DannyD Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Ok i just got an old PC and I want to install linux on it. Now where do i start all i know is that the PC is intel and has 256 mb of ram thats all i know about the pc. now i need to download centos from somewhere. what do i download? how do I burn it to a CD? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin. Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Try looking into Ubuntu. It's an excellent Linux distro that should work just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshritger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 I am going to assume that you are running windows since you said that you want to install linux. When you go to the centos website you will be downloading an ISO file which is a cd image. Download the version for i386 since this should be compatible with your hardware. This file can then be burned directly to a cd with a cd burning program such as infrarecorder. Once you burn the cd with infrarecorder it should be bootable and allow you to use it to start the computer and install centos. I would also recommend taking a look at ubuntu which is located at ubuntu.com. Ubuntu is one of the more user friendly linux distributions. When you download the centos disk ISO if you just want to try it out before installing it download the live cd. This will let you test centos out without installing it. It will give you an option to install also. If you try ubuntu download the desktop version for 32 bit and it should also have a live preview available on the disk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyD Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 Thanks for the quick replies! I am downloading ubuntu and its an .iso file. Do i have to burn it on a DVD or a normal CD? Also the other PC has no operating system. Will this run on 256 mb ram? Thanks alot for the help guys!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshritger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Thanks for the quick replies! I am downloading ubuntu and its an .iso file. Do i have to burn it on a DVD or a normal CD? Also the other PC has no operating system. Will this run on 256 mb ram? Thanks alot for the help guys!!! I believe the default desktop download for ubuntu is a CD. I also believe that 256mb of ram should be enough memory to install ubuntu. I know I have installed it with less in the past. I am not sure if the live cd will run with just 256mb, but you should be able to do the normal install method with 256mb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyD Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 I believe the default desktop download for ubuntu is a CD. I also believe that 256mb of ram should be enough memory to install ubuntu. I know I have installed it with less in the past. I am not sure if the live cd will run with just 256mb, but you should be able to do the normal install method with 256mb. Yes I am just installing the normal one. Its 700 MB so i am downloading like 3 mb per sec so its going to be done in a few minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshritger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Yes I am just installing the normal one. Its 700 MB so i am downloading like 3 mb per sec so its going to be done in a few minutes. That should be the regular cd version. Good luck with it, I am running ubuntu as my main OS. It runs very well, but I am running a core 2 duo and two gigs of ram If ubuntu is too slow for you on it, give xubuntu a try, it requires a less powerful computer and offers almost the same apps as normal ubuntu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyD Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 Burning CD now. I have a 2 GB stick that fits right in but I am scared that I am going to burn the mother board it might be too powerful? Hmm looks like the CD drive does not work so I cannot install the OS. Is there another way? When i start the PC it just says OS not found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshritger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 If you know how to get into the bios there should be an option to either change the boot device or the boot order. If you can find that option you can choose to boot the computer from the cd drive first instead of a hard drive or floppy drive. I would wait on the memory until you can get the computer running without it. If you do want to go with the memory make sure that it is the right type and speed of memory before putting it in to the machine. If it is the wrong memory you could wreck the memory or motherboard. As a side note I don't know if I can help you get into the bios, usually you push delete or one of the F keys right after the computer turns on. It all depends on the motherboard though. Usually the first screen that comes up on startup should tell you what key to push. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyD Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 I dont think the CD drive works at all. I mean it opens and the green light comes on and then it shuts down and the CD does not spin. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshritger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 I am not sure what to say, if you have another cd drive that you can swap in and test, that would be the best bet, but it may not boot from the cd if you do not have the bios set to start the cd drive before the hard drive or floppy drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyD Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 k i went into bios and made it boot from CD but it just does not start up and it directly says OS not found. Hmm what if I take out the hdd and install the os on it? Or what if i use a USB stick and make it start up from a removable device? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshritger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 I am not sure what the alternative is, I am unsure if installing to the hard drive but on another computer will work. I am unsure about the USB drive idea. You could try taking the cd drive out of your other computer and putting it in the one you are trying to install linux until you get linux installed and then swapping it back. That is if your other computer is not a laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyD Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 Its brand new so I dont really feel comfortable taking the HDD out lol :) Eh I guess I will try and look for another pc. thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshritger Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Well good luck anyhow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fix-this! Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Ok i just got an old PC and I want to install linux on it. Now where do i start all i know is that the PC is intel and has 256 mb of ram thats all i know about the pc. now i need to download centos from somewhere. what do i download? how do I burn it to a CD? Thanks! go with xubuntu because the pc doesn't have alot of ram installed. it will be lower on resources and still look nice. stay away from kde or gnome or it may slow your system down. just go to the xubuntu site and download the iso and burn to a cd and install. most things will work out of the box and if they don't you can come here or go to the ubuntu forums for help. burn the iso with a program called infrarecorder, its free and works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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