Help with computer.

Freerepublic ^ | 6/27/2008 | raybbr

[raybbr]

I have an older computer that I have cleaned out of W2000 Pro. I tried loading a version of XP Pro that I have on this machine. MS wants $269 for an additional key. I am not willing to pay that.

I am currently downloading Ubuntu and would like to put Linux on this box. It has an Athlon XP with a gig of memory and no video card.

I don't plan on any gaming or high end computing. Just photo editing, video editing and web surfing.

Do I need Ubuntu or is there something else smaller and simpler I can use?

Also, what can I use to wipe XP off and start over? Will the installation disk of Ubuntu do that?

Thanks in advance, Ray.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Here is the Blender Home page:

Blender

Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

2 Gig of memory is excellent....

[Knitebane]

Ubuntu rocks.

Ubuntu comes in multiple flavors. The standard Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop. Kubuntu uses KDE as it's desktop. Xubuntu uses XFCE as it's desktop.

Then there's Edubuntu. It comes with lots of educational software for children. Gobuntu is a flavor of Ubuntu that comes with only free software, no proprietary drivers like nVidia or proprietary programs like Flash.

There's Mythbuntu that turns your PC into a media center, Ubuntu Mobile is designed for touch screen PCS. And the newest is Ubuntu Netbook, designed for sub-notebooks like the EeePC.

If you're going to be doing a lot of video and audio work I recommend the Ubuntu flavor designed for that.

Ubuntu Studio

All software packaged for Ubuntu (the filename will end in .deb) will run on most any flavor of Ubuntu. Just use Synaptic (Gnome) or Adept (KDE) to choose the software you want and it will download and install it.

The different flavors are therefore not that different. They will all run the same software. The primary difference is in how they are initially set up.

With tens of thousands of different software packages available, each Ubuntu flavor has to choose which ones to install during your initial setup. For instance, the standard Ubuntu might have OpenOffice installed and few games, while Edubuntu will have lots of educational packages and some games and little productivity software.

But since you are free to crank up the package manager and install anything you want they really aren't that different.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Might look thru the user reviews at Newegg and see if some one mentions a Linux distro that is working with the Integrated Graphic:

MSI K9VGM-V AM2 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

[shorty_harris]

Haven’t used Blender, and I don’t know much about it, but I think Gimp more the equivalent to PSP.

[raybbr]

Gaaaack! 1.1 gig for studio.. Sheesh.

[shorty_harris]

Now I’m certain that I’m going to catch a whole lot of flak from my geek bretheren, but if you question them to the particulars, they’ll tell you that none of it scares them, they’ve had their box apart several times, and all the foregoing issues are moot points to them. This is because they have experience, apptitude, adaptability necessary to surmount the hurdles and unforseen gotchyas.

Heh...we all had to start somewhere! When I first tried linux, I didn't know anything about it (Mandrake 7.2).

[raybbr]

You think you're tough, huh?

:)

Like I said, I'll load Ubuntu and play around with it. It's not my primary machine.

[Knitebane]

Gaaaack! 1.1 gig for studio.. Sheesh.

Yeah, it's kinda big. But it comes with a bunch of stuff.

Consider that Vista uses up about the same amount of space.

But Vista comes with Vista.

Ubuntu Studio comes with about 300 software packages installed.

If you installed XP and Photoshop and Nero and Office and a decent browser and email client and an HTML editor and a movie editor and a DVD player and all the utilities required to actually make XP usable and stable like anti-virus, firewall, registry fixer, etc. you'd probably go more than a gig anyway.

Ubuntu comes with all of that installed.

[papasmurf]

Ernest is correct, Mint is nice, in fact, it's a beautiful, smooth and, polished distribution. That's what I've been using as my main Linux box for the last 6 or 8 months.

OTOH, Studio is designed for Graphics, Video, Audio design, mixing, and general farting around. You can add all of that to any .nix distribution for free.

If it's small you really want, Damn Small Linux will run off of a usb or "thumb" drive, as it's only 50MB installed.

Let me tell you, I've seen some posts that don't accurately depict the modern Linux experience. Drivers, for the most part, and especially so with version 8.04, will be installed by the OS as it installs. You also have the choice to use proprietary drivers or open source drivers, and yes, they are automatically installed if you choose.

You only have to be as "geeky" as you want to be, it's a very usable Operating System either way.

As far as using your Windows apps, many do run in Wine, but I like using a free "Virtual Machine" instead. All Linux distributions are able to use VirtualBox and VM free Virtual machines. (I prefer VirtualBox) With a Virtual machine, you will install a wndows OS right inside of your Linux machine, just like it's an application ('cause it is), and then you can install all of your Windows apps and use them as you would normally.

While I am on the subject of installing things, you are not limited to using only Debian applications or "packages". Debian app's/packages are denoted by the file extension of .deb. You can use a program called Alien to install other packages, like .rpm's, intended for Red Hat distributions, as easy as clicking on the file, and others, just like in Windows. Your application universe just got bigger! And all free, too. :O)

[raybbr]

It's loading the ISO on a DVD right now. How do I get rid of XP on the machine? When Ubuntu loaded it asked me questions about the drives. I have two physical drives. One 50 gig and the other 200. I loaded XP on one partition of the 200 gig. Someone else said Ubuntu would ask about formatting the drives but it didn't. The partition screen is kind of vague about what it's asking.

Now that I have the Studio ISO on a dvd will it load over the other Ubuntu?

[raybbr]

Ubuntu loaded and is running fine it seems. I haven’t used any real graphics heavy apps but the games it came with look ok. It’s on a cheap monitor for now.

[Knitebane]

The partition screen is kind of vague about what it's asking.

Yeah, it gives several options.

The first option is almost always the one you DON'T want.

It preserves your previous install, whether Ubuntu or Windows.

Generally the second option down that says something like, "Guided - Use the entire disk," is what you want.

There will other options like that, with LVM or encryption but you probably don't need that. Just use the basic "Use entire disk" and that will wipe everything else on the drive.

[Knitebane]

Now that I have the Studio ISO on a dvd will it load over the other Ubuntu?

You don't have to re-install to get Studio. You can do this:

Open a terminal. On Ubuntu (gnome) Select Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal

Inside the terminal type:

sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-desktop

There are ways to do that with the GUI, but that's fastest.

Then log out. Select the Big Red Buttion at the top right and hit Log Out.

When you go to log back in click on Options at the bottom left and change your desktop to Studio.

(I think. I don't have one in front of me.)

[raybbr]

This machine is not hooked up the net yet. In fact, I have to install the wireless PCI card. I hope the drivers will work on Ubuntu.

[Knitebane]

In fact, I have to install the wireless PCI card. I hope the drivers will work on Ubuntu.

That's going to depend on the hardware.

Here's a list of supported hardware...

Wireless Cards Supported

And here's the definitive documentation on getting wireless to work on Ubuntu.

WiFi HOWTO

[antiRepublicrat]

As far as the video card goes, your machine is an Athlon XP so probably AGP 2x or 4x. You can get decent used video cards for that incredibly cheap on eBay or other places for under $40, like an nVidia 6 series with 128 MB RAM. Stick with nVidia cards since ATI cards didn’t play well with AMD machines back then.

[rabscuttle385]

Google WinXP Pro SP2 Student Edition on the internet. You should be able to get it for about $100. If you know a student, they can get it for free from MS Dream-bla-bla-bla (something or another) program. That would allow them to download an IDO image which needs to be burned to a CD. That disk effectively becomes a legit bonafide installation CD.

I'm a student, and I get all sorts of free stuff from Microsoft's DreamSpark program, as well as through the IEEE Computer Society, but I have never heard of a student edition of Windows XP (though there is an academic retail box license you can buy), and I don't remember Microsoft giving away Windows XP client licenses, though I do get access to Server.

[Knitebane]

Oh, just in case you have trouble with the WiFi hardware...

I have found that anything using the RT chipset "just works."

Edimax uses the RT chipset almost exclusively.

So that's all I buy.

As a bonus, Edimax tends to be rather inexpensive too.

[rabscuttle385]

Actually, I omitted something. The IEEE Computer Society’s student program gives me free access to both Vista Business and XP Professional, in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors! Woohoo!