Having previously suffered minor catastrophes using a live Linux CD to self-install (all with Ubuntu derivatives) I'd appreciate opinions on which distribution(s) are most reliable in this respect. I have a Lenove Ideapad with a 1024x600 resolution, 2Gb memory and ample disk space running Windows 10. Is it a good idea to make unallocated space available on the HDD beforehand to possibly help the installer "do its thing"? I'm happy to try any distribution available as a live version which I can install from a USB drive.

What problems did you have installing Ubuntu derivatives?
With 2GB of ram, almost any live distro should work
Have you looked here
https://linux.softpedia.com/get/Linux-Distributions/

Also, how did you install to usb, Unetbootin or Rufus or what?

There are so many possible variations in systems, capabilities, scenarios that the builders of liveCDs have a thankless job. And that's before you introduce the end user of unknown ability/knowledge.

Most installers seem to do a remarkedly good job - but there is a duty of care on the user. Note for example my sigline.

Do a search "dual boot win10 + Linux"
Buy pre-loaded USB sticks from a vendor like the one in Denver with the distro decided upon plus a utility like SystemRescueCD. Enjoy.

Hardware specifics help in suggesting a distro, with 2G RAM limting choices.

I'd be thinking that one of two issues are going on. One is that your download or burn or read of the disc has failed. Two is that your system has some issue maybe bad ram or such.


You could ask a friend to download some image and use a usb creator or distro way to create a live usb to test.
There is a way to use netinstaller that if you have somewhat fast internet then it should test it's way along.

Never hurts to run memtest for a day or so.

I second linux72's question:

Given that installing an OS can be a bit tricky if one has not done it before, once one gets the hang of it, it's a fairly straightforward process. I recently installed Ubuntu MATE, including doing "custom" partitioning (that's a fancy way of saying I created a /home partition), and the install was as smooth as silk.

Perhaps there is some common denominator amongst the issues that OP has confronted.

Am I understandinmg correctly that you want to dual boot with windows?
That requires a little extra effort and you are well advised to get that information before you start installing. It's not a one-click operation.

Alos, the specs seem to suggest that the hardware is older - 10 years or so?
In that case you might want to try a dedicated distro. Dedicated not only because it will put less strain on your scarce resources, but also because it might deal better with older hardware (that isn't necessarily supported anymore by ubuntu).
Usually the recommendation is antiX, but have a look around yourself.

It's generally a good idea to use windows Disk Management tool to resize (shrink) your largest windows partition, then reboot to test windows and run chkdsk. There are several other things that are needed or which should be done and since you mention Ubuntu, read the link below which is the Ubuntu documentation on the subject and gives you the answers.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI