My brother brought my current computer 4-5 years ago and he used it to play Second Life. A lot (like, 4-5 hours a day on weekdays and countless hours on weekends.) He ran my system into the wall and when my dad brought home a new PC from his office, he took that one and left me with the piece of corrupted Windows I am typing this on. (Jokes on him, though, the new PC had Windows Vista on it. ) Now, I've decided to opt for a version of Linux rather than reinstall XP.

Here's what I want from a Linux distro:

-easy and LIGHT installation (I tried to install Ubuntu onto my computer but it kept crashing when it finished. It's probably because my computer isn't that fresh.)

-Stability and decent speed

-the ability to run programs like Firefox, a music player that can sync to an iPod, etc.

-the ability to remove the Windows XP partition (I'll do that once I feel truly comfortable with the distro)

-Something that can easily connect to my wireless network

Essentially I want something good for everyday use. I know how to burn ISOs onto discs and such. So help me Linux masters/gods, what distro should I try?

Xubuntu, Damn Small Linux...I could go on and on naming distros that are good for older hardware. But since I believe in the old saying "...teach a man to fish...", my best suggestion would be to use a search engine such as Google. A search for "linux distro old hardware" or "light linux distro" should give you plenty of options and probably user reviews that you can use to find a lightweight distribution that fits all of your needs. I wish you the best of luck in finding what you're looking for

You mean:
Give a man a fish and he'll call you 3 times a day at meal time. Teach a man to fish, then let him starve till he figures it out and he'll be mad enough to never bother you again?

That's my motto too!

Also, I forgot to add this: how can I install the ISO image without burning it to a disc? Those things are expensive Like, 200 of these

Of course, there is always the option of paying someone else to catch the fish and then selling it at an outrageous markup to the aforementioned man.

Wait, what were we talking about again?

If you have a USB flash drive and your system supports booting from that, you could install it that way. For what you're doing, though I'd suggest installing something like the free VMware Server or VirtualBox for Windows and try out the ISOs as virtual machines. Virtual machines are a great way to test out new operating systems without putting your current OS in any danger of being accidentally destroyed.

Lol@Markups.

Back on topic:
What are the actual specs of the machine in question? CPU, frequency, RAM, and disk space?

How do you sinc a music player to an ipod?

You'll have better results by posting in an appropriate thread.

This restricts you somewhat. If your system can boost from USB, then UNetbootin will let you create a bootable flash drive. Wubi will install Ubuntu from Windows, and it's then possible to migrate to the installation to a real partition.

But CDR's are cheap if you buy a spindle or cake.

As for distro suggestions - Vector Linux Light. Although the installation's not easy-peasy simple, if you keep the guide on hand I think you'll be fine. The only complicated bit is the partitioning. I'm not sure it can resize the Windows XP partition though, which might be a problem. The listed min specs are a Pentium with 64MB RAM, so I think your computer should cope fine.

OH, and BTW - the computer I'm using now is about ten years old. Though it was a high-end workstation when new. (I bought it second hand).

Ummmm......I make blank CDs at around $0.20, and the really expensive DVDs at $1 or less.

I also see a lot of DVDs at ~$0.25

My past work pc (Sempron 1.5Ghz 1gb ram) run on Ubuntu + XFCE desktop. Development where hell with 100mb text files(+web services), but firefox(konqueror is better imho) etc.. where ok.

i also like debian.. maybe give a try to Gentoo if you want get a litte extra speed.

A 4 - 5 year computer is not old on Linux terms.

Typically, it could be Pentium 4, 3GHz, 512 MB RAM.

If so, any Linux can be used ...

.....

CPU is Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHz, I think the frequency is 2.41 GHz, 224MB of RAM and there's about 20-25 gigs of hard drive space left (there's 50 in all but Windows XP is currently occupying that space.)

I know that's not bad in Linux terms, but the computer is prone to just being awful, it's been under constant stress for 4-5 years thanks to my brother trying to run a "business" on Second Life.

Your processor is fine for any Linux distro, but I recommend another stick of RAM (the more the better). Ubuntu is a great choice for beginners; Xubuntu is a slightly lighter version.

If the computer has hardware problems, switching to Linux will not fix them.