[JMT74]

Hi, I am new to Linux so I attempted to install it on an old computer that is a Comaq Deskpro EN 733mhz Pent. III, 128mb of ram 10gb hard drive. I have Windows XP on it now but I would actually like to get rid of Windows XP on it and only run Linux on it. I downloaded and burned Mandriva 2008 onto a cd and tried to get it to install with no luck. I should have looked to see the minimum req. for Mandriva. What is the best form of Linux that will run on a 128mb machine? Also what is the best way to get rid of Windows XP and run Linux only? Thanks.

[arochester]

I would try LiveCDs first, before scrapping Windows XP. One of the best lists is at http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

At 128Mb of RAM the Xfce desktop has a better chance of running - rather than Gnome or KDE. Look at Xubuntu, SamLinux, Zenwalk and Dreamlinux.

Your problems might start when it is a Pentium III...

[prunejuice]

I have Xubuntu running on a laptop with 256MB RAM and a Pentium III 600Mhz.

Runs nicely, but with 128 MB of RAM, I'd go with Puppy maybe.

[TerryNet]

I'm experimenting (slowly) with my laptop with 128 meg. RAM and 400 MHz Celeron CPU. Xubuntu seemed OK at first, but then got as sluggish as XP, and it didn't really appeal to me anyhow.

Now have Puppy Linux on it; boots fast, shuts down almost instantly, and runs pretty well. Now if I can just get a wireless card working with it ...

I intend to take a look at Damn Small LInux, Gentoo and Slackware also.

When booting from pretty much any Linux CD you can partition/format. When I first installed Xubuntu I skipped the option to shrink the XP partition and just told it to use the whole hard drive. Installing Puppy I shrank the Xubuntu partition and set it up for dual boot. Messed up the last part and can't boot Xubuntu, but this is a learning experience for me.

[Cr0wZz]

I use puppy on a Toshiba Satellite 7000ct and it works great

128mb ram
3gb hd

Really small, boots really fast

I would suggest puppy myself

[avisitor]

I have (K)ubuntu Dapper (yeah, I haven't upgraded that one yet) running on a 450mhz PIII with 386MB RAM.

[jamesbandido]

thanks to some peeps and a lot of reading and trial and error i was able to rev up my old pc (pentium 200mmx - 64MB ram, 6GB HD, 4MB video) using Damn Small Linux ...