Hi, i have an older netbook that i love so much and refuse to give in and get a new one but it came stock with windows xp which is no longer supported so i looked into converting it to a linux distribution instead. i researched and found out that the ubuntu was highly recomended and i had to use Wubi to install it since the usb ports on my device say hub port power surge every time that i plug something into them, well once i got everything downloaded and then got to the startup menu where i was instructed to choose between ubuntu and windows, and i selected ubuntu, i was alerted that i needed to select a kernel for a cpu of i686. I am not really a tech whiz so what is the next best reccomended step that i need to take in order to use linux?

thanks,
Carolynne

not really sure about the method you are trying to install.

i would boot-up from a live-usb and click on the insall-to-hard-drive icon on the desktop.

Did you download the 64-bit version as shown on the Ubuntu download page below? If the machine is only 32-bit capable, that won't work. Try the 32-bit version. For your information, a wubi install was meant as a method to test Ubuntu and not to be used as a permanent install. It is also no longer being developed or supported although you should be able to get it functioning with xp.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

Hi Carolynne...

Welcome to the forum

You mentioned that this is an older netbook. What are the system specs exactly? Like the processor, total amount of memory, graphics chip, etc.? In terms of system speed and usability, I'm guessing that a lightweight distribution like Lubuntu, Debian, Zorin 9 Lite or MX-14 might be a better option.

Regarding the error message you receive when plugging anything into your USB ports, perhaps the instructions here might help. However, if not and the ports still are not working correctly, if at all, then you are quite possibly looking at a hardware or driver issue, which, especially in the case of the former, I would greatly recommend taking it to a local computer repair shop. It might involve a motherboard replacement and if that's the case, it most likely would as cheap to simply buy a new netbook.

To be on the safe side, don't plug anything into the ports that have value or have any valuable information, such as file/program backups, until you're sure the ports are working correctly. Use a thumb drive that's expendable.

Regards...

Carolynne,

The USB port info is hopefully not relevant.

First backup any data that you wish to keep from XP.

On a friend's (Windows probably) computer you need to download a 32 bit version of the Linux distribution you require (see ardvark71's post above).
Zorin OS 9 Lite is good on low powered, low RAM machinery (see review below).

This .iso image then needs to be burned onto a USB flash drive and made bootable by means of Unetbootin or similar:

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

NB Any existing data on this USB drive will be wiped!!

Plug the USB drive into your Acer, turn on the netbook and keep tapping the F2 key to access the BIOS screen.

Look for a Tab or section labelled Boot and locate USB HDD.

USB HDD must be moved to the top of the boot order by means of the F6 key.

Press F10 to save and exit.

When the netbook restarts you may need to reconfirm your choice of USB HDD as the boot device. You may need to click on another key (F9?) to reach the Boot Device and make your selection.

Linux should now load.

Wait for a few minutes and then double click on the Install icon.

When you reach the partitioning section, choose Something Else and create 3 Primary partitions.

Please refer to post #3 for details:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...it-4175536067/

Good luck.


Addition

This review features Zorin OS 9 Lite (based on Ubuntu) on several machines including a netbook similar to your one (Asus 1101HA netbook with Intel Atom 1.38 Ghz processor & 1 GB RAM):

http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.co.uk...best-lxde.html

i think it has been said already, but a current ubuntu is not the best distro for this oldish machine.
search distrowatch for old computers - and please take your time to choose the right distro. visit their webpages first, read and learn before you install...
or, if you're feeling adventurous, try this.
is this about the right make and model? it's 5+ years old.