Linux install

okay i just heard about linux (a.k.a newb)
hehe and grab my attention since i have a comp that is not working well with xp... it gives error (blue screen of death) always and restarts...
so i want to know if linux works without any host os (like xp), which means that install like normal os ones.....

 

If you are asking whether a move to Linux could be simple or not, it depends on your computer expertise and willingness to spend time getting used to a new interface. You could try dual-booting a distro of your choice to get an idea of how it is, or play around with a LiveCD.

 

???
i mean....
can linux work without xp??

xp gives blue screen of death after install
so i wanna try linux and see if it works..

 

Yes. There are different flavors of Linux, each being an Operating System (OS). Windows XP is another very common OS.

 

Linux is NOT dependent upon Windows or any other OS... so yes of course it can run without XP.

 

Just a few days ago, I used DBan and completely erased the drive on an ancient PIII Dell desktop - then installed PCLinuxOS. The machine runs better with the new system than it ever ran with Windows. The entire procedure took about 90 minutes and was very easy.

You might find the info here to be interesting.

 

thks for the answer
by the way..
is there a good one for this specific comp made in 1999?
specific
intel celron 399mhz
125ram
10gb
s3 graphics
i will upgrade somestuff if need.. it is samsung computer

 

FYI, you can download many distros to CD's and run them without installing to your machine. Gives you a chance to "test drive" before becoming too serious. Read over some of the reviews on the link above and then try out a one or two.

 

Need something lightweight. Xubuntu may work, but be a little slow.

 

It's a little bit of a tough spot, the distributions that are better suited for older machines are a little more difficult to install. Well, a little more intimidating anyway, some just look more difficult because the installer is text mode. Others do require manual configuration, though, and those are typically the exceptionally fast ones.

Zenwalk is pretty fast, and very easy to install despite being text mode. Vector is also quite fast, but takes a little more configuration. Vector has a very good community, however, to help you through. Puppy and DSL are both excellent for older computers, that's what they're designed for.

Just don't expect a clear sign that you're having hardware problems. With Windows just about any error will give you a blue screen, GNU/Linux is a little more/less cryptic with it's error messages depending on how you look at it. It's also common for a hardware issue to simply lock the kernel or X, I think more common than Windows but it's hard to say. It can also be difficult as a new user to tell if some behavior is normal or not. I think it's a good idea for you to give it a shot, just make sure you don't get frustrated.

 

As Lysander said, try something light. KDE distros are good starting points. Debian has an ultra-light version that can apparently work on 486 processors.

 

Gautam, I wouldn't recommend KDE for a light weight system. Something that uses Xfce, Openbox, or something similar would be better. A kde-base system could fully use that 128MB of ram.

 

i am willing to upgrade the rams and hard drive as well
like 512 to 256 mb??

 

Are you sure you can expand the memory on the system? I mean, even if the RAM type you need is still produced, do you know if the motherboard can handle it?

 

..............
no offense but you should know that there is 133/100 still produced and can be purchased at local stores.. also i had another board that uses those ram and i made it sure it works perfectly..