Advice on OS for 2008 System

[Arcanyx]

Following up from my initial thread on my two old OEM systems, I've managed to troubleshoot an Acer Aspire M5641 to boot into Windows Vista exactly as I had left it 5 years ago. The culprit was one of the two 1GB DDR2 RAM sticks which had caused the PC to fail startup all these years. Backed up the files using an external enclosure, miraculously remembered my administrator password, and I was in.

 

From the dxdiag output, the physical stickers all over the hardware, and some intense Googling, I've managed to gather the specs list:

 

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00 Ghz

MOBO: Acer MCP73PV LGA775*

RAM: Transcend 1GB DDR2 800 Mhz DIMM 5-5-5

GPU: nVidia G100 512MB

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB

PSU: Liteon 300W

 

*I'm not 100% certain on the exact model, but this was the closest I could find to matching the features and IO shield.

Once I booted into the system, I realised how slow and sluggish it was. From the power button to an actively usable desktop took easily at least a minute, and even then programs had some delay in loading. But now that I know the system works, I want to find the best option in terms of an OS to make it work as a basic HTPC I can connect permanently to a 40" TV. I wouldn't mind remaining on Vista but I do not have the necessary disks to do a clean install. I considered Linux and Windows 7 (by purchasing an OEM license), but I am quite uncertain at this point and was hoping for some advice on what should I do.

 

I'm fine with wiping the entire HDD clean to make way for the new OS. Also considered getting an SSD for the job, making the HDD purely for files.

There's a photo of the system before I started work on it, just as a reference. Thanks in advance!

 

 

TL;DR: What's my most efficient option in terms of OS and storage for a 2008 OEM PC intending to become a HTPC

[SlyTroopah]

Windows 10, https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=windows+10+requirements

[Electronics Wizardy]

How about linux?

 

Debian with lxde is fast on lowend systems.

[oskarha]

Good old windows 7?

A clean install should work just fine.

Although, i do heavily recommend upgrading to either 2 or 4gb of ram.

[manikyath]

18 minutes ago, SlyTroopah said:

Windows 10, https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=windows+10+requirements

lolnope. that'll be a slug

that's what you need to *run* windows 10, thats not what you need for it to *run properly*

 

on topic, i'd suggest looking into lubuntu, and if that potatoGPU™ runs it, kodi media center.

[RGProductions]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

 

Got windows 10 on a pentium 4 and 1gb ram

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, RGProductions said:

Got windows 10 on a pentium 4 and 1gb ram

how painful is it? P4 cant even load a modern webpage properly.

[divided_throwaway]

16 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

How about linux?

 

Debian with lxde is fast on lowend systems.

I second this, although Lubuntu (a version of Ubuntu) is a lot friendlier for users new to Linux, and it uses the same desktop environment and uses a suite of similarly light apps.

[RGProductions]

Just now, manikyath said:

how painful is it? P4 cant even load a modern webpage properly.

well it is the P4 HT and it actually works okay with animations turned off

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, divided_throwaway said:

I second this, although Lubuntu (a version of Ubuntu) is a lot friendlier for users new to Linux, and it uses the same desktop environment and uses a suite of similarly light apps.

in large lines lubuntu is basicly debian with lxde, just put together in a more "pleb-friendly" way to say it crudely

[divided_throwaway]

Just now, manikyath said:

in large lines lubuntu is basicly debian with lxde, just put together in a more "pleb-friendly" way to say it crudely

For people who want to use a system more exclusively as HTPCs, "pleb-friendly" may be the way to go. But even then, people who want to use Linux really have to exercise their Google-fu to learn specific parts of how to use Linux.

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, RGProductions said:

well it is the P4 HT and it actually works okay with animations turned off

as far as i know all P4's have hypertrhead, and it's painfully slow even on some non-animated pages.

 

C2D is much better, but that singular gig of ram is just.. painful.

[Arcanyx]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Appreciate the feedback.

 

So with that said I think I am keen to go with Linux, and while I'm totally new to OS installations I think I'd like the challenge. Is there a particular 'type' that I should be trying out? This is the top result from a quick search: https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

 

Also, does anyone have any advice on a disk wiping tool? Googling has brought up a few, though I thought I get gather some recommendations.

[Rare Mushroom]

for a disk wiping tool i'd recomend DBAN A.K.A Darik's Boot And Nuke

[LOLZpersonok]

With more memory, Windows 7, 8 and 10 will all run pretty well on that machine. If you don't want to go that way, the Linux distributions I've tried (and liked) are Ubuntu, Elementary OS and Linux Mint. You might even be able to get a good Hackintosh working. 

[Arcanyx]

16 hours ago, LOLZpersonok said:

With more memory, Windows 7, 8 and 10 will all run pretty well on that machine. If you don't want to go that way, the Linux distributions I've tried (and liked) are Ubuntu, Elementary OS and Linux Mint. You might even be able to get a good Hackintosh working. 

Yeah, I'm trying to find some DDR2 at the moment, seems pretty rare especially if I'm looking for a couple of 2GB sticks. Hoping to find some before I actually wipe clean the hard drive.

 

Linux Mint looks interesting, though what would you recommend for a total Linux beginner?

[LOLZpersonok]

On 2016-09-24 at 1:48 AM, Arcanyx said:

Yeah, I'm trying to find some DDR2 at the moment, seems pretty rare especially if I'm looking for a couple of 2GB sticks. Hoping to find some before I actually wipe clean the hard drive.

 

Linux Mint looks interesting, though what would you recommend for a total Linux beginner?

For a total Linux beginner, the ones I mentioned are pretty user-friendly. I'd probably say that Elementary OS is the most user-friendly because it's quite similar in terms of appearance and functionality to Mac OS (or macOS if you prefer that) and Ubuntu is probably the most popular distribution. Out of the three, Linux Mint is the most similar to Windows and while all three are pretty good for Linux newbies with very simple installation methods, you're still going to be breaking out the Terminal to install a lot of applications. Fortunately, you won't have to if you just need to use Firefox and office applications (Ubuntu and Elementary OS come with LibreOffice by default, it's a lot like OpenOffice and Microsoft Office 2003).

 

Unfortunately, if you want to install Steam, you will have to use the Terminal to do so even though it's listed in Ubuntu's App Store. At least, that's how it was the last time I did it. Instructions aren't hard to find online. I know you may also download some applications through the browser that come packaged in a compressed file, but there's no installer - just application files. I'm unsure of how to install those, but for the most part you won't need to worry about it. 

[Arcanyx]

On 9/26/2016 at 6:58 AM, LOLZpersonok said:

For a total Linux beginner, the ones I mentioned are pretty user-friendly. I'd probably say that Elementary OS is the most user-friendly because it's quite similar in terms of appearance and functionality to Mac OS (or macOS if you prefer that) and Ubuntu is probably the most popular distribution. Out of the three, Linux Mint is the most similar to Windows and while all three are pretty good for Linux newbies with very simple installation methods, you're still going to be breaking out the Terminal to install a lot of applications. Fortunately, you won't have to if you just need to use Firefox and office applications (Ubuntu and Elementary OS come with LibreOffice by default, it's a lot like OpenOffice and Microsoft Office 2003).

 

Unfortunately, if you want to install Steam, you will have to use the Terminal to do so even though it's listed in Ubuntu's App Store. At least, that's how it was the last time I did it. Instructions aren't hard to find online. I know you may also download some applications through the browser that come packaged in a compressed file, but there's no installer - just application files. I'm unsure of how to install those, but for the most part you won't need to worry about it. 

Thanks for the advice, I've been considering what I want to do with this PC and figured to turn it into a HTPC would be the most ideal for my home. I've gotten a new 128GB SSD for the boot drive and a 2TB HDD for storage (may also wipe clean the 500GB drive it came with too). Would a particular distro have an easier route to installing something like VLCPlayer or other media players? I must say the default LibreOffice does sound interesting, as I know my parents will get a kick out of running through their Powerpoints on the TV...

 

EDIT: In addition, I went ahead and gotten a budget Bitfenix case (Nova Black Windowed) that was on sale, as the Acer case this came in had its side panel lock bent probably from a time when it was sent for maintenance (?!?). Which means, I'm pretty much reassembling the whole fella clean into a new, fresh-looking case. I'm stoked! 

[LOLZpersonok]

On 2016-10-11 at 8:54 PM, Arcanyx said:

Thanks for the advice, I've been considering what I want to do with this PC and figured to turn it into a HTPC would be the most ideal for my home. I've gotten a new 128GB SSD for the boot drive and a 2TB HDD for storage (may also wipe clean the 500GB drive it came with too). Would a particular distro have an easier route to installing something like VLCPlayer or other media players? I must say the default LibreOffice does sound interesting, as I know my parents will get a kick out of running through their Powerpoints on the TV...

 

EDIT: In addition, I went ahead and gotten a budget Bitfenix case (Nova Black Windowed) that was on sale, as the Acer case this came in had its side panel lock bent probably from a time when it was sent for maintenance (?!?). Which means, I'm pretty much reassembling the whole fella clean into a new, fresh-looking case. I'm stoked! 

I'm pretty sure the installation of VLC will be the same or very similar on any popular distribution. I'd definitely say that Ubuntu, Elementary OS and Linux Mint are your best choices because their user interfaces are very well refined, especially when compared to other, lesser known distributions. I'm pretty sure VLC can be installed through the Ubuntu app store, but VLC's website does have installers for the specific distributions. 

[JefferyD90]

On ‎9‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 6:06 PM, RGProductions said:

Got windows 10 on a pentium 4 and 1gb ram

not without modifying it.

[RGProductions]

8 minutes ago, JefferyD90 said:

not without modifying it.

Disabled animations. That's it.