[Ralph23]

Hey there.

I've had this old IBM Thinkpad for a while, and it's running...something. To be honest, I'm not really sure if it's linux / ubntu / debian. It's one of the above or something...

Anyway, what I want to do is wipe the current OS and all files / etc...Then I want to install something like Windows XP and/or Vista. (This is another question. If I go for one of these OS's over the other, would it cost me less / be free in ANY way?)

Now, questions:
- Is this possible? (With the IBM Thinkpad). Eg, is the hardware / drivers compatible with Windows?
- Which should I get, XP or Vista? (Money-wise. I want something free... not sure if its possible)

Help appreciated...

[phatfred]

Your Thinkpad will probably run XP, but depending how old it is it may not be able to run Vista. Check your hardware against both the XP and Vista system requirements before going out and getting one as you will have to pay for Windows.

Linux, on the other hand, is free

[TerryNet]

The only way to get Windows for free is to steal it, and the forum rules frown on us helping with something like that.

"Windows Vista" and "old computer" don't belong in the same sentence. If (that's a big IF) you could install Vista you would be quite unhappy with the performance.

To know if there are XP drivers for an IBM PC look on the Lenova web site to see if they exist.

XP with less than 512 meg RAM is very sluggish. 128 meg may be the minimum.