Which distro to run on this old laptop?

Gary King · 06-30-2005, 02:21 PM

Which distro should I run on this old laptop of mine?

I have an old laptop running Windows 95.

The basic stats are:

3 GB hard drive
128 MB RAM
Pentium Pro

I had an Ubuntu Intel Live CD laying around so I tried that out. It barely managed

So, any suggestions?

Matir · 06-30-2005, 02:26 PM

Try something slim and light, like Slackware.

titanium_geek · 06-30-2005, 02:26 PM

slackware. and be picky about what packages you select- dont "install everything" and run icewm instead of kde or gnome.

of course I'm biased... but check out my bookmarks for shilo's slackware site.

titanium_geek

Matir · 06-30-2005, 02:29 PM

I don't even run slack (anymore) and I advocate it for any slim install.

cuiq · 06-30-2005, 02:29 PM

You could try:
Damn Small Linux
Berry Linux
BeatrIX Linux

Just to name a few.

Note, also with some distros you have to disable acpi to install on a laptop.

J.W. · 06-30-2005, 06:02 PM

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-Distributions and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

You'll need to go with a fairly lightweight installation, and a fairly lightweight window manager (ie, KDE and Gnome are basically out of the question due to their resource usage). Good luck with it and Welcome to LQ! -- J.W.

jgapa · 07-02-2005, 08:05 AM

I have DSL (Damn Small Linux) loaded on an old desktop with similar specs as your laptop, and it works great. You can run it live from the CD and if you like it, then you can load it onto your hard drive. I hope this helps, good luck.

aggrosk8rdude · 07-02-2005, 09:01 AM

what processor do u hav? I have a similar laptop and found that DSLinux ran at a good speed, but I switched to Vector because of more compatibility and apps. Vector is slack based and runs fast on my laptop.

titanium_geek · 07-03-2005, 03:40 PM

aggrosk8rdude- how did you like vector? How old is your laptop?

titanium_geek