I understand that this a FAQ, but after looking at similar posts, I couldn't find anything. I'm overwhelmed by the number of choices. Well, actually considering that I want a Live CD there aren't that many choices. But there are still a lot and I have only so many CD's to burn to.

Problem: I want to rejuvenate my Dell Dimension 4100.

Information about my computer: Running Microsoft (long sigh) Windows ME. I have 128MB of RAM. I have a 933Mhz Intel Pentium 3 proccessor. I can read DVD's and read/write CD's. I also have a floppy drive. However, i cannot repartition the harddrive, because i share the computer with others.

What I want:
Good multimedia support(MP3, DVD, CD, things like that).
Support for ADSL/PPPoE internet.
An office suite.
Some good apps.
Easy customization (cuz i'm a newbie).
Can you help me stop using Microsoft?

Try ubuntu, it's pretty easy to use and needs only a single CD to install. Easiest distros would be Mandriva and SuSE. I would recommend the latter as I have good experience from it. SuSE is very easy to use, very comparable to Windows. It has very good hardware detection / compatibility. Could be little heavy on your computer though and needs pretty many CDs.

I'd use Gentoo but thats pretty HC to install for newbie.
I'd avoid Gnome /KDE all together and install some lighter desktop environment like XFCE or fluxbox(?).

ok, based on your asking for a Live CD not an install...

If you have a big enough pen drive it might be worth looking for something that can fit on there, then you can keep settings and the like.

The problem with running off CD is it is slooooooooooooooow. You'll get frustrated quickly and give up on it soon. I know you insist on a live cd, but its not going to work that well for you IMO.

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/ will give you an idea of possibilities.

Actually, only the boot time is slow on most of these distributions, which is to be expected when running off a cd. Most of the distro's will load into ram, running pretty quickly.

The most famous live cd is knoppix, so you might want to start with that.

After that, ubuntu does have a live cd, so does suse. Since you can burn cd's, if you have a fast enough connection, download and burn a couple and see which one you like.

these are all great recommendations, but I have only 128MB of RAM, I am not willing to spend any money or more RAM. I would use these, but I want something that uses very little RAM.

The basic Linux system shouldn't require that much. It depends mainly I think on the windows manager or desktop environment you choose to start. For example you can choose Fluxbox as window manager with Knoppix or with Slax. Any other lean window manager should be ok (Fluxbox, Blackbox, IceWM, Openbox, maybe even Xfce as desktop environment), but you should don't try Gnome and KDE. Both will be too much for your 128 MB. So not the distro itself should be what you're looking for but the (lean) choices that they give to you when going graphical.

If you can't repartition, don't want to buy more RAM (how about an
extra HDD for Linux?) you won't be able to run any live-cd sensibly
with 128 MB, not with X and an OfficeSuite. And even a USB stick with
2GB won't make much sense if you don't spend the extra buck for a
USB2 controller. My suggestion would be "stop thinking about it,
bite the bullet, use Windows".



Cheers,
Tink

i've been doing a little snooping around, and I've found out that SLAX and Damn Small Linux, are good. But I am having trouble connecting to the internet. In SLAX i tried the command "adsl-setup" or was it "pppoe-setup" and was unable to connect. In DSL, i tried the setup that came with it and still no dice. Is this a browser problem? Or is it an internet connection problem?

re: My post is different from other's despite the same topic.


No it isn't.

Download several liveCDs. Try them all. Pick the one that suits you. Start with SuSE and Knoppix as they seem to be the most usable and support the most hardware. Don't expect optimal performance from ANY live distribution though; expect most to use the VESA X server and a generic kernel without SMP or HT support.

What kind of internet connection you have? Broadband with external ADSL-modem?
If so then you need to run net-setup eth0 to get it working. You could also try "dhcpcd -B" command to retrieve your IP-address if your using DHCP.

In your position i think i would burn an easy distro like kubunto backup anything and everything needed to discs.. since its shared burn all their stuff and probably ask permission.. setting up a daul boot machine may look intimadating, but its really easy.. make windows default for them, and everything should work out good for everyone