Have an old windows machine that runs slow?

If you have an old machine that is just plain slow or if you have a low powered CPU and want to speed up browsing and load times install this free OS.

Ubuntu


It’s a great way to extend the life of an old machine by making it useful again.

Linux Mint takes Ubuntu and makes it easier and comes with most all the fun stuff pre-installed. I've been running it for over a year on my secondary desktop without a problem. Run flash video and play MP3 out of the box.


LinuxMint

I've tried Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Mandriva, and Kubuntu, and I like Mint the best.

You can burn an ISO CD and try it out without installing it.

Snidely.....

Is there a way to run Linux Mint from a USB pen drive without installing it on the computer?

I've been "experimenting" with Ubuntu that way, but not real certain I like it enough, yet.

thanks



Edited:

I found my answer. Now to try to figure out how to do what I want.

Booting from a CD is the preferred way. You can do this to try it out without installing. You can probably get it to work from USB drive if your BIOS supports USB boot but a quick Google search shows it's not as straightforward as the CD method.

If you can get Ubuntu to book from USB you should be able to get Mint to boot the same way. Mint is just a customized Ubuntu.

The only reason I want to use a USB drive is because I ran out of dvd & cd's and been to cheap to restock.

Probably buy some next time I pass by a big box electronics or office supply store. I can easily work from a disk instead.


Ubuntu has a "USB" download. I did not have to "do anything" per se to get it to work. Had to change my BIOS boot sequence and that was it.

I'm running Win7 Ultimate on my "main" computer, a laptop. I have two other laptops that have broken displays, but work with an external monitor, and I could always put them to "work", perhaps as a DVR and/or for my home CCTV/security. Have the cameras, "old" monitors, etc already. Just no desk space. LOL

thanks

There is Linux Myth distributions for a DVR but it may take a bit to get them working.

Want to really increase your speeds? Upgrade your memory. I have an old Dell desktop that came with 2 GB memory (2 port) and I upgraded it with 4 GB Patriot memory sticks and it is blazing fast. It's just a matter of pulling out the old memory sticks and putting in the new memory. For laptops the memory sticks are underneath.

Agreed. It's a quick and simple to do and can make a huge difference, and it usually doesn't cost very much. I purchased a used Dell Inspiron laptop a few years ago and it had two 256 MB ram modules in it. I pulled one and put a 1 GB module in that as I recall I paid about $35 -$40 for. This week I picked up another 1 GB from NewEgg for about $20 shipped, pulled the other 256 MB and installed the new 1 GB for a total of 2 GB. Works like a charm, and it really is easy to do.

A few things to keep in mind. Ram chips are static sensitive, (as is a lot of other things inside your computer case). This means that static electricity that is in your body can blow them. If you were walking across a casino floor with some ram in your bare hand it probably wouldn't have much of a chance of surviving. So you want to 1) avoid handling it as much as possible and 2) discharge any static electricity that might be in you before handling it. You'll find lots of articles online about both installing RAM and static electricity.

The amount of ram your computer can hold may be limited as well. The specs on that Inspiron said it could only take 2 GB. Before you try to add a 4 GB chip in a machine that is limited to 2 GB you might want to see what it already has, and how much it can take.

The only Windows machine I have is a work computer I use for IE compatibility testing. Everything else is old hardware running Linux (RedHat).

Red Hat? you must be hardcore. Geek.