Best linux for old laptop?

M

MikeyBeChaos

Guest
Ok so I have this very old laptop that was gave to me when I was younger. It is far to old to run my favorite linux distro OpenSuse. Right now I am running CrunchBang with the openbox window manager. It runs fine for the most part. The computer has a Intel Celeron that clock in at around 900MHz and a grand total of 368mb of usable RAM.
It seem to run at around 250MB of RAM under normal operation such as web browsing.

Is the another disto that would run any faster or is there a different desktop environment or window manager I could install that would consume less RAM.

Thanks,
Mikey
 


Ok so I have this very old laptop that was gave to me when I was younger. It is far to old to run my favorite linux distro OpenSuse. Right now I am running CrunchBang with the openbox window manager. It runs fine for the most part. The computer has a Intel Celeron that clock in at around 900MHz and a grand total of 368mb of usable RAM.
It seem to run at around 250MB of RAM under normal operation such as web browsing.

Is the another disto that would run any faster or is there a different desktop environment or window manager I could install that would consume less RAM.

Thanks,
Mikey

Try Archbang. It's Archlinux/Openbox with a gui install. I run it on my test laptop I think it runs 165MB after boot with all my software. It will be a little faster and you'll learn a little Arch. It's pretty easy to install with the GUI but there are some post install task to complete it so read the website. (FAQ) If you get stuck just ask here.

Another Mikey. @MikeyD LOL
 
I would have normally suggested Lubuntu for a lightweight laptop and I think Ubuntu and all the buntu's run very well on laptops. With your memory available and your skill level Archbang may suit you better.
distrowatch.com has a good listing of distros to read about.
 
I found PuppyLinux a bit too basic.
Peppermint or BodhiLinux seem to me to be much more polished and both are extremely fast and should be quite comfortable with the limited resources of your old laptop.
 
Hi Mickey
CrunchBang could be providing the best speed possible with the best software selection available.
I like Crunchbang and have used it on under powered computers before. Bodhi might do it for you as well as AntiX.

Tip of the hat to you for trying to bring old computers to life again. To me it is very rewarding when it works out. My Gateway Laptop W730-k8x with 500 megs of ram ran Crunchbang very well without having to search the repositories for a Broadcom driver like I did when I replaced CrunchBang with Lubuntu.

Best regards,
John Kerr
 
I'm using Ubuntu 12.0.4 on my Gateway MT6457 laptop after running Vista (or Shista). Since I've installed it my CPU fan runs a lot less since its not getting driven to death as it was in Vista. Everything is working just dandy and I'm very pleased. I couldn't run Linux on here before because of keyboard issues, but I thought I would give it another try. Installation was a breeze and once I got all the GCC files installed getting programs put in is a cake walk. Never returning to Windows ever again!
 
Im
Try Archbang. It's Archlinux/Openbox with a gui install. I run it on my test laptop I think it runs 165MB after boot with all my software. It will be a little faster and you'll learn a little Arch. It's pretty easy to install with the GUI but there are some post install task to complete it so read the website. (FAQ) If you get stuck just ask here.

Another Mikey. @MikeyD LOL
working on installing ArchBang on an extra hard drive for my desktop to give the installation and try since it requires a little pre installation prep.
I think I have an idea of what to do, because last night I installed DSL on my laptop and had to use cfdisk to make a few partitions then flag one as bootable. I didnt care for JWM (joes window manager), nor could I find a package manager on Damn Small Linux so I don't think its my cup of tea.


Hi Mickey
CrunchBang could be providing the best speed possible with the best software selection available.
I like Crunchbang and have used it on under powered computers before. Bodhi might do it for you as well as AntiX.

Tip of the hat to you for trying to bring old computers to life again. To me it is very rewarding when it works out. My Gateway Laptop W730-k8x with 500 megs of ram ran Crunchbang very well without having to search the repositories for a Broadcom driver like I did when I replaced CrunchBang with Lubuntu.

Best regards,
John Kerr

Besides OpenSUSE CrunchBang is probably on of my favorite distros that I have found. I used it for sometime on my main desktop before switching to OpenSUSE.

Tinkering with old computers in something that I like to do. I come across old computers a lot since I work on a trash truck. People just do not realize that they can get many more years out off that old pc.
 
Last edited:
So I made a bootable flash drive with the archbang iso, booted it up on my desktop and selected archbang open box session got this and I don't know what to make of it.
ip3am0.jpg
 
I have not installed on a flash drive so I don't know what to make of it. @ryanvade has loaded Arch on a flash but I'm not sure if hes loaded Archbang. Also I always use gparted prior to my Arch or Archbang installs. I never fdisk through the gui.

Once you have it installed these step will help so you can use pacman to upgrade.
/etc/pacman.d
setup your mirrorlist file -See the FAQ on there site and run rankmirrors to setup your fast repos.
Archlinux-Before you can run pacman -Syyu or install any additional software you need to setup the keys.
Code:
#pacman-key --init
and
Code:
#pacman-key --populate archlinux
then run upgrade
Code:
#pacman -Syu
 
So I made a bootable flash drive with the archbang iso, booted it up on my desktop and selected archbang open box session got this and I don't know what to make of it.
ip3am0.jpg
Archbang is perfect for live disks. How did you make that bootable flash drive? It seems there's something wrong with it.

Not that you don't know that... Anyway, when it comes to writing Arch(-based) live cd images into usb drives, avoid GUIs like unetbootin and use dd, e.g.:
Code:
dd bs=4M if=/path/to/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdx
If you have already tried that method, verify disk against image file (by using md5sum, for instance).

Were you able to boot other usb live disks on that old laptop or was that other distro installed with another type of medium?
 
Last edited:
I'm using Ubuntu 12.0.4 on my Gateway MT6457 laptop after running Vista (or Shista). Since I've installed it my CPU fan runs a lot less since its not getting driven to death as it was in Vista. Everything is working just dandy and I'm very pleased. I couldn't run Linux on here before because of keyboard issues, but I thought I would give it another try. Installation was a breeze and once I got all the GCC files installed getting programs put in is a cake walk. Never returning to Windows ever again!

Clever name for Vista. I like the name. If you think Vista is bad, try Windows Hate, I mean Windows 8.:p
 
Ok so the first problem was indeed an issue with the flash drive. Found some blank cds and burned a copy of archbang. It booted just fine. I start the installation process. As it was installing to the hard drive I got an error.
wbwcyd.jpg
 
Are you installing from a new/current ISO file? Did you run a checksum on the iso? Sounds like a systemd upgrade error that you should not be receiving on a fresh install. Verify your source and target data has been prepped properly.
I've never had any installation problems so I'm baffled.
 
Go for Puppy Linux version, depending upon the kind of specifications you have provided, this one will go with perfectly alright.
 
Are you installing from a new/current ISO file? Did you run a checksum on the iso? Sounds like a systemd upgrade error that you should not be receiving on a fresh install. Verify your source and target data has been prepped properly.
I've never had any installation problems so I'm baffled.
I think it may be because I burned it on Max speed. I'll give it another try tonight! @angelbrown. I would use puppy Linux but I don't like jwm.
 

Staff online


Top