So a friend gave me her old computer and says ‘ I can’t use it, it has a virus or something’. Turns out it didn’t have a virus it had a huge problem with the hardrive. The computer didn’t boot. I got a blue screen of death with error code 0×00000024. I did a quick search on the Microsoft site and quickly learned there was serious problems with the hardrive. Basically there was something seriously wrong with the hardrive. I didn’t have the OS and my friend didn’t care what I put on it, as long her daughter could use it for teenage stuff.
Of course with all the buzz I immediately went to Ubuntu. It was a wrong decision with a system with only 256 mgs of Ram. It runs a 2.7 Ghz processor so I figured it would be ok. Not so. It was way too slow, not that just that but I had to install extra software so that it would play youtube videos. So ok, Ubuntu also has a version for slower systems. I figured Xbuntu would be fine. Not so. It was still way too slow for a system that has a 2.7 Ghz processor. Alright…. So on to some more choices. Due to time constraints burned Damn Small Linux and installed.
Of course it ran super fast; extremely well but it was hard to configure the video resolution. I got stuck with like 8 colors and small video resolution. Not good. A quick google search showed me configuration files. I could not find an easy control panel to fix this, so I figured for a teenager this would not be good.
So which linux distro to try next. Another quick Google for something like ‘full featured small distros’ had puppy Linux on the results. I decided on Puppy lInux and bingo. Under 100 MB it installed fast and out of the box youtube worked. Well I had to connect to network first, ( a one time setup) but it worked without a problem. The sound was not installed yet, but of course in the setup menu there was an entry to install sound. And there are install menus for most of the other important components of the computer like Video. A teenager would not be able to do it, but I can and it will be easier then trying to change settings by configuration files. Ran the wizard and within seconds had the sound. YAy! So sound works. Youtube works. What else will a teenage need? mmm I think that is pretty much it. They might need instant messaging software, but that will come later… The essential are there. Furthermore, the destkop is visually appealing and the speed is intoxicating as it should be. Kudos for Puppy Linux.