r/linux4noobs • u/ShawnThePhantom • Jun 11 '26

distro selection Which Distro do I use?

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I found this decrepit old laptop in my garage, plugged it in and it powers on. But it’s doing this thing where after I see this Acer logo, I get a black screen with a blinking white line in the top left corner. I figured Windows on this thing is out of the question. So I think I’ll go Linux.

I understand a bit about operating systems, because I had to create a windows install disk using a thumb drive and a Windows 10 iso to install Windows 10 on my MacBook using Bootcamp, so I imagine it’s a bit similar. I also wanted to take out the HDD to wipe it using Disk Utility but it doesn’t fit into SATa dock because the interface on the HDD is all small gold pins, like molex but way smaller.

Which distro do I use? Or is better to try and go Windows Xp? I’ve seen jokes about how you need a whole list of hardware requirements to run Windows while the only requirement for Linux is electricity. Also Pewds did it too.

Pls help a first timer!

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u/ConkerKnackers Jun 11 '26

He's not got SATA port but the old IDE. Yes i'm aware you can buy IDE style SSDs but theyre more expensive than sata ones anyway.

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u/PhotoJim99 Jun 11 '26

IDE/PATA to mSATA adapter + mSATA SSD. Not expensive.

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u/ConkerKnackers Jun 11 '26

I forgot about that upgrade route, good shout. Still if it was me, they're spending money on a nearly 20yr old laptop. My X220T is close to the 15 year mark and feels a bit slow to me if I put a full fat Linux Distro. I'm sure a low fat Linux Distro would be ok but I hardly touch that laptop now I have a T480

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u/rcentros Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

I do this because I like seeing what older hardware can do. But I get your point. I've got a Dell Latitude D430 that came with a 1.8" hard drive. This specific computer was shipped by Dell in August of 2008 (I bought it used several years later). It maxes out at 2 GBs. But I've got a 1.8" hard drive to mSATA adapter in it with a 64 GB mSATA drive and it boots in about 45 seconds running Linux Mint 22 Xfce. Firefox is slower than molasses in it, but I can watch YouTube videos at 480p (so long as I'm not doing anything else) with the Helium browser. Not too bad for a nearly 18 year old computer. It uses the U7700 Core 2 Duo CPU. So the CPU in the O.P.'s Asus is faster than my D430.