 GB or more it all loads and everything runs really fast. You're running 100% Linux, it totally ignores Windows.
Puppy detects your hard disks, but doesn't mount them. So you can't accidentally mess things up. But if you click on a hard disk icon, then it will mount the disk and then you do have to be careful, because to Linux it's just a disk of files, and you can delete any of them. But for everyday use, of course you just copy files back and forth. And on a 32GB USB drive, there's over 25GB of free space usable by Windows and Linux.
When you shut down, it saves all your settings to the USB stick, then pull it out, reboot back to Windows, and you're right back to normal. It's really easy once you get used to it.
No worries. My pleasure!
And to add to the excellent advice from /u/FluxCannon I would definitely learn Python and then C ("Hacking: The Art of Exploitation" is entirely in C). As for Linux distros, I like both [Lubuntu](/r/lubuntu) and Puppy. Both are lightweight and fairly full-featured.
I think the best place to go for more information is here, and then sort of wander around. The people over there are a lot more knowledgeable than I am and reading what's over there will give you a lot more insight than I can.
Generally speaking, the many flavors of Puppy are pretty idiosyncratic in terms of how they work and what they do. It's not just that you're always root - there's just a fundamentally different feel and way of doing things. Though there are a ton of pups out there, they all have this unusual feel.
The best way to really find what you like is to try a bunch of different versions and see how they fit. The Quirky/Slacko/etc versions that are very popular all feel the same, and even my favorite LXPup feels like that.
The big differences that I've noticed aren't so much in the broad strokes of the versions (they pretty much work the same) but in how well my computer runs them. I'd like to test drive Simplicity, but it just doesn't work for me. Same with Fatdog. The more traditional pups work well for me, so I play with them more. My Chromebook doesn't run Puppy at all, so I use Ubuntu instead.
Do some reading at the link I posted and Google the things that look interesting. After that, it's time to download the isos and see what you like.
You could give Damn Small Linux or Puppy Linux a try. Both are designed for low memory overhead and older/slower processors. They used to be ugly as sin but it looks like the design has gotten a lot better over the years.
I tried Puppy Linux last night, but the only drives I could see were 2 recovery and 1 backup partition on the drive, not the main partition with my actual files.
I thought I might try deleting all partitions other than the system one and running Windows startup fix to restore the bootloader, but if the drive is actually still encrypted that would obviously render it irrecoverable.
I personally would use Puppy linux and boot from a USB drive. You can get Puppy here: http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm
Once booted see if you can access the main drive. If you can, connect an external hard drive and pull your data to it. I did data recovery for years and this is pretty much what we do unless the hardware has completely failed. Good Luck!
It's actually very easy, just 2 steps.
First, get VirtualBox use the "Windows host" version and install it. It's a simple install, no need to reboot or do anything weird.
Then go to Puppy Linux and get the latest version ISO. This is a small Linux that's designed to load into memory and run (no complicated installation). Then just follow the steps in VirtualBox under "Machine - New" and make a new virtual machine from the ISO. That will get your Linux running in a window.
At that point, you'll have to start experimenting and reading the docs (for VirtualBox and Linux). Good luck!
Puppy linux is designed for that. It can either be volatile and save nothing between runs or it can save to the usb it loads from when you shutdown. It runs entirely from RAM once you boot.
Its a bit rough around the edges but it can do a lot.
I'm actually running Puppy now (Slacko Puppy). Puppy runs in RAM, (64mbs min, 256 recommended) so you're going to see maximum speed.
I'm currently experimenting with a few lightweight distros myself (tried Porteus and a slightly heavier Zorin). One of the features that I truly like about the Puppy is the amount of embedded documentation. If it wasn't for the built-in docs, I wouldn't have tested Persistance (the system walked me through every step, every single prompt - Hats off to the Puppy Folks).
This has turned out to be a killer feature for me (I didn't even know how badly I wanted this and how cool this was until Puppy's implementation led me there). Basically, I run a LiveCD and all changes are saved to my Flash Drive (or Hard Drive if you prefer).
With Persistance, you can make changes on your system (wireless, Firefox Plugins, Saved Files, Firewall, Wallpapers...) and they all get saved into a ~~SFS~~ 4FS file on exit (and automatically throughout your session) all the while Puppy is running entirely in RAM. Next time you boot up from the LiveCD, it will check for this file on the root of drives, if not there, it'll boot the LiveCD normally. Even better, I have the ~~SFS~~ 4FS file saved with encryption - so Puppy will ask for a password when it finds it.
I was able to update Firefox to version 36 with a ton of plugins - so you're good here. Noted from another of your comments that you want to run BOINC. Did a quick search and saw support for this on Puppy too. Browsing, networking, Video/Audio even burning CD/DVDs are supported in an ISO that's about 160mbs.
(edit: ~~SFS~~ extension to 4FS)
Puppy Linux comes with DidiWiki, that is quite basic. However, I've found it very useful. http://puppylinux.org/wikka/DidiWiki
Its also available on Arch https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/didiwiki/
Luckily, we still have things like Tiny Core (~10 to 70 MB, different types) and Puppy Linux (~140 to 200 MB, also different types) that are around 100 times smaller than Windows 7/8, or about the size of Windows 95 but with modern features (at least for Puppy Linux, which includes a lot of apps, Tiny Core doesn't really do much out of the box).
There's also one made from scratch, KolibriOS, that can fit on a floppy disk, but not being based on Linux, it can't really run any popular software. only programs made for KolibriOS (not much).
Either the installation is totally borked, or you have a hardware failure somewhere in the laptop.
Try booting from a liveCD. If it boots and runs without crashing, your hardware is probably fine. If it crashes on boot, something is broken.
If your hardware is OK, then you're going to have to recover whatever you can from the hard drive using another machine and reinstall windows from scratch.
Nice!
The only reason i chose linux mint over ubuntu is that linux mint has the proprietary hardware drivers on disk. I figured in the context of the question, the less the user has to do to get a fully working pc the better.
OOOH and if you haven't already heard about it, there's an ubuntu based version of puppy linux it's a super small version of precise pagdolin that will run moderately okay on computers with a windows 95 sticker on em. last time i tried to install it it was a pain and a half (i eventually decided the best way was to take the HDD out and attach it to my computer with a usb bridge and use UNETBOOTIN to install it like it was a flash drive and the put the hdd back in) so i figured it was a little too far out of scope too because it's so hard to install.
I'm not sure how to do it from BIOS, but I use an alternate method. The method that I use involves booting to Puppy Linux and then formatting the drive from there.
boot a livecd / liveusb and check if you can see the drive normally. or you can run gparted and see if the hdd is listed.
e.g. inspect output of lsblk and blkid commands. also
ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/
puppy has its own installer , but you can make a simple install with basic knowledge of partitioning tools and syslinux.
if hdd is detected normally, you can try these steps : http://puppylinux.org/wikka/InstallationFullHDD
this link is the best step by step guide afaik : http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29653
I'd grab your important files off the drive before doing anything. Download http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm, burn the iso to a CD, boot off the CD, then launch PMount (mount icon on desktop) and select your internal drive and a flash drive. Both should appear on desktop and you can easily drag stuff between them. The virus will not be gone, it's not clear whether it's directly to blame.
Looks like a newer Mac but test things out via Puppy. Downloads 5.3.3 from http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm, burn the iso to disk following http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060619181010389, boot off it by pressing C during boot, and see if it gets to desktop. It's likely just your install that's wonky. Possibly firmware also.
Possibly relevant:
>The Linux distributions that Woof can use as the foundation for a Puppy Linux distribution include: Debian, Ubuntu, Slackware, Arch, T2, SDE, Puppy, Mageia
Know How to Resurrect an old PC with Linux
This tutorial should walk you through installing another operating system on your old computer. They mention a few, but I would go with the one they used: Puppy Linux.
You could always throw in an SD card and boot from that. If you're looking for really small you could look into Puppy Linux or Damn Small Linux
There are specific Linux distributions that are made for simple use and low RAM usage. Xubuntu and Puppy Linux are two that come to mind, but there are many more. Check out some screenshots and hardware requirements of the two systems. Both of these operating systems can be run from a boot CD or boot USB so you can test the full functionality and compatibility of the OS on your hardware before committing to installing it to the HDD. I would suggest trying it via boot media and then installing it from the boot media if it is compatible and the interface is easy enough for your neighbor.
Puppy Linux might be one.
I can't find actual minimum system requirements right now, but it says "When installed to USB flash, Puppy consumes only a little over 100 MB, or about 256 MB with OpenOffice". This would require a USB port, though, but I think it can also be put on a CD.
honestly - just hook up an old laptop with w wireless mouse and keyboard. Hook it up through the vga in on the TV. or go to fry's and get a convertor for RGB or HDMI etc.
It's what I did after trying everything else.
run a linux booting OS on it for great performance. The borowser is a REAL browser so will do anything a browser can do.
If it is a REALLY old laptop get a copy of puppy linux to boot on it. puppy linux will make even old 585 pentium computers with 32 mb of ram run amazing stuff.
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm
I'm not sure if Toutou Linux is still being maintained, as I don't speak French. But it might be worth a look.
EDIT:
Oh, wait, there are other options: http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Francais
At our current level of technology, a boycott of Foxconn would be trivial.
Just don't buy a new computer.
No, seriously. That ain't sarcasm. With the exception of gaming, pretty much everything you want to do on a new computer, you can do on a machine that's a decade old. Sometimes you can even do it faster.
My father-in-law was stuck on a Pentium III machine from 2001, running Windows 2000. It'd take maybe two minutes to load FireFox. One Puppy CD later, and his browser loads in one second.
One. Fucking. Second. It was like some crazy fucking voodoo shit, but it made perfect sense. After all, my old 120mhz Toshiba laptop with 32 megs of RAM used to load Word in about four seconds, and what the fuck does Word 2010 do that Word 6.0 didn't do, that would require a PC forty times as powerful?
To break the cycle of needing faster computers every few years, we just need to use software that gets faster with every update, not slower. We need to stop Moore's Law in its tracks, and say "That's enough power - now let's learn how to use it properly."
Personally I haven't bought or built a new computer since 2003, and my machine still does everything a damn sight faster than most new ones.
Puppy Linux is really lightweight and has a good reputation for working well on old machines, and I believe they have some variations with older kernels that are designed to work with machines that are no longer supported.
Download, burn and run a Linux cd such as the one found here.
It will bring up a temporary operating system that should allow you to copy your files from your internal hard drive to an external.
You might want to try Peppermint OS, too. It's a lightweight, sister distro of Linux Mint that's made by one of the same developers.
Puppy Linux is fun, lightweight distro that might be worth looking into, too. The main release is only 128 MB (although there's plenty of remixes called "puplets" that vary in size) but it's amazing what they manage to cram into it. It's also designed to run entirely in RAM off a live cd or a thumbdrive ( and you can save sessions) with no installation necessary, although you can install it into your hd, as well.
If you just want to grab some data off of it, maybe give puppy a try and just run it off live media so you can just grab those photos and transfer them to some other form of media.
Get LinuxMint (LXDE edition). This should do you good (runs more nicely than a LXDE desktop on a debian base).
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1705
Else, Puppy Linux (much more ressource-efficient while remaining usable).
Sounds like all you really need is to download the necessary packages (.deb files) and keep those on a USB drive, to use as a local repository ("software source"). Basically, create your own little mirror of the Ubuntu packages most needed.
I mean, any .ISO you might-could make is going to be somewhat specific (I would think) to the laptop you built it on.
Either way, depending on what it is your friends want to do with their laptops, maybe you should look into Puppy, and making your own Puplet. Along those lines, the iso-builder "Woof" might be useful--it claims to be able to build a Puppy from Ubuntu's distro.
Or, then again, I could be completely wrong. I tend to know just enough *nix to dig myself a really deep hole.
if you have a 64 gb drive, memory is the least of your worries. the only files the system needs take up rougly 180 mb of space. I have a 1.7 gb save file, and if you want to be able to compile (needed to install some programs), you'll need a dev file, which is another 140 mb. the rest of the space on your drive is free for you to add whatever data you like to it, data that can still be accessed by any other computer you stick the drive in.
VLC runs fine, i'm not sure about netflix but sure it can be worked out. there's a chromium build for puppy which works well. and this claims to let you run open office
http://puppylinux.org/main/How%20NOT%20to%20install%20Puppy.htm
i'm on puppy now. it's really great for most computer tasks.
however, while it is possible to install almost any linux program on it, it's easy to get caught in "dependency hell" where you have to install more and more packages to support each other etc.
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm
You burn the iso and run it live. If it works on the machine,then you install it. Anyway,here is a link and these folks are using it so should be much more help than I would be as I'm using Ubuntu.
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm
Linux has great reputation for breathing new life into old computers.
You could try Wubi, which is a virtual, dual-boot install of Ubuntu that you install/uninstall just like any other program, or Puppy Linux, which is leightweight, but is designed to run completely in RAM. You could run it on a live cd or usb (using unetbootin to install it into a usb- it's super easy to use) and it will save your sessions, no partitioning, no installing necessary.
You can install puppy or tinycore inside the Vm.
You can also use arch or Ubuntu/Debian net install if you want ,that's if you want something minimalistic and don't mind doing some work.
For my own curiosity, what's taking up 11gigs and why not just install it on the host?
With that laptop being 32-bit you're looking at losing support for it with all of the Ubuntu forks over the next couple of years. There are less and less software packages being developed for 32-bit. With that said, Lubuntu 18.04.2 will give the closest WindowsXP experience while running decently on that laptop. Support will drop April 2021.
Puppy Linux will have some differences but will perform beautifully with the specs given on the Lenovo. Try Xenialpup and you can even boot it and load on the computer without removing XP or having to install side by side.
You can install Puppy onto one of the Windows partitions:
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/InstallationIndex
I'd recommend not using Puppy as it is a very different Linux experience when compared to other distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, Manjaro etc etc. I'd suggest installing Puppy to a USB drive, it's easier and and you can save your work etc, you'd just have to change the boot order on your PC so it boots into Puppy.
I'd also recommend Lubuntu, LXLE, Manjaro LXDE, Debian LXDE and so on if you want a light distribution, or perhaps try Antix? It's very light and a straight forward install.
My main issues were the battery on my laptop being used up when it was off (substantially) and having trouble trying to boot into a live distro of Linux due to this issue. Having applications open when booting while fast boot was enabled was something minor I noticed went away after I turned it off.
Before you try anything, make sure all the cables are plugged into your main boot HDD (just incase).
If that's all good you've probably got a corrupt disc (Maybe MBR is corrupted), leading me to think you have a boot sector virus or HDD as crapped itself (though these are rather extreme I might be missing something obvious).
I would download a live linux distro such as puppy linux or Hirens Boot CD (Hirens might have a recovery tool) and make a boot USB to salvage your data, I find linux very good at accessing "corrupted" HDD's.
Then you're gonna have to reinstall windows and maybe get a new HDD.
>i followed this ... pdf tutorial
The link to the pdf file is broken. If i were able to review the pdf file i might have a better grasp of what Tahrphp is.
Noted it appears to be related to puppy linux in some way which in itself is often uncommon. Google seems to reveal it's an obsolete ubuntu 14.04 spinoff
>Tahrpup is an official community edition (CE) of Puppy Linux, built from ubuntu 14.04 LTS trusty tahr packages, 3.14.20 kernel
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/tahrpup
Definitely obsolete.
If your going through all the effort to install linux using an obsolete distro that could be why your experiencing problems. Linux 3.14 is ancient and EOL. Only distro masqerading as modern that is dumb enough to still use a 3.x linux kernel is centos :)