Hi, i've ordered an Acer Aspire One D250 which comes with windows XP, but I would like to run Linux as well. Any help will be appreciated!

I dont want to buy any Internet Security packages, so I want to use XP occasionally for offline work only, and Linux frequently for all internet use and Open Office etc.

Are there any particular distros of Linux which work well on this netbook? Would Ubuntu Netbook Remix be a good choice?

How can I constantly prevent all connection to the internet when using windows XP? If I disable the wifi device in the XP Control Panel and leave it disabled, will the wifi still work when I boot up in Linux?

Do I need to install a free anti-virus program for use with Linux, or is it unneccessary?

Appologies for all the questions, and thanks for any help you can give.

whats up dude?
Welcome to LQ rbab

Now, there are many netbook distros
and others tat work well on them but aren't
really just for them

Here's a good thread to check out
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=761185

I will highly recommend CrunchBang-9.04-Lite

Thanks linus, helpful thread.

Any ideas on whether leaving the wifi device disabled in XP would affect its function when using Linux?

No idea
but a guesstimate I would say it shouldn't affect any linux system

have you tried running any live usb distro's on it yet?

it doesn't got a cd player huh?

and you dont really need AV for Linux

Not tried any distros yet, I am completely new to Linux and waiting for the netbook to arrive.

I just want to have a compatible linux distro ready on a USB stick so I dont have to use internet with windows XP and immediately collect virus/malware. I just need to find a distro which works "Out of the Box" with the Aspire One D250?

Thanks for letting me know Anti-virus will not be needed.

well
why not install Many distros to USB?
Booting with or without persistence
all installable from USB

That way you play many and find your own

What distros are you interested in and how big is USB?

USB is 4GB.

I could try a few like you suggest, but what I really would like is a distro that has no issues with the Aspire One D250, that will access wifi internet and Open Office the first time I try it without problems.

I will probably stick with whatever distro works, so if anybody has tried a D250 and a disro that is hassle-free, I could use some info?

theres only one problem with going for distros that work out the box and that is stability. I would say that ubuntu 9.10 will do what you want straight up but there are some minor development issues.

wifi should work, firefox comes with the package and so does open offfice

I still vote for CrunchBang-9.04
stable, comes in Lite or Full
has the whole Ubuntu repo's available

Note that I have Crunch-9.04-Lite running on my 160MB old Toshiba 7000CT lappy
and it runs quick....
its also made for small screens
install size about 1.8GB

Thanks for the reply. All I really want for now is working wifi and open office. Anything else I may use occasionally I can still use XP.

Is running Ubuntu from USB as simple as;

1. Download to USB
2. Insert to netbook
3. Power on, press F12??

Thanks linus, I will download this as well and see how it compares.

no
I wish it was that easy
LOL

what are you downloading?
if its a iso
then you also need Unetbootin or USB-Creator
are you running from a Linux box now?

if no Linux install or Ubuntu livecd
then get unetbootin for windows
and install crunch to usb with Unetbootin
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

see this too
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/create-...sb-in-windows/

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/linux-live-usb-creator/
that looks good

Thanks for all your help, much appreciated!

you'll have to use something like 'unetbootin' to get the ISO on the USB.

im not sure what F12 is for...bios? Netbooks usually boot from external drive by default.

Just so you know, if your getting about 7hours battery life out of XP, you'll bet getting around 4+ from ubuntu

Here's a basic rundown:

Make a partition on your current hard drive (gParted is a great tool)

Download the Ubuntu Netbook Remix (good for new linux users)
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download-netbook

Burn it onto a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. (try isoburn)

Boot up your computer and go into you BIOS by pressing a key designated by your machine. Change the boot order so the Optical Drive boots before the Hard Drive.

Reboot with the ubuntu disk in the computer, and it should boot into it

Play around with it, and if you like it, click on the "Install Ubuntu" icon that should be on the desktop.

Set the language, Time zone, etc, then when the disk manager comes up, click "Use the largest part of free space" (not sure if that is it, correct me if I'm wrong).

It should work when you reboot the computer, and GRUB should show up, asking which os to boot into. If you ever want to boot into the other os, reboot and select that one.

If you have any questions about that, either post here or google it.

Good luck

EDIT: a virus-scanning or any kind of that matter is unnecessary. You may want a firewall though. A good one in my opinion is firestarter