how do you install a linux dekstop on a pc

how can i install linux as an os (kinda like how you install windows whre it's the systems operating system and it's not installed on top of anything)

is ther a version of linux (is linux a type of desktop or is it the name of servral different type of desktop operating systems) if so which one is better that has an office suite that is compatible for it out there and can run skype

is there a download for linux that will allow me to burn it to a cd, insert into a computer with no operating system and install it like how you install windows xp after you build a computer

post the download for the linux operating system that can be burned to disk to install on a computer with no os

 

will it launch installer on bootup (on a machine that doesn't have an os

 

You will have to boot from the distros ISO Cd.
Access BIOS by hitting F1/ F2/ DEL .. at power up.
Change Boot priority for your CD/DVD drive to #1
Save changes and restart the PC with the CD in the drive

Cheers..

 

My recommendations:
1) http://www.livecdlist.com/ubuntu
2) http://www.livecdlist.com/pclinuxos

 

+1 for Ubuntu as your first choice...
The help resources available in the way of forums, websites & documentation for linux in general is quite Ubuntu-centric.
I found that when I was starting out with Linux, It was confusing enough without trying to figure out how the particular "how-to" guide I was reading related to my current choice of OS...

Once you've learnt the ropes then get out and find a distro that really works for you.

I started in PCLinuxOS, but, switched to Ubuntu soon after because of this.
Now running Arch, but, am quietly considering giving Gentoo a try just for kicks... to see whether I can compile a whole OS from source code.
I've got the gut feeling that its way over my head, but, at least I'll know how far:-D

 

so after i set the boot sequence and stuff all i have to do is slip the cd into the drive and boot from disk and run the installer

no product key required and open office has a version that is compatible with linux and skype has a version that is compatible with the os

so what are the advanges of linux having over windows does it require less ram and cpu speed to run efficiently compared to windows

 

Yes, that is generally the case.

Most Linux distro's are free and open source, no product key required
A handy site to reference for alternatives to popular windows and OSX applications can be found here:
http://linuxappfinder.com/alternatives

well that all depends on who you ask...
if you've only used windows in the past, then be prepared to learn. Remember, Linux isn't windows and things do get done a little differently
I personally don't think either is necessarily better, just different.
A slightly biased, but nonetheless interesting website covering a few things can be found here:
http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/

head over to http://www.ubuntuforums.org look in the 'Absolute Beginner Talk' forum you'll probably find all the answers to your questions in there. Particularly in the 'stickies', there's a huge amount of good information for those just starting out.
They're a pretty friendly bunch too, I got a heap of help every time I managed to bork my system...
Quite a common occurrence for me as I do like to tinker.

GM

 

and does linux require alot less system requirements then windows (not alot of cpu speed and ram)

 

and what would have been the best linux os out of the ones i have listed below
pclinux
ubuntu
debian
slax
damn small linux
suse linux
fendora
sabayon linux
or feather linux

sorry about the double post

 

My thoughts are Ubuntu for a beginner, reasoning for this in my previous posts...

Otherwise, have a looksee here:
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/linux-newbie/8441-distro-look-here-before-posting.html

with regards to your other post about system requirements:
http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/items/alive/index.php?lang=

 

mandriva linux is also a good one to try

http://www2.mandriva.com/linux/one/

its a live cd so you can try before install

i have mandriva 2009 as my primary operating system, openoffice comes as standard along with thousands of other programs,
adding the easyurpmi repositories gives access to even more

it adds the mandriva repositories and auto-updates before install is complete so you have the most up-to-date system without doing much

(no 3d with the live cd though, it has to be enabled after install)

as has been said before - linux is not windows, the hard bit is learning new software but it gets easier as you go along

something to help you make a choice is here

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

its a sort of linux chooser

 

Also linked to in my last post, but, another: http://polishlinux.org/choose/quiz/

@hawklord, did either recommend Mandriva for you?

 

if i read ur post correctly, thb link that was explaining all the advantages linux has over windows included being able to work with minimal system requirements does that mean that it will work on my old hp pavillion 6330 desktop i can't list specs off the top of my head but i knew what model it was so u can look them up somewhere and tell me if it would

but if it were to work on there (i am not hoping that it will make a super fast pc but that it will be able to run modern programs that i couldn't be able to use when it had xp on it and i know xp isn't supposed to be on a machine like that so it would freeze in the most important moments)

if it will work well on this machine which linux desktop will be the best one to use

 

no - i never used the 'testers', i was looking to change over to linux and was looking through http://distrowatch.com/ for mandrake (because i liked the name) and found it had changed to mandriva (not as good a name but still better than the rest) and have been using it since mdv2007.0,

just had a look and your system specs seem to be 256mb ram and 300mhz cpu and designed to run win98,
i would try pclinuxos (its a live cd - so try before you install) but you may be limited to what it can do,
another couple to try would be -

http://www.xubuntu.org/ = xubuntu
http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/ = dream
http://www.zenwalk.org/ = zenwalk

mandriva linux needs at least 256mb of ram and the recommended is 1gb

what are you going to be using this system for ?

oh - most linux distros are free, which means you can download as many as you want and install them,
if you install one and don't like it or it doesn't work on your specs - just install another

 

so what your saying is that it might run better than windows xp did on that machine also it's not a machine made for me i am giving it to my sister (which will be very limited to the internet so is there a myspace messenger available for linux) also i know that they have firefox for linux but do they have the drivers for the usb internet card i have for it, and i found out on this topic that openoffice.org has it's program available for linux so most of all this works out very nicely but is there a proram that is compatible for microsoft outlook or similar but compatible to microsoft outlook but is designed for linux (i was also wanting to instal it on the dell optiplex gx50 at my school because they have been giving us alot of problems with there current operating system (which also runs on windows 98 what use are they right now, the school district isn't the brightest the sticker on the side says it was designed for windows xp so i think that they installed it there to limit us to what we can do on the computer but will pclinus be any different, and is there a novell client available for linux theres one for both windows (duh) and mac but what about linux

also as much as i hate to get off tpoic here there is also another thing wrong with these dell machines but i will start another topic discussing this

 

there's a good chance that one will run a lot better than xp,
not to sure about the myspace messenger but i believe that pidgin can use the myspace protocol,

i use kmail for my e-mails but there are a couple more you could try,

novell client - you may run into problems

 

Thunderbird is available for Linux.

I use Evolution on Gnome.

Depends on the machine to be installed on. I have a dinosaur 733 Mhz here with 128 K RAM. Ubuntu will not even load so Puppy would be the OS of choice.

You can find 1.2 Gig systems for $50 US now.

 

and so what you are saying is that puppy linux will work on the machine described and will be able to run modern apps like skype and firefox

 

Ummm, having found the specs for pavillion 6330 here
48Mb of RAM
AMD K6 300Mhz
the computer is going to struggle with whatever you throw at it
going by the age it may not even have the ability to boot from CD, I can't remember how long ago it was till that was commonplace.
Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux are likely to be the only ones that would even have a chance on that machine.
Whether any modern full featured apps like Firefox or Open Office will run acceptably... I doubt it.

Personally, I think this is the best advice.

 

thanks for the help guys the whole reason as to why i wanted to do this is that i was trying to re-install windows 98 on it but for some reason when i try to install dos first it stops halfway in the formatting process, same thing happens when i tried to install windows 2000 it just stopped half way into the formatting process, but now to top it all off it won't even boot from floppy anymore since these incidents i have been trying to find a use for this thing but i have other old computers lying around

 

You could install an OS like Puppy Linux on this old system, I personally would not bother. If your older system is slow to load 98 or 2000, perhaps you need a newer Hard drive anyway?

What are you trying to use the older system for?

 

my system didn't have trouble booting up it's os the problem here is that when i try to install a microsoft os it gets stuck in the middle of the formatting process

 

just took the linux test and it says that the os that fits for me is the open suse

 

Not entirely true: Puppy could be installed and run on this machine, 64Mb is the requirement to run in a LiveCD environment (entirely in RAM). But, using the swap space on the hard drive It would not be a problem to someone with a reasonable knowledge of Linux.
Not the case here obviously due to the OP's limited knowledge, but it could be done.

There are versions of Slackware, Knoppix, and many others that could install and run. But, yet again, the prerequisite would be to have a good knowledge of how the Linux file system works.

As I stated earlier, whether or not the computer would run acceptably is another matter... none of the software the OP was inquiring about would be likely to run ok and it would be a slow and painful process to get anything done without the use of some seriously lightweight apps.

@barononeefdip, basically, what I'm getting at the is that without a reasonable understanding of how Linux works at your end, you will struggle. This is not something that a Linux newbie could accomplish easily.
Install a more mainstream Distro on some more capable hardware, be prepared to learn and maybe come back to this project sometime down the track.

GM

 

which one will allow me to install and run skype and frets on fire x (they released a lin8ux version)

can ubuntu do that

 

What are you going to try and install it on?

 

i was going to install skype and frets on fire x in a linux desktop but don't know which one to do it on

on another note will one of the os be able to run on my schools dell optiplex gx50 windows is giving us trouble mainly because the kids that use them install alot of trash and it eventually crashes leaving me to go back and fix it again but i doubt that the programs they install on there have a linux version

which one would u reccomend ubuntu or pclinux

 

i also forgot to point out that i am not talking about my old hp anymore i am now talking about my more modern pc i am unable to list the specs right now but i will name a few

windows xp home edition service pack 3
amd athlon processor
512mb of ram

 

Re the Dell optiplex gx50 from your school, without actually knowing the system specs it is difficult to know.
Most of the support material I found for the GX50 was very general and could have anywhere from 64Mb to 512 Mb of RAM. The processor is listed as a celeron, but as to how fast, you'll need to tell us...
Given that it says designed for XP on the box the hardware 'may' be enough to run Ubuntu or PCLinux, but, without more info such as system specs we can't actually offer you informed advice.

Your homework:
Get a definitive system spec on what you want to install Linux on, then, we might actually be able to move forward without going round and round in circles...

Thanks

GM

 

Thanks, sorry, was busy typing when you posted your last message.

Going by that, you should be able to run either Ubuntu or PCLinux on that machine.

Easiest way is to take a test drive using the downloadable LiveCD's.
Burn off the .iso's and set your computer to boot from CD in the BIOS.
These will boot up into their respective desktop environment without actually writing anything to your hard drive. That way you can explore without actually committing to the install, it also helps verify whether your hardware is compatible or not.
Then, you can choose to install the one that you like...

LinuxMint might be worth a crack also, because its basically Ubuntu with all the proprietary audio & video codecs installed.
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

GM

 

and so will frets on fire x (linux version) and skype run on ubuntu on my recently described system and will the mentioned programs run in pclinux

 

For Skype: if your system meets the specs found at this link then it should
For Frets on Fire: hardware requirements are at this link

So most probably, yes they will run on either OS on your system

 

GREAT! as far as software with no substitutes go these r the only programs that i will use that don't have clones out there, believe me nothing can replace these programs

and i am definetley considoring installing it on the machine u said would work, not like it'll be losing alot when switching from windows i don't use very many non-replaceable programs

reffering to the links provided by you,for skype my system seems to meet the requirements

as for frets on fire, i have no idea what an sdl is

 

As I said earlier, do take them for a 'test drive' first using the LiveCD, then decide on the one that you like.
Also, you will be able to install it alongside your XP and have a dual boot setup provided you've got the HD space
Re SDL soundcard, I wouldn't worry about that too much, you should be fine

 

thanks i was thinking of installing the os on a completely different hard drive (the hard drive that i am using now runs windows xp at aproximately 35gb but has less than 10gb left not a good thing for what i use it for) anyway i was saying that i was going to install it on a completely different hd which i think with a linux os would last whole lot longer since the hd is 160gb, the only thing that bothers me abount me is that the hd came from a dvr box i know for a fact that these r realy reliable

 

i was also going to ask another question but sorry for the double posting my psp doesn't let me type as much as my pc does

i have been hearing alot about running from ram and running from cd drive but haven't heard of it being ran off of from the hard drive like any other os,

but is it like any other os being installed on the hard drive and booted from the hard drive without touching the ram or cd drive, will it be on the hard drive after i choose install and have absolutely nothing on the ram

 

if you mean linux in general, then its installed to the hard drive, just like windows is,

i have a 40gb drive with mandriva 2009.0 linux installed and a seperate 30gb drive with mandriva 2009.1 installed,
neither run from cd or ram - they are fully installed to their own hard drive

 

wow i'm convinced i will install ubuntu whenever i get the chance, i'll also install either pclinux or open suse on another one of my harddrives which one is better pclinux or open suse , and i'll try to install puppy linux on my old hp pavillion 6330, if it doesn't work then the heck with it just more computer parts collecting dust

i have so many extra pc stuff i don't know what to do with it

thanks for the help guys

 

sorry about the newbie question but

i heard the so called live cd is a bootable disk that loads the system into the linux desktop enviroment through the use of it's ram an cd drive and can be found at livecdlist.com but r these live cds also the installation cds

 

yes - most of the live cd's come with the installer,

which one is best ? - that would depend on who you ask - myself i prefer mandriva:-D, but out of pclinuxos and opensuse i would go for pclinuxos,

 

well i have to say before u guys told me that ubuntu wouldn't work on my hp i tried it anyway (i also remembered that the previous owner of the machine upgraded the ram to 128mb but i don't think that was the problem here

last time i tried to install it not knowing that it wouldn't work it took a long time to initialize and when the gui came up it started flickering like recieving a tv station with dark horozontal lines moving downward and the picture is shifted to the corner of the screen

 

what are your opinions on how slax is i have never heard any reviews about it

 

If you install the base Ubuntu and use XFCE or Xubuntu desktop you would find it digestible on your older system.

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop