Anyone know anything about Linux?

[DecapitatedLegoman]

We've got an old laptop which I refuse to splash out on a copy of Windows for (it was running XP 'til we formatted it) and I'm trying to download Ubuntu but having a bit of a struggle, does anyone know about this stuff and would you mind seeing if you can help? DH could probably fix it in a blink but I'm being stubborn

Please, he's on the phone but once he comes off he's going to start moaning at me for downloading loads of random crap

I don't understand why, what should be a .iso file is just a collection of random folders.

Sounds like you have some kind of virtual CD-ROM software running on the (Windows?) device you are downloading the file to which is auto-mounting the ISO file.

You need to write the file to a CD using something like Nero, or to a USB stick using the instructions and installer downloaded from here - USB always works for me, you need at least a 2MB stick that will be wiped in the process.

Thank you! I've managed to install it but finding opera prohibitively slow. In fact it keeps hanging. It's an old machine, 2002 or something, so I haven't upgraded to the new version. Do you think that might help?

How much RAM?

Any full-featured GUI whether it's Windoze or Gnome (which is what Ubuntu uses by default) is going to struggle with less than 512k. Here are some hints on low-memory installations - you have to be quite techy and willing to research and experiment to make progress with any Linux distro though.

:(

I should have said, I gave up with Ubuntu because when I downloaded it it never came with a .iso extension so it wouldn't write to CD or USB. So I used Vector instead, opting for 6.0 Light because it's an older machine. No idea about RAM I'm afraid - will ask DH - but when we ran XP on it speeds were perfectly acceptable. It'll only be used for browsing, eBay and emails really so won't be clogged up with programs and files. Can't understand why it's so slow. On phone just now but will look at your link on PC tomorrow, thanks :)

I haven't used Vector before but the Light edition is based on some sensible components and looks like a good choice for your situation (one of the main resource saving hints on the Ubuntu page I linked to is to switch from Gnome to IceWM or Fluxbox which Vector Light uses by default) - it should be fine running Opera with 128M or even less memory.

Try running a full memory test, could be your RAM is on its way out or perhaps some other hardware problem, although if it was OK on XP that shouldn't be the case.

Hi and thanks again. Using Firefox seems to have resolved the problem. It must be an Opera glitch. I hate technology sometimes!

Well that's odd, Opera is much more lightweight than Firefox and is the preferred browser for the Vector distro!

Like I say, patience and experimentation are prerequisites for successful Linux installs.