alternative operating system needed desperatly

Ok I give up , I am at the point now where all I want to be able to do is use my netbook again for more than just surfing the net . What operating system can I download straight onto the thing without messing about with external devices . There has to be a way to download an operating system direct from the internet that will allow me to boot up and run with a desktop that looks something like windows xp with icons and simple to use and download programs again in the future like I can with XP on my PC. Im such a novice that even if I could get to my Xfce or terminal it wouldn’t really help . From what I can make out a live download is what I need but from where and what program .

 

Use the operating system that is already on it.

You don't say what specifically you want to use the netbook that you can't do at the moment, but if you can enable the "advanced" menu then (within reason) the sky's your limit. I followed http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/05 ... page2.html

Bottom line is that unless you install XP (which will require an external drive or USB stick) it won't be XP, and you'll have to live with the compromises that Linux brings (reduced games compatibility, arguably reduced number of available applications (good and bad!), more dependency on the command line, etc).

But if you want internet access, word processing / spreadsheets (OpenOffice), email, drawing tools, watching DivX videos, all of this is easily done via the Linpus Linux which is already installed.

Matt

 

posts that explaine my problem

These are the posts i made in an effort to solve my problem and hopefuly explains everything, sorry if i repeate myself there.....

i removed xfice to get Gnome and Banshee to work , they were removed and installed it said but my screen went black and i just have the search bar at the top right and the taskbar at the bottom , all i can do now is use the internet but nothing on the machine , all my files are there i can find them but cant open anything as their now in grey not black type , all i get is error messages. if i could i would like to use another operating system other than linux lite as i miss the windows xp desktop im used to on my pc .When i bought the netbook I did manage to change it to firefox 3 add skype and the icon also plus vlc player hoping i dont have to do that again as i had real problems 1st time round.Dose anyone know if using the uban remix program will work and will it leave all my files in place , if i have to use anything from the old operating system to install it then im sunk . One last thing the alt f2 doesn't do anything at all .The odd thing is that i was using the package manager and only did what it told me to resolve dependencies and conflictin programs , said xfce was conflicting with gnome so remove it and it did .How was i to know it would have this effect , there should be some sort of safeguard .

I no longer have XFCE so I have only a black screen with search bar top right and the taskbar at the bottom . The search worked both for the internet and desktop . I would like an opinion as to whether or not I still have the Linux Lite operating system and how can I re enable it given that I cant type in any commands as I cant access the terminal of any part of the system other than search , F2 dosent do anything , I have tried downloading small irrelevant programs to test if that works, the download box appears and when downloads are completed a right click and open will show the box with all the sections of the download in but that’s all I can do , once I close any boxes I have no way to open them again .I have used search to find my files and they are all there but the only ones that will open are on the built in media player,PDF files etc wont .I don’t like Linux lite and would like to have windows of some sort installed if possible so I guess my second question should be where do I get it and can I install it with my netbook in the condition it was before i tried to get Banshee. Scrub that last statement , sod the existing files, just anything that will do what i listed below but not linux lite if i have to louse everything then hopefuly it will be for a more user friendly simple system.The odd thing is i was able to folow someones instructions here when i first bought the netbook and enabled the advance menue ,( if thats the thing i used to right click on ) , im not thick honest , just confused and very much a novice .I stil get mesage to imput password if i leave computer unatended for a short time as i always have plus im writing this with a wireless router thats always worked without problems, now i just loged on and firefox wanted to add an update i acepted and it was instaled succesfuly so it informed me , all reason why i think i still have an operating system working if only i could get to it .

i dont need games and i still have internet fine from searchbar but i need spreadsheets and word processing plus skype, media player and something like banshee for the ipod , would be nice if i can download programs and be able to find them also haha .I dont have a clue what type of memory stick i would need.i have a windows PC but as i run on solar and wind turbines the netbook is perfect in the evenings without draining my system in the winter . By the way if anyone needs advice on something im used to then ive installed solar sysyems for friends costing anything from a grand to 40 grand and would be happy to help anyone with advice .

I would be so grateful for a simple solution , thats if there is one .

 

Dose anyone know if using the uban remix program will work and will it leave all my files in place , if i have to use anything from the old operating system to install it then im sunk .

Yes, it will work.
If you run it from USB you might be able to recover your files, but I'm not sure.
I installed Ubuntu remix. It looked miles better than Linpus but personally I found that everything run a lot slower.
I went back to Linpus and haven't looked back.

When I first wanted to use a netbook, I was looking for a little bit of convenience.....web browsing anywhere I liked and the ability to do stuff anywhere, even in the garden. It does those things really well.
I tried Ubuntu I suppose because I wanted to have something that looked a bit more like a real laptop.......which it did, but at the expense of speed.........and I could never get BBC IPlaer to work, which was a big thing for me.

You should be able to download Ubuntu remix or Acer's Linpus from the web, put it onto a USB stick and get the computer to work from the USB......then you can decide which distro to use.
Hope that helps.
Phil

 

I probably shouldn't ask, but did you make a backup to USB flash drive, and a recovery USB (returns the machine to its out of the box state) before mucking about? If so, restore from whichever is appropriate. Macles* offers a bulletproof backup utility. I had a lot of trouble creating a recovery USB, but eventually succeeded using an external optical drive. A 2gb flash drive is big enough for OS recovery. Over the past 30 years of working with computers, I have broken so many things on so many different machines that maintaining good backups and notes about changes has become second nature. :ugeek:

I have Open Office 3, FireFox 3, Filezilla, Skype, Gimp and a SSH client installed, with all except OO3 and SSH from the Acer software site. Given the wimpy speakers, I have no desire to use my AA1 as a music player; an iPod works better for that purpose. I'm hard presssed to think of anything that I would want to do on a machine this size that I can't accomplish with this setup. I did some minor tweaks to the desktop to put most used items on the main menu. Since I rarely use a mouse with the AA1, I appreciate the default desktop motif, which doesn't require much manual dexterity to select and run a program, and which is always accessible via the Home key.

 

"I download straight onto the thing without messing about with external devices" - Huh? I don't think there's anything like this hehe. You would at LEAST need a USB stick to install a new OS on your system. Goto www.mandriva.com and download the Mandriva 2009 Spring edition.... That's by far the easiest Linux distro you can install on the AAO and get things working right away.... BTW, if you want everything to look like windows, why not just install windows? Less problems.

 

At last I got something to work .I went to http://www.pendrivelinux.com/usb-ubuntu ... x-install/ and installed Ubuntu Remix 9.04 on a 1gb flash drive . IT WORKED and I now have an Operating system again but of course I lost all my Photos , Music , Files and Settings . I’m hoping someone here can just help me with a few minor problems that ive came across .

The wireless light no longer lights up to show that its finding a wireless network .

Limpus Lite that came pre installed would automatically connect to my Net gear Wireless router without me doing anything , now I have to left click on the top and select it manually although it’s the only one listed and shows its already been recognised .

CAN Freecall or any other VOIP telephone system be installed on the system .

The recorder dosent work either via the built in mic or a plugged in mic , just gives a clicking sound when I playback .There has to be a way to fix that or they wouldn’t have included it as standard pre installed .

 

Again my thanks to those that have helped me so far with valued advice , 2 things sorted now , the back up and the voice recorder . A few anomalies I noticed after spending some time fiddling about that may be unique to me or general problems so I will list them incase anyone else has noticed them also and are worried .

Both the card slots only work if you install them before you boot up , once u boot up you can remove them , change them , whatever you do the system will recognise them , if you haven’t booted up with them in the slots they cant b found on the system .(THINK THATS THE WAY IT ALWAYS WORKS FROM THE POSTS I HAVE READ NOW )

The voice recorder dosent work the first time you open the application , the 1st time you use it after opening it , you just get a clicking sound , you have to just do a dummy recording of a few seconds then make your recording the second time for it to work .This is for each ocasion you use it .

If you record webcam and voice on Cheese you wont have video , just voice

The recorded video in Cheese is very choppy and freezes every few seconds .

Some of the icons are a bit fuzzy as if out of focus .

When you try to remove some of the un needed Icons they remain in place .
If you select Accessibility and look at the options your stuck with the icon top right of the screen next to wireless netwoork bars , you cant get rid of it .

 

I probably shouldn't ask, but did you make a backup to USB flash drive, and a recovery USB (

Yes I did but it took me ages. I found that the recovery CD didn't work at all.
Eventually got it onto a USB drive and that's where it is staying so had to go out and buy a new USB doohdad.

I appreciate the default desktop motif, which doesn't require much manual dexterity to select and run a program, and which is always accessible via the Home key.

Home key...............well you learn something every day don't you. :lol:
Phil

 

I tried Linpus for a few days and decided I wanted something a little more user friendly as opposed to something ultra light weight. I've ended up with linux4one which is a modified Ubuntu distro. It works straight out the box - easy to install, all the LEDs work, straight on to wireless, it picks up both card readers and recognises the extra RAM I have in the box.

Other advantages include Open Office built in, Firefox 3 and so on....

So far the only thing I'm not mad keen on is the Thunderbird e-mail as it won't talk to our Exchange server, but I can get round this using Outlook Web Access. Strangely the One Mail programe in Linpus hooked up to the Exchange server without any problems at all! Apparently Evolution may be a fix I should look at for this one.

Otherwise, go for linux4one.

 

Are you based in the UK?
Do you know whether BBC Iplayer works with this distribution?
Phil

 

Hi Phil,

Yes, I'm in the UK, and yes, Linux4one works with iPlayer - thank god.Gives me soemthing watch while I'm in China with work!! The only thing that is abit of a pain in the neck is it seems to lose the volume settings for the alsmixer every time it's shut down, but I'm sure I just need to get surfing for a fix when I get 5 minutes!

Ivan.

 

Phil,

I need to clarify this a bit having just done some more digging.

The iplayer handles video OK in the native browser window but I'm having problems getting the streaming radio player to work as it's saying it needs Real Player installing. This is somehwat confusing as I've already downloaded & installed Real Player. If I find a fix to the radio bit I'll repost.

Ivan.

 

I had the opposite with Netbook remix. Radio worked, video didn't.