If you want a distro that works out of the box (eg for wifi, codecs etc) and has a lightweight DE (LXDE) try Lubuntu.
I got it working nicely on a PIII-933MHz desktop and my Samsung Netbook.
However, be sure to use the ALTERNATE-install CD for low spec computers.
Post if you have any installation trouble during the text-based install.

Well it seems there are as many flavors of Linux out there as there are computer configurations. If I can't find a distro to work on this machine then it isn't worth resurrecting. (The case just fell apart LITTERALLY [shame they dont build them like they used to]) I have @ least 4 that will though. I could cycle through the 700+ options but as fun as that would be I just don't think my "Pack Rat" nature or my computer could handle a 700 option multi-boot. To anyone who is new to linux and want's to revive an old machine, I suggest finding a distro that will run as a live cd, try seting up your needed services (wifi,printer,etc...), and if it works or you think you can make it work go with it. If you want "out of the box" I kinda wonder what's the point of migrating to Linux? Necessity is the root of... Oh cr@p I forget but it will help you learn your new OS.Lubuntu is on my list to try if I have problems with what I've got. But, ultimately the folks here @ LQ have been the most helpful out of the 6 forums I have joined and I would like to thank all those that have posted in this thread and those that took the time to read/follow it so they might add their 2 cents if needed. I am will be happily marking this topic solved in a couple of days so I can post detailed results from the distro installed as well as the machine specs. (Once I fix the case.)

Thank you all again,
Travis

And the winner is..............

antiX

because it was the only one that would install. Salix did a good job of it but Lilo failed around 12 times. I suppose I could have gone with grub but I would have hated to put forth the effort only to find it was in vain.

I installed from an antiX Fluxbox live cd and it went off flawlessly. Grub even found the Win2k partition I was sure I corrupted and added it to the boot options. Wireless was a breeze to set up and the printer will be too. There is an abundant amount of apps for just about anything though some are redundant.At the moment it is a little sluggish and uses around 60Mb of the 128Mb physical memory and around 50Mb of the 748Mb swap when online. The browser IceMonkey? is a little slow so I will be looking for an alternative. I am confident that as I clean up the processes that I don't need things will speed up. I also intend on uninstalling packages that are useless to my application of this machine only to simplify it. FluxBox is much more configurable than I thought at first and I am sure a simpler configuration will add to the additional pep. It comes with Conky which I may disable to see if it makes a difference.

If you are looking for a distro for your old machine I suggest you try antiX first and if you like it or can live with it save yourself some headaches and time and go with it. I am sure some of the micro distros would work but they required more configuration than my skills allowed. As a project I intend to continue trying to get Salix Fluxbox to boot because it was my first choice but I won't be OCD about it.

Thanks again to all who contributed to this thread and any others I may have perused in my search.

1 members found this post helpful.

Way to go!

I've said so for years.....