Thanks. This is the page you need to download your iso from: https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=227

This is the page containing the SHA256 checksums: http://mint-mirror.gwendallebihan.ne.../sha256sum.txt - the one you are interested in is the linuxmint-18.1-mate-32bit.iso checksum.

What you have to do is run a program (which will be on your Windows 10 machine if you're downloading to it) to verify that the checksum of the file you have downloaded is the same as the checksum listed on that page i.e. that it downloaded correctly.

There are a number of Windows programs that you can use to verify checksums. The one I used on Windows was Hashtab (http://implbits.com/products/hashtab/).

For more info on checksums (you don't need to read much of this, just enough to understand what they are): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checksum

There is a string of numbers that look like this:

6870a73d8e4667ed6799930be926c0e035e8596e1efc8bd399d7bd987dadae84

I pasted it into hash comparison bar and it said no match. What do I do now?

In that case, there has been a problem during the download or you don't have a good copy of the ISO. You would need to download the ISO again.

However, given the information that surfaced on your machine's capabilities, perhaps it's best for you to forget Mint for the moment and go down the Lubuntu route (you can find the Lubuntu iso on the Ubuntu pages by searching on the web for "lubuntu download" - note that it isn't "Lubunto"). The verification of checksums should be valid for that distro too. Alternatively, you can go down the AntiX route, which was a great suggestion by IndyGunFreak.

Okay, Lubuntu is downloading in my browser.
Which checksums do I use?

roadgeek01, as I understand from your other thread, you currently have functional Linux operating system on your Dell 1300? The only problem is that you need to reset the password? And the only reason your password-reset attempt failed was because you made the typo "sumo" instead of "sudo"? My advice to you, is to give the password reset another try (a small project) before you totally reinstall the operating system (a large project).

Once you reset the password, if you are curious what Lubuntu is all about, you can basically turn Mint into Lubuntu simply by installing the LXDE desktop environment (a small project).

Another suggestion is to purchase an inexpensive Chromebook or Android phone/tablet. Chrome and Android are user-friendly versions of Linux. Even a cheap device from Best Buy or "free with 2-year contract" smartphone will have more RAM, faster processor, and bigger storage than your Dell Inspiron 1300. In my opinion, that is the quickest and easiest path to becoming a happy Linux user.

Okay. I feel like I am getting 50 different pieces of conflicting advice from everybody plus I don't really know what I am really doing so naturally I am confused.

I would suggest that you carry on down the Lubuntu route. Even if you get back into your Mint installation (I don't know about your other thread so am using snowpine's info on this), it's probably an old version of Mint. Given that you have no data files to recover, it's best in my opinion that you get yourself into a distro which supports your hardware limitations and for which you can run the latest version.

Try running Lubuntu live, as planned, and see what you think.

Perhaps it is a good time to take a step back, breathe deeply, and focus: what are your most important needs/goals? Do you want the Dell Inspiron 1300 in your life, or are you happier donating/recycling it? Do you want to be a Linux user, or are you better off with Windows/Mac? Do you want to try and fix the Linux that is already on your laptop, or do you want to start over with a fresh reinstall? Do you have time for this project, or are you a busy person looking for a quick solution? Are you willing to spend money to upgrade this laptop's wifi/memory/storage if necessary, or is it better to save that money toward purchasing your next system? Do you have family/friends/school/employer/church/charity who can possibly hook you up with a better-spec computer, low-cost or free?

I agree that you are getting lots of conflicting advice. Not sure the reason why. I think you've already received some excellent advice, and maybe someone has already told you the answer, it's buried in there somewhere. So maybe take an hour and go back to all of your discussion threads, re-read the answers you were already given. Look in particular for users with high post count and reputation. Pick one person who seems to know what they are talking about, and follow that one person's advice, step-by-step, ignoring conflicting advice from other users.

Okay. I made a big realization that the system uses security to hide the new password attempt was to completely hide the password and not asterisks or dots. I will now mark this as solved

Notwithstanding snowpine's excellent advice in the above post, I feel it useful to add my 2 cents here and risk complicating things even further for you ... The reason for this is that I'm somewhat of a hobbyist when it comes to resurrecting old laptops and have experimented quite a bit with several Linux distros to do this.

If I read correctly and your system really only has 512 MB of RAM (and you either can't or do not want to add more), I would suggest either Puppy Linux as an "easy" alternative, or an Arch Linux + basic desktop environment (e.g. LXDE) as a more "project-sized" alternative. The objective would be to optimize the balance between ease-of-use and minimalism of your eventual system in order to provide a satisfying user experience.

Puppy Linux is an extremely lightweight but surprisingly functional distro that can be used/installed in several different ways, all of which I have experimented with. I suggest you read a little bit about it (it comes in a variety of versions) and if you're interested in pursuing this avenue, get back and I can provide further guidance.

Arch Linux is a completely different ball game ... I migrated to it when my desire to be able to completely control and customize the contents of my Linux installation became stronger than my feeling of trepidation to be faced with a somewhat "bare bones" type of system that would require me learning a lot more about Linux :-) ... Again, if you're interested after reading a bit about Arch (if you do ...), I and probably many others would be happy to help. Fair warning, however: Arch definitely does not meet your requirements for an "easy to install distro", so you may want to completely ignore this alternative :-) ...

Cheers !

roadgeek01: ... just saw your last post ... Excellent news !! You can safely ignore my previous post :-) ... That is, unless after trying out your existing installation, you are less than completely satisfied. Let us know if so !

Otherwise, enjoy !

... love your Bill Watterson quote, by the way ... I'm off to read a chapter of "Hamster Huey And The Gooey Kablooie" .. ;-)

Are you going to do the happy hamster hop?