Metropol

Hope you're all having a good summer. I have an old PC which needs formatting, and instead of loading Windows I was thinking about Linux. I only need it to browse the net, email, and upload the odd picture. I've done some Googling with conflicting instructions. How would I go about formatting my PC and installing Linux on it?

You can download a cd image from ubuntu, which will allow boot off the cd into a fully working system, which you can then choose to install to the hard drive, which is straightforward IIRC.

Would I need to leave the current OS (Windows XP) on it? The things full of viruses and really want a fresh start. Sounding good though.

Can't remember what options it gives you, but you can just format the hard drive if you like. Obviously infested windows can't touch linux even if they live next to each other on the same hard drive.

Cheers Sput. Sorry to sound super thick, but how do I format a Windows PC, been so long since I've used one. and if nowt is on it will it recognise the CD drive to install Ubuntu? Been looking at documentation on the site and cannot find the answer.

The only difficulty you might experience, especially if it is an OEM PC, is a lack of driver availability for things like your graphics card or network adapter. You probably want to make sure that drivers are available before you install it.

You can format your Windows PC by sticking the Windows CD into the machine and following the instructions. If your machine doesn't have a 'real' Windows CD, you'll need to create a boot disk from which (I believe) you can enter the 'format c:' DOS command.

There's probably a way to do it with a Linux CD, too - I wouldn't know, I'm afraid.

Yes, your CD drive will be recognised as that's part of your computer's basic driver set.

Cheers Chris. The only crucial thing that must work is my 3com wireless network adaptor, which pops into one of my USB ports. Do I just download these of the 3Com website?

Forget it if you're planning on using wireless networking. I can't find a single adapter that I can get to work with Linux, natively or with ndiswrapper.

(Of course I'd be open to suggestions... )

Fuckaroo, that's a bit of a bummer...

You can always try looking at 3com's website... don't give up hope yet

There's this on the Ubuntu website.