Hi, new to these forums. I was wondering if anybody could help me find a linux distro to serve a very specific purpose.

I need a light distro of linux that can be burned to a 700mb disk and formatted to install when put into the cd drive of a new computer- with a blank hard drive that is brand new. It needs to accept all of my hardware which is...

E8400 woldale processor
Western digital hard drive
4 gigs g skill ram (although if it only recognizes two that is not a problem)
Biostar t force motherboard
hd 4850 graphics card (the motherboard has no onboard video so this is a must).

This distro needs to be easy to install, easy to unistall, and not give me a headache. I have no experience with linux but I am computer literate (kind of). It is a temporary operating system until I can purchase vista 64bit. I just need to be able to access the internet and download files. Files that won't be corrupted or uninstalled when I attempt to remove the distro. Do guys now of a distro that can serve that purpose? Is it possible to format one to install in the way that I need?

Thanks I appreciate the help.

linux is cutomisable. any distro will do. just install/take out what you want.

try DSL or Puppy.

GOOGLE is your friend!

No, don't start with DSL or Puppy. For your purposes, a more general purpose Linux distribution will be the best place to start. I'd suggest Ubuntu. Compared to most other linux distributions, Ubuntu has one of the better chances of "just plain working" without you having to configure anything.

The only problem, really, is with Windows installation. I'm not sure, but I think Vista 64 will want to wipe out the entire hard drive in order to install. As such, it may not be possible to keep all of your downloaded files unless you save them to a different hard drive.

The best thing should be to install a full 64-bit Linux distro. You will be able to run your older programs with Wine or crossover office too...if you will really want to do that!

No, DONT install ubuntu ... not sure why our colleague IsaacnKuo recommends it, far from working "out of the box" it is a bloody nightmare. Ubuntu is just a repackaged Debian for people who think they are linux gurus.

If you want an easy to install linux that is temporary, then PUPPY linux is ideal, boots of a usb stick if you want, easy to use, and detects all hardware I have ever put its way.

the great thing with linux is choice. everyone will have their subjective view. at the end of the day, most come on LIVECD form, so just boot them up , try them out, and install the one you like.

beware ubuntu ... be prepared for tinkering!! those in the know ... know !!

I'm not sure you entirely understand what he's asking for and what his hardware is.

With his hardware, there will be no problem installing Ubuntu, and there's no point in installing a "lightweight" Linux distribution like Puppy. He's not using some antique computer, and he has plenty of hard drive space.

If Puppy is so great, why do you use Fedora Core? Why don't you just use Puppy on all of your computers?

The original poster asked for something "lightweight", but that's from the perspective of a Windows user unfamiliar with Linux. He doesn't realize that even a single 700meg CD is enough for a full featured "heavyweight" linux distribution like Ubuntu. He's not asking for something that'll fit on a thumbdrive; he's not asking for something that will fit on a mini-CD. He's asking for something that'll fit on a single 700meg CD.

double post

Any live cd will suffice and many will install with little input from you. Parsix, Sidux, Mandriva, Mepis, Pclos, to name a few.
I'm really taken with Parsix. It supports modern hardware well, has an excellent installer, and just runs well. I call it the "Ubuntu killer".
Puppy is a good choice too because as a temporary solution it is excellent. You can run it entirely from ram with no install and this makes it much faster than a full blown live cd. The beauty of it is that you can save your settings to the same cd or dvd you run it from never touching your hard drive.
I've got to agree with keratos. I'm not a buntu fan either. People do like to recommend it so I must be missing something although I try every release.

I think you're missing the point that he HAS a hard drive, and he explicitly intends to use it. He will be downloading files. That's more than just saving some settings here and there.

I tend to recommend Ubuntu because it's extremely popular and there's a lot of community support for helping a newbie with anything.

There is much I don't like about Ubuntu, and I use Debian Stable on my computers, but it's the only Debian derivative I feel comfortable with recommending to a newbie. I started off on Debian derivatives but they're all a bit bloated and/or kludgy compared to straight Debian. Ubuntu's bloated, of course, but I have to admit it has better out-of-box hardware support (largely due to idealistic Debian's Social Contract and the consequent compromised functionality of non-free drivers).

With the original poster's hardware, actually, Debian should run just fine. However, Debian does not have an official LiveCD, so it's still not my first recommendation for a newbie.

I would hazard a guess that you are not sure about yourself, let alone me.

.
Did you read the post. Try again. He explicitly asks for a lightweight distro, no headaches, just works and he doesnt have any linux experience, and finally he is purchasing vista soon.
Ubuntu will provide none of his requirements.

Now you are being extremely immature and silly. I did not say Puppy was great. I merely aligned his requirement with my experiences.

re my first response above.

Now that is a rather strange comment to make. Why not tell us the reason ubuntu is popular.

Ditto for any linux.



At the end of the day young Sir, you clearly lack the credentials to be recommending.


Now, back to the original question.


There are literally hundreds of linux distros out there mothergoose, if you really want to waste time installing and tinkering with linux to get it working out of the box (video card, sound card, multimedia codecs, printers, networking and internet) but dont mind a sacrifice in performance (still faster than Vista mind) then go for a simple easy linux distro such as Puppy, Knoppix or Mandrake. These should just work and be usable from boot up.
If you dont mind tweaking and searching the forums for answers to every day questions you take for granted with Vista, then try almost any other linux distro.
If you want to learn about linux and custom build your O/S, tweaking daily and extracting every ounce of performance, then go for something like Arch linux, Slackware, Gentooo, Zenwalk. None of these are for the faint hearted but excellent learning platforms.

Yes, I did. He was specific about a requirement that it fit on a 700meg CD, that he had a brand new hard drive which he would install onto, and that he would be using the computer to download files from the Internet.
Completely wrong. It will satisfy all of his requirements.

With his hardware, Ubuntu will simply work out-of-box. Your hatred of Ubuntu isn't going to change that.

What are you so afraid of? That he'll enjoy using Ubuntu so much that he becomes another happy Ubuntu user instead of switching to Windows Vista?

Geeze guys, didn't mean to start a debate. Both puppy and linux sound like they will work for me. I have four gigs of memory, so if puppy can work just of memory alone that does sound interesting. Less of a hassle to unistall (just turn of the computer, lol). Ubuntu could work to. I have ubuntu downloaded as an iso image already, so I think it might be simpler at this point to go with it (via a suggestion of a friend).

Is it possible to burn the iso image on my own disk and run it the same way a live CD would? I have the software to do that (Daemon tools pro)? Although I like the idea of running puppy of a flash drive, and if I could use it like a hard drive to run it from then that is just as good. I don't even need to be able to use most of my programs for a while, just save them and be able to use them later. Should I just order to the live CD now, or is there something I can do for myself?

Thanks again you all have been very helpful.

EDIT: for anybody who has used both, is puppy easier then ubuntu? What are these problems with ubuntu others have mentioned.

Puppy is available from the linux distro download section of this forum it's a very small program that sets up with just a few questions the first time you run it. When you burn it to cd or dvd use multisession so that anything that you download can also be saved along with your settings. It can be installed to a flash drive used on about any computer and leave no trace that it's been used when you shut down. Hope some of this information helps you.

sorry! just do not like people who offer subjective advice like him above

there's nothing wrong (i.e. "problems") with Ubuntu, or indeed any Linux. The stability, useability, speed, utilisation of resources and availability of hundreds and hundreds of quality software packages far excels Windowze.

the only issue I was considering, was that some Linux distros require tailoring, tweaking, or a little work to get it 100% how you want; some require less, others require much more. Basically that is what I was alluding to. You probably are going to purchase Vista and are happy with Windows therefore, I assumed you did not want to spend much of your time getting Linux to work.

Distros come in "LiveCD" format which means you can boot off the CD and use it like it was installed on the hard drive. So you can try lots out until you find one you like. This will of course require a few CDROMS.

Most linux distros can now be installed on a USB drive so if you dont want to waste CDROMs (i.e. coasters) then try installing one at a time on USB and try them out.


Of course though, once you have tried linux, its very hard to go back to clunky, clumpy, crawling windowze. :-)

Take note of the comment made earlier that you will probably need to copy your downloads somewhere when you install Vista - onto a dvd or something.

Just thought that could have gotten missed in the bun fight.