With the XP death in 10 days, I'm thinking about using both XP and some version of Linux on an old PC of mine. I have no experience with Linux though, so I would appreciate some tips on where to look for the right info.
The machine is an old 2.2GHz Celeron, with 512MB RAM, and some old nvidia AGP gpu.
What I'm thinking of doing is not a dual boot, but having two separate hard drives for XP and Linux. XP to work with MS Office, and Linux to browse internet. The reasoning for that is that I'd like to avoid messing with the XP system in any way (it's a work pc), so I can fall back to a working computer if I don't get along with Linux. I'm thinking that Linux Mint 16 “Petra” Cinnamon should do, with an additional memory module.
Does this setup sound ok in regards to usability and security?
There are a number of ways of doing this, but to avoid interference between your Win XP and Linux and any potential issues with a dual boot set up…you could consider a replacable hard drive caddy tray set up:
The tray accepts a caddy containing a hard drive with your win XP drive in it or a caddy containing your Linux hard drive (the caddy that you are not using stays in your desk drawer until you need it….. (it takes only 2 seconds or so to pull out the caddy with the drive thats not required, and slide the other caddy in.
If you look on well known Internet auction sites they are very inexpensive… a pound or two or a dollar or three…They are available for both Ide and Sata
It didn't work, unfortunately (installing and running Mint). At least on that pc, and another similar one (they are actually pentium 4s, not celerons).
I played with Mint at home, to get used to its installation quirks and usage (including things like booting with 'nomodeset'). Tested everything on my old pc with similar specs (although athlon 3000 with an AMD gpu), no problems. I even tried plugging my own hard drive into the pentiums (in case I could pre-install Mint from another pc), while that works on my own pcs, the pentiums don't accept it either.
Another bummer is that I can't even reinstall XP there, because nobody has the CDs with the ethernet drivers from the motherboard manufacturers, and I can't find them online. They wouldn't be able to connect to the internet…
Hi alexg, there's no reason why a Pentium processor should make any difference, so you need to check that you are following the correct steps.
You could always run a live distro of Linux ( running entirely within RAM) if you wanted to try different distros ( Puppy Mint etc)
If you wanted to reinstall XP ( not recommended) then it would be easy to fit a network adapter card for which drivers are available…..
If you speak nicely to your friendly neighbourhood competent computer technician she/he will probably have a few laying around in old machines that are awaiting their final trip to the recycling centre……
