Which OS to install?

[thealchemist]

Hello all,

I have an old computer ... P4 1.7 GHz, 512 MB, 2*36 GB SCSI HDD and DVDRW to boot. Unfortunately I am broke to keep with the current times and besides I use this primarily for surfing, entertainment (movies etc.) and at times work (nothing too heavy).

I have noticed though that when streaming media online (e.g. Veoh and Hulu) its slow at times especially when in full-screen mode. I am currently using Windows 2000. I would like to install some linux distro which hopefully would have least CPU usage but then thought best to take inputs here about which OS to install. I acknowledge that I have a lot of extraneous softwares currently installed but have minimal running in the task manager.

Contenders in my mind:

1. Ubuntu (latest version whichever it is)
2. Windows XP
3. Live with what I have and not much can be done ...

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Al.

 

[Schadenfroh]

1. Ubuntu (latest version whichever it is)

On an older PC, you might want to consider Xubuntu

Xubuntu uses the Xfce desktop environment, meaning that it will run fast while still delivering a user-friendly interface. Older computers feel lively again, while newer ones will run faster than ever before!

 

[thegorx]

what's your internet connection ? If it's lower DSL that might be the problem with slowness.

 

[thealchemist]

what's your internet connection ?

I have a cable internet connection and the computer is connected directly to the router.

Al.

 

[thegorx]

well, I've seen systems with xp with only 1GHZ CPUs and using old pc133 ram run Hulu where it's watchable. Maybe your anti-virus software is slowing things down, what % is it running at idle ? I'd think windows 2000 would work fine up until you weren't able to install a updated internet browser. And for linux, I wouldn't think you'd have to go totally barebone. Look at GOS not that you have to install it but to give you and idea what can be done with ubuntu. Heck alot of people are getting those eeepc with less processing power but the newer boards would have a fast FSB which makes a difference.

 

[lxskllr]

Win2kpro should run that stuff fine. What gfx card do you have? If it's integrated, that could be the problem. Old, but good cards can be found free/cheap, maybe that's something you could look into.

 

[thegorx]

yeah intergrated intel video would sux

 

[thealchemist]

Thank you for your inputs.

When running only Firefox (v2.0.0.16) and streaming on Hulu (low-res), the CPU usage is at 40-50%. When in idle mode its at 0% and commit memory usage of about 230 MB (the only other process running in background is the Spybot S&D). The video ram is Nvidia Quadro2 EX which has 32 MB of RAM. I have a 128 MB ATI AGP card but I lucked out on it as it does not seem to match the AGP slot on the motherboard (the slots are "reversed"). May be I should free up some disk space on my hard disk to give it enough to buffer? (I have currently 0.5 GB free.)

Al.

 

[Leros]

Upgrading to 1GB of ram would help a lot.

 

[thealchemist]

Upgrading to 1GB of ram would help a lot.

It certainly would; only the system requires PC800 RDRAM (installed in pairs). It would be simpler (and cheaper) to buy a new computer altogether. Will check out something on eBay etc. though ...

Al.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: thealchemist

Upgrading to 1GB of ram would help a lot.

It certainly would; only the system requires PC800 RDRAM (installed in pairs). It would be simpler (and cheaper) to buy a new computer altogether. Will check out something on eBay etc. though ...

Al.

I don't think I'd bother with the ram. Last time I looked, rdram was quite expensive through all channels. Also, your Quadro should be good enough for watching video. You could try using IE for streaming. It should use a bit less ram, and maybe a few fewer cpu cycles.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

1. Ubuntu (latest version whichever it is)

On an older PC, you might want to consider Xubuntu

Xubuntu uses the Xfce desktop environment, meaning that it will run fast while still delivering a user-friendly interface. Older computers feel lively again, while newer ones will run faster than ever before!

I think his PC is fast enough for Ubuntu. But still, Xubuntu might be a good choice.

If nothing seems to help with what you have, I'd go for Ubuntu next.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

1. Ubuntu (latest version whichever it is)

On an older PC, you might want to consider Xubuntu

Xubuntu uses the Xfce desktop environment, meaning that it will run fast while still delivering a user-friendly interface. Older computers feel lively again, while newer ones will run faster than ever before!

I think his PC is fast enough for Ubuntu. But still, Xubuntu might be a good choice.

If nothing seems to help with what you have, I'd go for Ubuntu next.

Ubuntu's kind of a pig. I don't think it's the best choice for a lean, mean computer. I like my O/Ss "heavy", so it works for me, but there's better choices in the Linux world. Maybe Puppy if you can get the plugins you need for video. Really though, 2kpro is a good choice for a lower end machine. Your computer was state of the art when 2kpro was released.

 

[nordloewelabs]

Puppy Linux 4. extremely light and functional. most medai files play out of the box. Flash already installed.

 

[thealchemist]

Your computer was state of the art when 2kpro was released.

It sure was! This is a machine which is around 5-6 years old. I like the simplicity that the 2kpro offers without sacrificing too much on the aesthetics.

will check Puppy Linux out ...

Al.

 

[accguy9009]

Win 2000 Pro should be fine for that set up. Have you checked to see if you can use Linux on Hulu? if you are going to try Linux check out Mandriva 2008.1.


From hula.com

Q : What are the technical requirements to watch videos at Hulu.com?
To enjoy videos at Hulu, you will need the following software installed on your computer:
Internet Explorer 6.0 or above, Firefox 1.5 or above, or Safari 2.0 or above
JavaScript and Cookies must also be enabled.
Adobe Flash Player 9.0 or above
Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Microsoft Windows Vista, Macintosh OS X, or Linux
In addition, you will need an internet connection with sufficient bandwidth. Our videos stream at 480Kbps or 700Kbps, and we'll adjust our stream based on your bandwidth, but we recommend a downstream bandwidth of 1000Kbps or higher for the smoothest playback experience. You can test your downstream bandwidth at many websites. Search for "bandwidth test" on the web to find many of the most popular bandwidth test websites.
Some of our videos now come in a 1,000 Kbps, H.264, 480p stream. You can recognize these streams by the 480p Hi-Res button that will appear in the lower right of the player. To watch these high resolution streams, you'll need to upgrade to Flash Player 9.0.124.0, and we recommend a downstream bandwidth of 1,500Kbps for the smoothest playback experience.
You'll also need Flash Player 9.0.124.0 to watch the 720p clips in our HD Gallery. Those are encoded at 2,500Kbps, and we recommend a downstream bandwidth of over 3,500Kbps to stream those, or you can pause and allow the streams to buffer before playing them.

 

[Nothinman]

512M is pretty thin these days but it should run Ubuntu just fine, if it turns out that you think Gnome is too heavy you can always switch to another WM at any time.

 

[thealchemist]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
512M is pretty thin these days but it should run Ubuntu just fine, if it turns out that you think Gnome is too heavy you can always switch to another WM at any time.

Thank you for the responses. I think I will check Ubuntu out and see the performance and if not then check Xubuntu out. Will post experience once done over the weekend.

Al.

 

[Nothinman]

I wouldn't even bother with Xubuntu, if Gnome is too heavy just install the XFCE packages in Ubuntu and see how they run.

 

[funkrocker049]

Honestly, I think Win2000 or XP would work just fine on that system. I am running XP on an old Dell laptop right now (Pentium III, 192MB RAM) and it's working quite well. Once I up the memory to 512MB it should be just fine. Streaming video on Youtube works fine, though multitasking is obviously limited. Just choose your software carefully.

If you are looking at Linux, I would recommend Ubuntu with a different window manager, or try Arch Linux. Arch takes more time up-front, but you can tweak it to your liking...and the end result is a quick and nimble system.

 

[Net]

if you want to put ubuntu in there then run Fluxbox as your windows manager. It is much faster.

it might already be installed and ready to go. But if not then in your console just type: apt-get install fluxbox

i used slackware (my favorite distro, lightweight & stable) with fluxbox on my 550mhz back in the day.

------

but if i was you i would just put windows xp in it. From my experience firefox runs slow in linux and using open office instead of ms office is uncomfortably slow as well.

personally the x windowing system (graphics) seems slower in linux then xp. others might have different opinions.

 

[thealchemist]

Originally posted by: net
if you want to put ubuntu in there then run Fluxbox as your windows manager. It is much faster.

it might already be installed and ready to go. But if not then in your console just type: apt-get install fluxbox

i used slackware (my favorite distro, lightweight & stable) with fluxbox on my 550mhz back in the day.

------

but if i was you i would just put windows xp in it. From my experience firefox runs slow in linux and using open office instead of ms office is uncomfortably slow as well.

personally the x windowing system (graphics) seems slower in linux then xp. others might have different opinions.

Hi,

So I finally installed Ubuntu last night and it is working great ... although like some of you have mentioned, Firefox seems to be a little slow ... That being said, the speed is markedly improved. I will play around a bit and then explore Fluxbox etc. and get back ... if I cannot see Firefox speed to be improved, then probably switch back (or dual boot) Windows XP ... dont have 2000 installation cd on me

Al.

 

[Nothinman]

You don't need to use FF, there are other browsers. I use Galeon most of the time. Epiphany is another Gecko-based browser for Gnome, it's actually the default and development on Galeon has been scaled back quite a bit.

 

[MichaelD]

LOTS of excellent suggestions in this thread and they all have merit.

I'd like to throw one more in there and my suggestion won't cost you a penny.

Your machine is probably running slow b/c it's got 6 years of built up crap in the registry and in the Temp files that Windows creates for everything.

I have this opinion due to the fact that roughly 75% of the 800+ client machines I manage at work are still running W2K. A few are actually PII's, but the majority are 1.5 and up P4s just like your box. And reinstalls seem to work wonders for them.

Do a fresh install of W2K_SP4 on a fresh partition w/the latest drivers for everything that you can find and I'll bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[OptimisTech]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
LOTS of excellent suggestions in this thread and they all have merit.

I'd like to throw one more in there and my suggestion won't cost you a penny.

Your machine is probably running slow b/c it's got 6 years of built up crap in the registry and in the Temp files that Windows creates for everything.

I have this opinion due to the fact that roughly 75% of the 800+ client machines I manage at work are still running W2K. A few are actually PII's, but the majority are 1.5 and up P4s just like your box. And reinstalls seem to work wonders for them.

Do a fresh install of W2K_SP4 on a fresh partition w/the latest drivers for everything that you can find and I'll bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'll second this suggestion. If you have never reformatted and re-installed then I can almost promise you will see a noticeable difference just from that. Don't forget to back up your data.

Also, I can't tell from the description you gave, but if your SCSI controller supports RAID0 and you not using it, that could give a nice boost as well.