Anyone here with Linux experience?

GuilewasNK

GuilewasNK

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I have been trying to re-install Windows XP on a old PC for my mother and I am having no luck. It keeps hanging despite reformatting C: twice and searching the Microsoft knowledgebase. I have been at it the better part of two days on it and rather than continuing to waste time with it I want to try Linux on her PC.

Can anyone recommend the best Linux download? I just want to get her PC running with basic programs.
 
If you're hanging on install or on a fresh install, it sounds more like a hardware issue, which Linux isn't going to fix. Other than that, feel free to give Ubuntu/Xubuntu or one of its other derivatives a shot.
 
[quote name='Genocidal']If you're hanging on install or on a fresh install, it sounds more like a hardware issue, which Linux isn't going to fix. Other than that, feel free to give Ubuntu/Xubuntu or one of its other derivatives a shot.[/QUOTE]


I'll check the jumpers on the hard drives to make sure everything is right. I replaced that when she got a new power supply as well and maybe that is the problem. If it isn't that I have no idea what it could be.
 
Is your mom computer savvy? Linux isn't very suited for people who have problems using basic operating systems. Are you going to be able to answer her questions she may have if you've never installed Linux yourself?
 
I have an older HP laptop that I couldn't do a clean install of XP unless I slipstreamed in SP1. Try that.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Is your mom computer savvy? Linux isn't very suited for people who have problems using basic operating systems. Are you going to be able to answer her questions she may have if you've never installed Linux yourself?[/QUOTE]

I pick up quickly.

It's either I fix the XP install problem, try to install Linux, or she gets a new PC. Since she can't afford one, and the XP install is pissing me off, Linux may be the only option provided it isn't a hardware issue. Honestly, all she needs is the ability to browse the web and play solitare.

Now that I think about it, I think I have a Windows ME install disk I can try that came with the PC. ME sucks, but it's better than a PC that isn't running at all.
 
Also, rest the BIOS to factory defaults. I had a hugely frustrating experience with a system that was seemingly clobbered but it turned out to be a single setting that got changed by unknown means. The setting would cause the HAL (hardware abstraction layer), a critical component of any Windows NT descended OS that gets the portable portion of the OS connected to the local hardware (NT was originally designed so it could be ported to just about any CPU architecture), to not be found.

The first time this happened about a year and a half ago it became a wild goose chase because in the process of getting the HAL reinstalled (since it was seemingly missing from the drive) I chose the wrong one. I then discovered that XP will not allow the HAL to be changed after installation. You could do this in Windows 2000 and I needed to do it on a few occasions when I installed a second CPU in dual socket systems like my old BP6 machine. I found a utility that claimed to be able to change the XP HAL but I just couldn't get it to work. I ended up doing a complete rebuild of the system for my client.

A couple months ago it happened again. It was hard to understand since the hardware had been tested every which way and everything was good. I wasn't available to go look at it, so one of my co-workers took on the task. He discovered a BIOS setting he thought was odd and sure enough, it fixed the whole problem. What we've never been able to determine was why the setting got changed in the first place. The machine's owner would not have done it. The only time he would ever venture into the BIOS is if I directed him to do so over the phone.

If you look around you can find ISOs for some handy slipstreamed XP install discs that have SP3 and tons of updates and optional items like the latest IE, all pre-installed. This saves a huge amount of time in getting a system rebuilt.

Ubuntu is the current standard for inflicting Linux on non-technical users. The problem is that the same problem preventing XP from installing may also affect the Linux install.

I can't claim to be a big Linux fan. It's useful for some things but we tend more to use BSD for those apps. For consumer use, I've never had a new distro release that didn't make me wonder what was wrong with the people who thought this was ready for regular humans. One thing I'd run into with Ubuntu over four generations was its inability to install any of the three versions of Flash it offered. One of the most important browser add-ons in existence and it just couldn't be made to work without effort far beyond what is reasonable to be asked of consumers.
 
[quote name='epobirs']Also, rest the BIOS to factory defaults. I had a hugely frustrating experience with a system that was seemingly clobbered but it turned out to be a single setting that got changed by unknown means. The setting would cause the HAL (hardware abstraction layer), a critical component of any Windows NT descended OS that gets the portable portion of the OS connected to the local hardware (NT was originally designed so it could be ported to just about any CPU architecture), to not be found.
[/QUOTE]

I definitely give that a try if all else fails. I'm probably not going to work on the PC until Friday when I can set aside a whole evening to work on it. I did see a solution involving using a ME/98 boot disk so I'll give that a try to.
 
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