ReactOS Not Booting on Dell Inspiron 1200 Notebook

TheOrangeNugget · 08-28-2016, 08:19 AM

Hello LinuxQuestions,

Last night, I installed ReactOS on my Dell Inspiron 1200 laptop, and now the loading bar doesn't get past about 7/8 of the way through. I've tried everything I know of to fix it, and I've decided to resort to this website for help. Should I get a new OS entirely, or is there a way to fix my current operating system?

Thanks for any help,
Holden N.

rokytnji · 08-28-2016, 09:26 AM

http://www.pcworld.com/article/123210/article.html

Did you md5sum check reactos before burning the install cd on dslow 4x speed.

Link

How much ram have you installed now in that Dell of yours? 256MB is not a lot to run a modern operating system.
Link

TheOrangeNugget · 08-28-2016, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

http://www.pcworld.com/article/123210/article.html

Did you md5sum check reactos before burning the install cd on dslow 4x speed.

Link

How much ram have you installed now in that Dell of yours? 256MB is not a lot to run a modern operating system.
Link

I honestly have no clue, but I think it's 1 or 2GB, which is what my dad told me when he handed it down to me. I'm not compeltely sure, though.

Regarding the md5 hash, I forgot to check that.

rokytnji · 08-28-2016, 09:32 AM

Might look in the bios and see what it says for memory installed to get ram specs and know for sure.

TheOrangeNugget · 08-28-2016, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Might look in the bios and see what it says for memory installed to get ram specs and know for sure.

It says it's got 1280MB, which I am aware is about 1.25 GB.

But also, I've heard ReactOS is supposed to be a lightweight OS, almost like Windows 2000.

ondoho · 08-28-2016, 10:27 AM

1) ReactOS is still in beta. expect rough edges and difficulties. but kudos for trying it!
2) ReactOs is not Linux. That's ok, we're open-minded, but your thread might get moved.
3) ReactOS is a fairly recent affair, and while it's probably not impossible to install & run it on a 2005 laptop, it is likely to pose additional challenges.
4) even in 2005, that laptop was rated a "sluggish performer".
5) sorry for the numbering, it's kinda pointless.

rokytnji · 08-28-2016, 06:36 PM

Go with i386. Won't hurt to try out. These are latest updated snapshots with xfce. Debian based Linux

Quote:

MX-15_August_386.iso 15-Aug-2016 17:16 1.1G

http://mxrepo.com/snapshots/

If you have any skills at all. You might try out a core iso and build up from there.

Quote:

MX-15_386_CORE_August_2016.iso 16-Aug-2016 19:53 700M

^^^^^^^^^Fits on CD ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If me. I fly with AntiX with your specs. AntiX Fits on a cd. But has a learning curve. But is pretty easy and fast on older gear like yours.
The Mepis forum supports/gives advice also on using AntiX.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/

Good luck with it.

Youtube videos for using AntiX and MX Linux are at

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFW...KlXW5uE9opXukQ

rokytnji · 08-28-2016, 06:46 PM

For the not booting issue of reactos

link

jefro · 08-29-2016, 04:30 PM

Unless you need to use ReactOS for windows programs or just for because you like it then maybe a Linux or BSD type distro may work for you.

Why did you try ReactOS?

By the way, I admire that project. I have used it within a virtual machine client under Linux hosts.