I was recently given an elderly (manufacturing date 2011) Acer Aspire One net-book with an Intel Atom N455 CPU. The owner had decided that either the original operating system (Windows 7 starter) was corrupt, or that the hardware was failing. I decided that it was worth trying.

Note that if I try to start it normally, it comes up to a window saying "Windows Error Recovery" that recommends "Launch Startup Repair (recommended). I have tried this twice: the first time it moved on to the normal log-in screen; when I restarted, it returned to "Windows Error Recovery" and this time seemed stuck in a loop.

I can access the BIOS with F2 without difficulty, and in the Boot options moved USB FDD to the top of the list. I inserted a flash-drive with Linux Mint 18 installed, but when I restarted, it showed no sign of recognizing the flash-drive.

I had assumed that the net-book was set up for a 64bit system; when I went to verify this online, I was left with the impression that it might accept either. Just in case, I reformatted the flash-drive, installed Mint 18 32bit, and tried again, but met the same non-response.

I have sometimes had better luck with a DVD, but before borrowing an external DVD reader, I would like to know if there any other changes I should make in the BIOS that would increase my chances.

Secondly, I would like to be clear whether this net-book would have been originally set-up to run a 32bit or a 64bit operating system, or if this is actually optional.

Thanks

Try pressing the F12 key immediately after powering on to get a boot menu. If that doesn't work, see this guide: http://acer-au.custhelp.com/app/answ...ot-device-menu

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" Boot options moved USB FDD "

I doubt you really do have a usb attached floppy disk drive so don't move that.

On most newer systems (using modern distro's) a usb is considered a hard drive choice both in bios and in linux. So, boot to bios with usb attached and see if it shows up under a hard drive order.

I think you should start with 32 bit but to find out what it really does support you'd have to search out the web more. If you do find some examples of linux on that system and you should then you can find out what they are running. Examples on web tend to be good starting places.

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Aargh! Oh, the embarrassment—floppy drives are still a thing? My brain misfired: I saw FDD and thought flash-drive.
Oh well.
following the advice found above, the netbook seems to be running happily (perhaps warmer than I had expected). I'll play with it for a few days, and then try to find it a good home, which will satisfy my missionary zeal.
Thanks again.