HOW TO DOWNLOAD LINUX TO A OLD MACHINE

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sije

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device specifications:

sony laptop: model pcg-61a12l
processor: intel(r) core(tm) i5-2430m cpu @ 2.40ghz 2.40 ghz
ram: 4.00 gb
system type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
original: windows 7 home prem currently running windows 10 home

i would like to know which linux is best to run/install on my system, i would like to do a whole installation. my device currently runs slow probably because its only 4 gb but i would like to be able to use this system for school.
 
Last edited:


Schools will give you grief for using linux. Just because they do not understand it so do not be discouraged.

That system should handle any modern linux distro so just make a choice. I prefer Fedora myself.

With 4G RAM you will want a light desktop so stay away from Gnome unless you have 8G. Fedora calls it a spin and has various desktops. xfce, lxde and I think cinnamon desktops for fedora are good for low memory systems. Ubuntu would work also but again it is the de or desktop environment that is the deciding factor when you only have 4G RAM. Just use one of many utilities to put the version you want on a usb drive and try out the whole thing in live mode running from the chip. just remember that installed on the drive it will run faster but you can make sure everything works before installing. Most have an install option right there so you can just do the install. It is simple but if you have issues we can help
 
Writing in all caps is considered 'yelling' and folks may find it rude.
 
APTI said:
Schools will give you grief for using linux. Just because they do not understand it so do not be discouraged.

That system should handle any modern linux distro so just make a choice. I prefer Fedora myself.

With 4G RAM you will want a light desktop so stay away from Gnome unless you have 8G. Fedora calls it a spin and has various desktops. xfce, lxde and I think cinnamon desktops for fedora are good for low memory systems. Ubuntu would work also but again it is the de or desktop environment that is the deciding factor when you only have 4G RAM. Just use one of many utilities to put the version you want on a usb drive and try out the whole thing in live mode running from the chip. just remember that installed on the drive it will run faster but you can make sure everything works before installing. Most have an install option right there so you can just do the install. It is simple but if you have issues we can help
Click to expand...
thank you for the reply i am actually taking a cybersecurity class and this will be my machine to play & learn about linux. thank you
 
sije said:
...runs slow probably because its only 4 gb...
Click to expand...

I'll bet the bottle neck is related to file transfers limited to SATA/USB 2.0 instead. Which is another of those cases where i keep refering to the RAMDisk option of a few legacy-friendly OSes as Slax/Porteus and Puppy Linux, which means running "LIVE", or if patient then in "frugal" mode as i vaguely recall...


P.S.:

2023-Oct-9​
​
2023-Oct-9​
​
2024-May-29​

They're all below 500 MB.
 
Last edited:
G'day from DownUnder @sije and welcome to linux.org :)

If this is an in person class with a teacher/lecturer, and it includes a module in Kali Linux, I would advise the following:

  1. Have a read of the first two threads here https://www.linux.org/forums/kali-linux.162/
  2. Have a read of what Kali say here https://www.kali.org/docs/introduction/should-i-use-kali-linux/, which says, in part
If you are unfamiliar with Linux generally, if you do not have at least a basic level of competence in administering a system, if you are looking for a Linux distribution to use as a learning tool to get to know your way around Linux, or if you want a distro that you can use as a general purpose desktop installation, Kali Linux is probably not what you are looking for.
Click to expand...

Cheers and good luck with the class

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
Welcome,
to confirm what others have said, your machine may be getting on, but it is still quite modern, so will run any Linux distribution you wish, however I would suggest a medium or lightweight build, download a few to a pen-drive and test them out in "live" trial mode, find one you like the look and feel of, and which works best on your machine, What is best for any member here is not necessarily the best for you, My old laptop similar spec [which recently died] ran all the following quite happily
Mint LMDE6 [cinnamon edition]
Parrot [home edition]
Peppermint
Linux Lite
Lubuntu
MX-Linux

there are over 500 desktop editions of Linux to choose from, with around 8 different desktops, so you should find one you like. BUT please read the release notes and other docs for each build before you install it.

sije said:
i am actually taking a cybersecurity class and this will be my machine to play & learn about linux.
Click to expand...
This machine will be Ideal for your task, but Pen-testing [ethical hacking] distributions, of which there are around 10 all slightly different but all using the same "Tools" all of these developers ask that you are Linux experienced and terminal competent, and will expect you to have garnered enough knowledge to find and fix any installation and running problems yourself.
As most such distributions are Debian based, I have only included Debian based distributions in the above list

HOW TO DOWNLOAD LINUX TO A OLD MACHINE​

see my how do i install guide, link in my signature below.
 
Last edited:
I run Linux Mint with LXDE desktop environment which is great on old hardware. An example of a good distro to start with.
 
I've wanted to try Mint on my previous tablet before but as i recall the 1st challenge was to get it installed and reboot (lucky me i could "patch" it with its own ia32 missing stuff found in the alternate 32-bits .ISO), so i ended up using Linuxium, until MX seemed a better option only to self-destruct a few months later, because of the hybrid 32/64 bits bootloader exactly... Then a definitive solution was to simply upgrade this hardware so that more Linux spins became an option, except the remaining heavyweight ones.
 
On your specs, you could just run a vanilla Debian with a minimalist/lightweight desktop. Use Debian's Net Install CD as it's <700MB and will give you an easy installer without wasting 3GB on a liveCD. I recommend XFCE4 desktop for a nice balance between UX and resources. However, you can go lighter.
My laptop, before my upgrade, was a little below your spec as I also had 4GB RAM, but your 2430m CPU > my 5200u CPU. So if I was happy running a normal XFCE4 Debian on 4GB with a lower power CPU, you should be fine. Why I needed to upgrade to 2x4GB and an SSD was largely because work and my need for Edge + Large Spreadsheets + FF (because Edge was only for 365)
But before this job, all was good. So long as you won't be opening 15 browser tabs, developing in VS Code and managing multiple 1.5MB Excel files with analytics, you should be pretty safe on 4GB.

I'd throw antiX Linux out ther, too (MX is part of the same dev-sphere as antiX and it's a little -- subjectively -- prettier than antiX). If you want blazingly-fast and feature-rich OOTB at the minor cost of aesthetics, look no further. It's my go-to rescue environment and was one of my earliest daily driver distros (yeah, before it was cool). It can run any way you want, incuding live with persistence.

My advice is to install a few distros on your hdd (60GB per dist is fine while testing) in multiboot. See how they run on metal. See what you like. Then whityle it down and once you're happy, just stick with that distro, no matter the snags you run into (so try to stick with well-supported distros). You can start leaning new ones in your spare time and if you fall in love with somedistro else, well, you change once you're equally competent with it.
 
APTI said:
Schools will give you grief for using linux. Just because they do not understand it so do not be discouraged.

That system should handle any modern linux distro so just make a choice. I prefer Fedora myself.

With 4G RAM you will want a light desktop so stay away from Gnome unless you have 8G. Fedora calls it a spin and has various desktops. xfce, lxde and I think cinnamon desktops for fedora are good for low memory systems. Ubuntu would work also but again it is the de or desktop environment that is the deciding factor when you only have 4G RAM. Just use one of many utilities to put the version you want on a usb drive and try out the whole thing in live mode running from the chip. just remember that installed on the drive it will run faster but you can make sure everything works before installing. Most have an install option right there so you can just do the install. It is simple but if you have issues we can help
Click to expand...
Yeah so I just wanted to share that I'm running Ubuntu on a old laptop hp probook with 4gb of ram and I'm not having any problems. I'm using xfce de also. Also I have Debian on another old notebook wit 3gb ram and it runs just as good. Some food for thought..
 
Egzoset said:
I'll bet the bottle neck is related to file transfers limited to SATA/USB 2.0 instead. Which is another of those cases where i keep refering to the RAMDisk option of a few legacy-friendly OSes as Slax/Porteus and Puppy Linux, which means running "LIVE", or if patient then in "frugal" mode as i vaguely recall...


P.S.:

2023-Oct-9​
​
2023-Oct-9​
​
2024-May-29​

They're all below 500 MB.
Click to expand...
thank you
 
wizardfromoz said:
G'day from DownUnder @sije and welcome to linux.org :)

If this is an in person class with a teacher/lecturer, and it includes a module in Kali Linux, I would advise the following:

  1. Have a read of the first two threads here https://www.linux.org/forums/kali-linux.162/
  2. Have a read of what Kali say here https://www.kali.org/docs/introduction/should-i-use-kali-linux/, which says, in part


Cheers and good luck with the class

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
Click to expand...
thank you i am taking a online course, so no in person teacher and its about kali linux my instructor recommended debian but im not sure if it will work on my system. thank you
 
Brickwizard said:
Welcome,
to confirm what others have said, your machine may be getting on, but it is still quite modern, so will run any Linux distribution you wish, however I would suggest a medium or lightweight build, download a few to a pen-drive and test them out in "live" trial mode, find one you like the look and feel of, and which works best on your machine, What is best for any member here is not necessarily the best for you, My old laptop similar spec [which recently died] ran all the following quite happily
Mint LMDE6 [cinnamon edition]
Parrot [home edition]
Peppermint
Linux Lite
Lubuntu
MX-Linux

there are over 500 desktop editions of Linux to choose from, with around 8 different desktops, so you should find one you like. BUT please read the release notes and other docs for each build before you install it.


This machine will be Ideal for your task, but Pen-testing [ethical hacking] distributions, of which there are around 10 all slightly different but all using the same "Tools" all of these developers ask that you are Linux experienced and terminal competent, and will expect you to have garnered enough knowledge to find and fix any installation and running problems yourself.
As most such distributions are Debian based, I have only included Debian based distributions in the above list

HOW TO DOWNLOAD LINUX TO A OLD MACHINE​

see my how do i install guide, link in my signature below.
Click to expand...
i will play around with a few and see what works thank you for your time and help
 
davinci74 said:
Yeah so I just wanted to share that I'm running Ubuntu on a old laptop hp probook with 4gb of ram and I'm not having any problems. I'm using xfce de also. Also I have Debian on another old notebook wit 3gb ram and it runs just as good. Some food for thought..
Click to expand...
thank you i also have another laptop thats a hp 4g which is more newer then this one so thanks for your input
 
Fanboi said:
On your specs, you could just run a vanilla Debian with a minimalist/lightweight desktop. Use Debian's Net Install CD as it's <700MB and will give you an easy installer without wasting 3GB on a liveCD. I recommend XFCE4 desktop for a nice balance between UX and resources. However, you can go lighter.
My laptop, before my upgrade, was a little below your spec as I also had 4GB RAM, but your 2430m CPU > my 5200u CPU. So if I was happy running a normal XFCE4 Debian on 4GB with a lower power CPU, you should be fine. Why I needed to upgrade to 2x4GB and an SSD was largely because work and my need for Edge + Large Spreadsheets + FF (because Edge was only for 365)
But before this job, all was good. So long as you won't be opening 15 browser tabs, developing in VS Code and managing multiple 1.5MB Excel files with analytics, you should be pretty safe on 4GB.

I'd throw antiX Linux out ther, too (MX is part of the same dev-sphere as antiX and it's a little -- subjectively -- prettier than antiX). If you want blazingly-fast and feature-rich OOTB at the minor cost of aesthetics, look no further. It's my go-to rescue environment and was one of my earliest daily driver distros (yeah, before it was cool). It can run any way you want, incuding live with persistence.

My advice is to install a few distros on your hdd (60GB per dist is fine while testing) in multiboot. See how they run on metal. See what you like. Then whityle it down and once you're happy, just stick with that distro, no matter the snags you run into (so try to stick with well-supported distros). You can start leaning new ones in your spare time and if you fall in love with somedistro else, well, you change once you're equally competent with it.
Click to expand...
thanks forthe information.
 
Egzoset said:
I've wanted to try Mint on my previous tablet before but as i recall the 1st challenge was to get it installed and reboot (lucky me i could "patch" it with its own ia32 missing stuff found in the alternate 32-bits .ISO), so i ended up using Linuxium, until MX seemed a better option only to self-destruct a few months later, because of the hybrid 32/64 bits bootloader exactly... Then a definitive solution was to simply upgrade this hardware so that more Linux spins became an option, except the remaining heavyweight ones.
Click to expand...
thank you
 
I see and hear lots of suggestions

I do not see much 'doing'

Grab a 8gb usb stick,,,,burn a distro to it....boot the laptop to the usb stick....and TRY IT OUT.

Allow your own instincts to be your guide. If you don't like one......burn another and try another....you do no necessarily need more than one usb stick....simply burn the next os straight over the top of the existing one. (Yes....that works)
 
Last edited:
sije said:
sony laptop: model pcg-61a12l
processor: intel(r) core(tm) i5-2430m cpu @ 2.40ghz 2.40 ghz
ram: 4.00 gb
Click to expand...
For old PCs I would try Lubuntu. It is especially designed for old PCs.
I hope your USB-device will be bootable, via DVD you must have a lot of patient.
 
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