[AnonygooseD]

I want a a free OS that is very small and can be booted from usb/cd and has these things:

-GUI
-file explorer
-browser
-least visual effects and graphics possible
-(recommended) a media player, or the possibility to install one easily.

So if it's possible to install programs, dependencies should be resolved because I'm a WINDOWS user and I couldn't deal Ubuntu, I'm not a programmer either. The OS doesn't necessarily have to be linux, ANY OS...

So Ubuntu distros won't do, they are laggish on my pc, Damn Small Linux won't do either, I can't even boot it! I also must mentioned that my computer is extremely slow...
I thought about asking here because there's tons of distros and builds out there so maybe something knows one with the stated factors above.

[Ent]

Have you looked at Puppy Linux?

[AnonygooseD]

well I checked puppy linux, it's still bulky and large in size, I am seeking <100MB OSes, or even better; <50MB because I need something small and fast on an old slow machine like mine, as I said above...

[1002richards]

Have you looked at Slitaz?
Quote "
SliTaz is a free operating system providing a fully featured desktop or server in less than 35 MB.
In Live mode SliTaz can run completely in RAM and boot from removable media such as a cdrom or USB key. The system is secure, stable and easy to use"
http://www.slitaz.org/en/

Hope it's of interest?

[arochester]

There is a cut down version of Puppy, called BrowserLinux.

"BrowserLinux is a fast and small (93 Mb!) Linux distribution for surfing the web.
Web-browser: Firefox 5.0.1
Flash 10.3
PDF-reader
Music Player"

---http://www.browserlinux.com/

[AnonygooseD]

this one looks promising, I just didn't know how to burn the iso to usb, i used "iso to usb" but it stops responding while burning and that can corrupt my usb right?

[AnonygooseD]

I've used "Rufus" to make the boot usb of Slitaz, it wasn't what I wanted, the browser doesn't have tabs nor can download anything, also there are no drivers, also failed to detect new hardware because it wants a root password I don't even know where to get that!
Anyway I'm going to download and try the browser linux now... Any other OSes hit me up please.

[arochester]

To burn an ISO to a USB stick use the program: unetbootin

There are different versions available for Linux, Windows and OS X.

...http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

[Squashman]

It sounds like you want the engine of a Corvette but don't want it to be bigger than a Chevette.
Could you enlighten all of us with the system specs of this computer.

[aks56h]

Try bodhi linux, damn small linux*50 mb or xubuntu.

[Squashman]

Another thing to consider is what version of the USB standard your USB ports are. If they are the older version 1, just about any USB OS is going to run slow.

[Squashman]

I don't think you can get much smaller than this.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/welcome.html

XPUD is pretty small as well but not as small as DSL or Tiny.

[AnonygooseD]

hey, i tried browser linux, just what i wanted but the thing is:...
it took so long to make the "personal configuration" file, i ended up resetting the machine, now the linux wont boot, AND NEITHER DOES WINDOWS!
Also, dsl, tiny core, ubuntu builds wont do... unetbootin somehow doesnt make dsl work...

[AnonygooseD]

also, why does every linux i try becomes unusable once i reset the machine without "shutting down"? in ubuntu when i did that, the 2 taskbars completely disappeared when i opened it again. and in browser linux it wouldn't even start up from the "command-line mode"... why does that happen?

[saikee]

Don't blame Linux. Check your bios first to see the order of the booting queue.

Also try to shut down and start again to see if it works.