Well, after an entire day wasted on re-installing Win 98 on an older machine, I have finally decided to take the plunge and explore the world of Linux! The only problem is... where do I begin? Luckily I still have a functioning PC (running Windows XP), but the "problem child" of the day is significantly older, and couldn't handle XP. These are it's stats:

Motherboard: IBM/Intel 440BX
CPU: Intel Pentium II 350MHz
RAM: PC100 64MB 100MHz (x3 - totals 192MB)
2 HDs: Quantum Fireball CR 4.3GB
Western Digital AC13200 3.2GB
Floppy Drive
CD-R/RW: Phillips CD-R/RW CDD4801/72
Video: Geforce MX400 64MB DDR (PCI)
Sound: Crystal Sound Fusion-4620 (PCI)
Ethernet: Kingston KNE120TX 10/100 OR Intel Pro / 100S Desktop Adapter

My original plans were to setup a dual boot, with 98 on one drive and Linux (not sure on the version yet) on the other. But like I said, the 98 part has left me thoroughly disgusted! I've since decided the entire machine will be dedicated to Linux. But I'm not sure what version/distribution to install, or even where to acquire the installation, or HOW to install! I have 1 more day in my weekend, and did not want to spend it trying to salvage my attempt in installing Win 98. Any ideas? Anyone?

Here's a good starting place: http://distrowatch.com. There's a mini overview of the different GNU/Linux distributions, plus links to download whichever one you choose.

I would suggest Vector Linux.
Hardware Requirements:
Standard Edition: Pentium 200 or better, 96MB RAM, 2.1GB hard drive space for system only, more for your data.

As an older system that one is a pretty good way to start.
Have a look at what I have done with a pentium I and the info that I have documented.

http://www.bournias.net/designs/linux.html

Linux is now easier to use than you would believe.

Peter

So far I am really impressed with the info that I have already recvd from everyone here. Thank you! I must admit I still feel a little overwhelmed... the command lines are intimidating me. Are they a regularly used feature of Linux? I know that I have become WAY too dependent on GUIs, and rarely use DOS or any derivatives of it. Should I brush up on these command lines before I proceed? Also, are there any free "Dummies' Guide for Linux" books or docs online with which I can begin? I just want to make sure I have a good foundation under me before I rush in and get lost.

Ok, maybe I spoke too soon. It's still early Sunday morning for me. I did manage to find a website that I think is helping some:

http://www.linux.org/lessons/

But still, if anyone else can recommend any other great websites, please post them!

I had a great experience from LinuxShout.com. Very informative. I include the site in my signatures now.

Ok... I've managed to get my hard drive partitioned using Fips, and I've downloaded my VectorLinux iso... but there was also a another file with almost the same exact name "VL-5.8-std-Gold.iso.md5" What is this and how do I use it? Also, I am having a problem knowing how to get this install disc to autostart. My boot disc was a Win 98 disc, and it lets me access the dir for the disc, but what should I run?

Ok... I am missing my bare.i file from my install disc. I have scoured the internet for a download for it... I found one for an older version of Vector, but it's too big to fit on one floppy! (which mystifies me, because you are supposed to copy the file from the install disc TO a floppy as a boot disk to get the install CD to run) ARG! I think the iso that I downloaded for my install CD was corrupt... I can try and download ANOTHER one, but that will take about 30 mins or so... and it may still be identical to the other one. We shall see. Until then, if anyone knows of a great site to get Linux files like this, please post them.

I haven't given up yet... this is a learning process. At least I am not getting ridiculous errors like I did with Win 98.

Most if not all GNU/Linux Distributions boot from CD/DVD to install. If yours does not do this, then you either have a bad burn or a corrupt .iso. The version you need is: VectorLinux-5.8-standard-GOLD. There's also 2 Live editions: VectorLinux-5.1 and 5.8 -LIVE Editions. They will also boot and run from CD/DVD. If you decide to install one of the live editions an icon is provided on the desktop to start the process. The md5 file is used to verify the .iso is not corrupted.

The machine I am attempting to install Vector on has had both of it's hard drives wiped, and it doesn't have CDROM boot capability. If there was just a setup.exe I could run from DOS, this would have been installed hours ago.

What is REALLY frustrating me is the installation manual I downloaded for Vector Linux 5 states if you PC cannot boot from CD (like mine), you need to go into the rawrite folder, make 2 bootable floppies, the first being the bare.i file, and the other the rootdisk.img file. I have made a floppy with the rootdisk.img file no sweat... but I cannot find this bare.i file anywhere on the CD! Like I said, I did manage to download a bare.i from the web, but there is no way I can just "add" it to my ISO and reburn it.

I'm really stuck here.

According to the manual the file you seek should be in this location: install\floppy\. I take it you have another pc that has a working CD/DVD drive? If yes then simply follow these steps:

Insert the CD into the drive, assumed to be drive D:

Launch a dos prompt

Insert blank floppy #1, enter this command: cd D:\install\rawrite

then type: rawrite

Enter source file name: D:\install\floppy\bare.i

Enter destination drive: A:

(The bare.i is an kernel image file that supports IDE controller. If you have SCSI controller, use the scsi.s instead.)

Take out floppy #1, Insert floppy #2, enter this command: rawrite

Enter source file name: D:\install\floppy\rootdisk.img

Enter destination drive: A:

At the end of the above process you should have the 2 floppy discs required to do the install.

ok... I may be saying something premature here ...but anyway...

for the config given.. you can start with RH9(RH is redhat) or FC1/2 (FC fedora core) though the latter require a but more extra memory.

RH9 has no hassle no worries GUI..comfortable to use & install...

heres a download listing http://iso.linuxquestions.org/red-ha...rike/#main_cds

u need to just download the the 3 CDs

Phew! I finally got the file I needed copied over to a floppy, and actually got to the install screen for Vector!!!!

For anyone else's info, I found the bare.i file at
http://public.www.planetmirror.com/p.../floppy/bare.i

Luckily, I have Alcohol 120% installed on my XP machine (but I'm sure any ISO reading program would also work). I mounted the install ISO, then went to command prompt, ran the rawrite program, but instead of the source file path being "X:\install\floppy\bare.i", I targeted the copy I downloaded from the link above. I was then able to write the disk on my XP machine, pop it into my old machine, and voila!

I am currently working on resizing my partitions. During the install I read I needed 512MG for my swap, whereas I only allowed 400MB. Ah well, I am this far now.

Thank you everyone for the awesome info!

Well, I just wanted to let everyone that has helped me know that I am typing this reply via my new VectorLinux machine! Except for a annoyingly new keyboard that doubled/tripled/quadrupled every key that I typed, the install went very smoothly (of course, I had to discover that you can't partition and format the hard drives using a Windows boot disk, since they have to be in LINUX format... oh, and I had to keep resizing my partitions since I didn't know what was going where. .) But in the end it all worked out.

Now I just need to figure out how to get my sound card to work!