Old Computer in need of a new OS

[.:Brian:. 0]

Ok, well I have an old computer...it is a Pentium 166Mhz computer with 128MB of ram, a 20GB hard drive, and a 2MB video card.I want to put a new operating system on it (i was thinking maybe something in the linux line of things), and was wondering what people would recommend that would work on the computer, and not be unbelievably slow.I really want a GUI interface, but i also don't want to have to wait 10 minutes for everything that you click on.Any recommendations would be great.(not sure if this is exactly the category to post this in)Also any recommendations for cheap hardware upgrades would be great as well...

Edited May 31, 2007 by .:Brian:. (see edit history)

[faulty.lee 0]

Linux will runs fine on that computer. Probably running an older version, or use the latest version, but strip down the unused stuffs to lighten the load. If you don't want to spend too much time installing diff distribution to try out, you can download live-cd version, like DSL(damn small linux) or Knoppix or any that catch your attention. Once you found out which one can run nicely and meets your requirement, then you can choose to install it onto your harddisk. Most live-cd has such option.

 

Btw, i believe your pc should be able to boot from cdrom. If not, then you're out of luck, will need to download those that can install from floppy or at least most of them let you create a startup floppy, then continue to install from cd. That doesn't apply to the live-cd version

 

Try this site http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/. This link sort out only the live-cd (it's a long list) http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/search.php?categoryp;status=Active

 

Good Luck

[Unregistered 0111405241546 0]

I was thinking of doing that to my old computer as well. It's a Pentium 166mhz too. I had a 20 gigabyte hard drive, but I took it out to add space in my current desktop. Is it worth getting a new hard drive to put on a really old computer with linux? It's basically just collecting dust, and all I'll probably do is just word process.I was going to try a old version of ubuntu, but I'm not sure if it will work.

[faulty.lee 0]

If your pc has a USB port, then you can opt out the harddisk. Use bootable cd + usb for storage. That way, anything wrong, just reboot. Further more, older pc has problem with harddisk bigger than 20GB. I don't think you can find a new harddisk that's less than 40GB nowadays. Word processing, browsing or you can even turn it into a router or server. 166Mhz, is good enough as a server, but running GUI application will be a bit slower.

[Soto 0]

I don't know what you use it for but i would upgrade the ram, and video. I hate computers that dont load extremely fast, and lag in games. So the lowest i want to go for my new computer is a 7300 Nvidia GeForce 512mb vid card, 4gb of RAM, and a 300gb hard disk, but i still plan on upgrading to the 8800 Nvidia GeForce Ultra. Which i beleive to be the best card out their, price ranges from 800$- 900$ lol. So i don't think thats what your looking for. I personally like windows. I also have no idea what you would need or what would run good, but im going to run Windows Vista, or Windows 64-bit.

[wutske 0]

Using a LiveCD on an old computer isn't a good idea, the cd-rom drive in that computer is probably a slow one and it would take ages to load a live cd. On the other hand, if you'd get DLS (Damn Small Linux), then it isn't such a great problem because it's only 50Mb in size (@Laurence, DSL comes with AbiWord, I don't know if that's good enough for your word processing).Another suggestion is getting Windows98 SE, it runs fine on a P1, needs only a little amount of memory and can do the most basic things.

[ethergeek 0]

I want to put a new operating system on it (i was thinking maybe something in the linux line of things), and was wondering what people would recommend that would work on the computer, and not be unbelievably slow.
I really want a GUI interface, but i also don't want to have to wait 10 minutes for everything that you click on.

Go with a minimalist linux distro. Install ubuntu using the server install, and don't install kde or gnome. Then install a lightweight window manager like blackbox, fluxbox, or icewm. Any KDE or Gnome apps will still take a little time to load, since they need to load massive libs into ram to run, but once you get one running the rest should load reasonably fast.

Btw, i believe your pc should be able to boot from cdrom. If not, then you're out of luck, will need to download those that can install from floppy or at least most of them let you create a startup floppy, then continue to install from cd. That doesn't apply to the live-cd version

Not true at all. You can easily pop the HDD into a usb enclosure (or install the HDD into another system) and install linux to it from any system you like. That's the way I installed my old router (it was a 486/33, replaced long ago with a 2.8Ghz p4 HT) and it worked just fine.

[bombshop 0]

I will definitely recommend Slackware. If it does not suit your needs you can install DELI Linux which is a distribution based on Slackware. I have installed DELI ona a 486 box with 720 MB harddisk and 8 MB of ram. You will be able to use it in the command line but you can experience some slowing down in X desktop.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

That system sounds ancient, makes my 7 year old laptop sound like top-of-the-line . Try some minimalistic OS, or try ReactOS.xboxrulz

[.:Brian:. 0]

Ok, well I have a relatively new CD-ROM drive in it (actually a DVD+-R/RW dual layer drive), so I don't think speed with that drive will be an issue with anything.And no it does not have any USB ports. (should I add some?)I have tried a number of different distros now, and it seems as if many have a lot of issues where they will not boot for some reason or another.

[WeaponX 0]

You can add a PCI USB adapter card into it if you really need it. I would just stick with the CD/DVD drive to run the Live Linux CDs if you want to try them out first. Otherwise, install it on that drive. Try the Linux versions/flavors that are mentioned above to see which one you like more.Let us know which ones you tried already and didn't work as expected. I'm sure they still have Linux flavors available for those using more older hardware.

[Sten 0]

You should try a smaller distro of Linux for your computer.

I have an old computer (with worse specs than yours 4 GB space)

I did once find a really small Linux distro which I can't remember now.

There is Damn Small Linux but I'm not sure if that can be installed. I also have feather linux which is about 129 mb but the same with that I'm not sure if it's just a live cd or not. I haven't used both of them in ages.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Any type of minimalistic Linux will work. Especially since its kernel is like 1 - 2 MB.xboxrulz

[Sten 0]

On the linux website (linux.org) you could always just do a search for minimal distributions.I find most distros I like from searching on that site as alot are on there and there are types for every different need.

[iGuest 3]

No boot disc

Old Computer in need of a new OS

 

Well I have an old AMI comp and want to format the hard drive, BUT the cd rom works but the comp wont detect it even though it is set to detect it. I have no boot disc and no way of making a system boot disc cause the Dell comp I have has no Floppy Drive. I can Install one but don't have the money to buy one right now. So pretty much I can't do anything on this old comp unless someone can help me figure out what to do and give me some suggestions.

 

-reply by Jurgen