TP

The list is almost endless. Try Googling 'linux distros'.

I have tried a few but prefer OpenSuSe because it is full featured and Windows like and Damn Small Linux because it is a 50 MB distro which will run from a USB drive in RAM on any computer.

The problem with Linux is that although you can do most things with it, many parts have rough edges compared with Windows and it is not as intuitative to use. You also have to to do a lot of configuration from the command prompt.

It's well worth looking at though especially for server applications.

Edit

You can also get Live versions of many distros. these tend to be a bit slow (apart from Damn Small Linux) but they will run from the CD or DVD without touching the hard drive. Very good for testing.

TP - I've used a number of Linux distros over the years, but I've settled on Ubuntu in the last couple of years, because it's arguably the most popular 'consumer Linux' there is, so I feel there are generally fewer compatibility issues, it has a decent repositories, and more support in places like http://ubuntuforums.org/. I've also run Damn Small Linux from a USB drive as a way of accessing the Internet more securely from public computers overseas.

The two main problems with various Linux distros as far as I'm concerned are support for certain hardware can be patchy, and installing certain applications (via 'packages') can sometimes turn into a geek nightmare. If you never run into these issues, all well and good, but if you do, they can be absolute show-stoppers. For example, around three years ago I installed Ubuntu 6 on a Dell Inspiron portable - it wouldn't recognise the built-in wireless and the only way to fix it was to 'recompile the Kernel' - which is about as scary as it sounds. Ubuntu has improved a lot since then, and with the community support there's a lot less chance of having to get your hands dirty when things go wrong, or running into an unfixable problem. For me, right now it comes closest to passing the 'it just works' test, although it different people may have different experiences depending on their equipment.

It's worth testing the CD-based Live versions of various distros. If you just want to see what they look and feel like (it won't guarantee hardware compatibility on a natively installed operating system), you could try a system such as the Mokafive Player, which has a number of distros available as virtual machines (http://lab.mokafive.com/List) (some of these are a bit old now though).

I think I mentioned a while ago that I had a problem with the hard driveon my laptop. It's finally failed this week but, although I can't boot from it, I'm pretty sure that I'll still be able to access it to check that I've not left anything that I need on there.

It's a 2.5" IDE/ATA drive and won't fit the cables on my other machines (so I'm told). There seem to be a variety of gizmos on eBay which act as a sort of adapter which will convert the pins so that they all line up. Some seem to be USB based and others seem to go inside the machine.

Could somebody give me a pointer on the best thing to get please?

Hil, I think you need a drive caddy, I'm busy at the moment but will respond in detail in a few mins.

Don't email me, Flossie, it'll be a few more days yet before I get to see my emails properly. I might even be missing the Viagra spam by then.

:o)

Anyway, I think I've even got it sussed. I've really pushed the boat out and bid on a green think for 99p delivered all the way from Hong Kong.

OK Hiltops, all that work I did for you over the last 30 seconds was in vain. 99p? You know how to push the boat don't you.

Assume it's an IDE drive, the caddy makes the drive behave like a slave. Enjoy :-)

I looked at those caddies after your post, Flossie. It looks like you can pick them up for around a fiver.

My only thought is that the adapter that I've bid on will connect via a cable inside the machine, whereas the caddies (and something else that I looked at too) ran through a USB port. I wasn't sure if the direct connection might be better than the USB connection.

hilary,

Just a word of warning.

I bought two PC's from those Computer Doctor chappies that Exec recommends. The machines were perfect.

Two months on I convinced myself I ought to have the drives mounted in caddies.

They sourced two caddies, put them in both machines and one drive got totally thrashed by the caddie.

CD's were suitably apologetic and I had an Acronis back up of the drive so nothing was lost.

But it shows what a caddy can do..........

No reflection on Com Docs - but there is something inherantly dangerous about caddies it seems.

TP

Thanks TP. It sort of confirms my way of thinking in that these things weren't intended when they were first designed and built to connect via USB.

That's not to say that they don't or won't work - just that USB might not be the best route.

I've used a real cheapo one myself with no problem at all, USB connected. This was an external one with a shell around it.

Hilary

I think that SC was refering to an external drive caddy that you can fit the disk into and convert it to a USB drive. The problem that TP had was with a drive caddy that is mounted into the machine and allows easy removal of the disks (althogugh it did not work for TP).

The one mentioned by SC would do fine as would the adaptor that you posted but you would have to open up your PC for that. A better way would be to buy one of these adaptors that will enable you to connect any drive to the USB port.

on ebay with 6 mins to go

Thanks for that Opti. Opening the machine really isn't a problem anymore since I bought my son a set of screwdrivers for Christmas.

:o)

TheVoid

I believe you were wanting a cheap laptop? At 400-500 or thereabouts?

I found this Sony VAIO on offer at ASDA: Sony Vaio VGN-BX61MN Wireless Laptop

Product Details

Description
The Sony Vaio VG|N-BX61MN wireless laptop features a 15.4 inch WXGA screen, Intel Core 2 Duo T5270 1.4GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, DVD-RW DL drive so that you can play and record CDs and DVDs, including high capacity dual layer DVDs, Intel GMA X3100 graphics, memory card reader and Vista Business operating system.

Full Specification
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo
Operating System Windows Vista Business
RAM (MB) 1GB
Screen Size (inch) 15.4
Disc Drive DVD-RW DL
Memory Card Slot Yes
Graphics Intel GMA X3100

Price 489
Delivery 4.95 for 3-4 Days

Re Ubuntu

I put ubuntu on my laptop and an old desktop and it certainly speeded things up on both.

On the downside its a bit nerdy. I have not been able to use multiple monitors, I managed to install java on destop but laptop just wont play ball.

I also am having problems accessing Vista mail on my wifes PC and OE on my main desktop. If I run XP on the Ubuntu partitioned pcs then mail problems disappear.

The help forums seem to be populated by experts who cant communicate with mere mortals like myself. I can install AVG 7.5 but I cant get updates so security is an issue

Whilst linux was fun to play with initially I think I am gradually losing the plot and may end up throwin the baby out with the bath water!!

Hi Hils 7786


I bought a kit a while ago which allows me to use hard drives from old pcs as external hard drives. I works by providing an independent power supply and a hard drive to usb adapter. It worked fine the last time I used it and it is made by sandberg.

If you think it is any use, I can try to find out where I bought it from.

I have one other question please.

I'm sure that I'm not the only person here who is cheesed off with McAfee. The 2005 version was good, the 2006 version was OK, the 2007 version started to have a few more features and slowed a bit. The 2008 version is just an absolute nightmare imo. It is laden with totally unecessary features that just hug resources and cause the PC to almost grind to a halt.

I started to re-install everything onto my laptop at the end of last week. Windows XP was booting up nice and fast with some reasonably heavyweight packages (MS Office and Adobe Acrobat Pro) installed.

As soon as I re-installed McAfee it started taking twice as long to boot up. I've only installed the Virus Scan element and didn't bother with the rest of the junk (firewall and privacy and spam wotsit) that it comes with. I think it uses Flash Player because it has a tendency to produce an error messagge to the effect that "A script in the movie is causing ......"

My question is this:

If I revert back to the old 2005 version which seemed so much faster, will the virus definitions that it updates for the old version be the same as the virus definitions for the latest versions? Because, from where I'm sitting, the older version looks a lot more attractive and if it does the same job ........

Hi Hils

I have just found box it came in.

It is called a "USB All-In-1 Hard Disk Link. It says it will connect any hard disk to USB.

The website is www.sandberg.it

Hi Bob,

I won the 99p jobbie from Hong Kong on Friday and I'm not in any great rush to sort that last little bit of the jigsaw out (I'm pretty confident that I've got everything already backed up, and this was, in effect, just a double check).

I also quite like the look of Flossie's caddy for a fiver and I'm thinking that I might just buy one of them anyway together with another hard disk drive as this would be a nice easy way of backing up data. To be honest I would have gone that route in the first place except that I'd already bid on my adapter when Flossie pointed it out.

Bob

If you want to experiment with linux then why not download a VMWare image (be careful where you get it from) and run that under Windows. That way, you can make a copy of the entire system before atempting any major changes.

Installing Java can be an interesting exersise, but if you follow the instructions on the Sun site then it should work.

It should be possible to run dual screens for most graphics cards but it can be difficult. You need to make sure that you have the latest and correct driver installed, and then search the web for instructions and then translate them. It took me a day and a half to get dual monitor on my Aspire1 laptop, but it works.

So far as I can tell, your experience is far from uncommon which is the reason that Linux will never be more than a niche OS.