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A few weeks ago, I decided to clear out some things that I no longer use. This included two old PCs. These are machines that I have used a huge amount in the past (spending many happy hours playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, as well using them for a little bit of work!). However, one of the machines was quite old (a Dell running Windows ME) and was incredibly slow. The other one (an HP PC which was slightly newer) refused to boot into Windows at all.

As I switched to the Mac a few years ago, I no longer used either of them, and they were both gathering dust. Whilst I could have probably reinstalled Windows, I didn’t really want to go back to the Windows environment. So, I decided to give one away on Freecycle (thanks to Daniel Stucke for the suggestion), and have a go at installing Linux on the other. I’d heard about Linux a bit, but never seen it in use, or tried it for myself.

Before doing anything else with either machine, I removed the hard drives. I remember watching a TV documentary a number of years ago, which showed how old computers (thrown away in the rubbish) were being shipped off around the world where people would pick them apart, remove the hard drives, and use the information on them to commit fraud. I know that both of the hard drives in my old PCs contained personal information (including old bank statements), so taking these out was something I definitely wanted to do. I’m the kind of person who loves playing with computers, but has never really tinkered around inside, so this was a new experience that I definitely enjoyed. Poking around inside the machine was great fun and was really easy, with lots of clear instructions showing how to remove different things.

The old Dell PC was picked up by a fellow Freecycler, and I then ordered a new hard drive for the newer HP machine. Installing this was also pretty straightforward, and was simply a case of attaching two cables and then remembering how to fit it in the same place as the old one (after spending 10 minutes trying to find the screws which hold it in place).

The next task was to find out how to get Linux on this machine. I had absolutely no idea where to begin, but a quick Internet search led me to Puppy Linux. This looked like a small, fast and easy to use version of Linux which I decided to try first. I was impressed at how easy it was to try without making any changes to the computer itself. By downloading an ISO file and burning it to a CD, I was able to make a Live CD, which the HP machine could boot from, allowing me to test out lots of different versions of Linux before I decided to go for the final one.

I downloaded and tried a few different variations in all:

Puppy Linux – this was very quick and easy to use. Booting from the CD took a while because it kept asking to test different settings to ensure that everything worked correctly. Whilst this wasn’t a problem (as it was all explained really clearly), it later failed to save my profile to a memory stick, so I couldn’t use those settings again, and had to run through the same process every time I booted.

Mandriva Linux – this had lots of nice graphical effects, which looked very impressive. However, after loading a few widgets and running some applications, a number of glitches appeared on screen. I didn’t want to spend lots of time trying to fix these, so I decided to try something else.

Ubuntu – this was incredibly easy to use, very quick to boot and run, and worked perfectly first time. 

Debian – this was recommended by Bill Genereux. However, the CD I’d created didn’t boot at all, so I may have made a mistake when burning it. 

After trying these, I decided to install Ubuntu. During this whole process, I’ve been really impressed with how easy everything has been, thanks to the clear instructions and support from everyone who helps to make the different things that I used:

• Removing / replacing computer parts was straightforward, thanks to the clear instructions and guidance from labels inside the machine.
• Downloading / making Live CDs of Linux was easy, thanks to the help on the Linux sites, as well as a quick Google search.
• Trying the different versions of Linux was fantastic, as it allowed me to have a play with the different variations before making a decision.

What will I use my new Ubuntu machine for? I have no idea, as the Macs in my household do everything that I need from a computer. However, it’s certainly been an interesting experience and something that I have learned a great deal from. I’ll keep playing with it, running updates, installing new software, and learning new things. Maybe, I’ll be able to use Crossover (given away free a few days ago) to run Roller Coaster Tycoon on it again!

Image: ‘Hard Drive – 2 Flash/Brolly‘ 
Image: ‘Ubuntu Wallpaper Plain‘