Linux Distro on old laptop....

[jrodbrown58]

I am currently trying to install Linux on my uncle's old laptop...the laptop is a Dell Inspiron 600m with only 256MB of RAM and 30GB HDD and was running XP until it got the "Blue screen of death" so I replaced the HDD and have been trying numerous distros to install but they all seem to get frozen at some point or another on the old laptop. I know he doesnt want to spend much on getting it running again and so far all he has been out is getting a HDD. Is there any distros out there that our easy to install and setup with the laptops wireless internet card and will be easy to use for my uncle who isnt very tech savvy? Please I'm running out of options....Thank You!!!!

 

[diegosuse]

Option

Hi. You can try Zenix. Can be a great distro on the enviorement you describe. I used on a Ibm old old old server and works fine. Based on debian. Hope works.

 

[Sinister_Diagram]

Zenix is a great recommendation. Bodhi Linux is a very lightweight distribution - though it is new. It has great customization options as well. I have it on an old laptop of my Mother's and it has roughly the same specs as the laptop you mentioned, such as 256 ram. You could look it up, maybe watch some videos and the like, get your own view on it and see if you think it would be something easy to use. Or simply try a live cd and get a more hands-on approach. Lubuntu would be another great choice. It is very lightweight and I believe it's minimum ram is 128mb. I will include an official Wiki page that gives some information for this distro along with a link to the Bodhi site. If any others come to mind, I will edit this post and let you know. Hope you are able to find something that works properly!

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu#System_Requirements
http://www.bodhilinux.com/

 

[Stefano Messicano]

Ubuntu would run but you might want to use Xubuntu or Lubuntu. I'd try Ubuntu first and if the performance isn't strong enough, you can change the Ubuntu to one of the others without re-installing. Your pc is likely strong enough. There are other related options like LinuxMint as well. I think mint which is built from Ubuntu is a little easier for new users but I think you'd do fine with Ubuntu.

 

[sam300]

Use Ubuntu, I never had any problems with it.

 

[Darwin]

Ubuntu will be fine but Xubuntu is probably your better option on a lower spec machine. From my experience anyway.

 

[GGGuardian]

I recommend Ubuntu. Its fairly simple and easy to navigate around and should run just fine on such a old labtop.