Installing Linux on a Dell Mini netbook

[badexcuse]

I have a Dell mini netbook, and it appears Windows has become corrupted as it will no longer boot. I really only use it for web surfing, and thought it might be a good machine to reformat, install linux and go from there. Anyone know where you can get this done reasonably in Austin, or can I even do it myself with little difficulty?

 

[spidey69]

I know there are few Linux users on this forum. I am one of them.

I would recommend looking at a few distributions. Ubuntu and Mint (variant) tend to be the most popular and polished.

For older machines, I highly recommend Puppy Linux. It is impressive for its relatively small size. It works well on newer machines as well, but then you would definitely want to compare it to Ubuntu or its variants.

I use puppy linux on 3 machines at home. My 8 and 11 year old run Puppy Linux on their machines.

Most Linux distributions can also run in a 'live CD' mode. Puppy also does this better than most. It allows you to try it without installing.

links:
Puppy Linux home
puppy linux discussion forum

Good Luck. Write back with more questions!

 

[Bob Wills]

Check out the Ubuntu Netbook Support Wiki and see if your Dell is listed. If so, download 9.04 here and install it with a thumbdrive.

 

[14tokihorn]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[badexcuse]

Installed Ubuntu, so far, so good. Thanks guys!