[SWLUG] Xandros experience

[Rhys Sage]

I had Ubuntu installed on my machine and decided to
install Xandros. That was an interesting experience. I
put the CD in, downloaded from the Xandros website,
and the machine chugged through various boot messages
before displaying the Xandros logo and then up came a
message "remove CD. Press enter to reboot". I did as I
was told and the system rebooted - straight into
Ubuntu. Ok. Something's a bit stuffed there, I figured
so I reformatted the HDD as FAT 32 and put the Xandros
CD back in. It chugged along as before and then came
up with a Grub 17 error before hanging. Interesting!

Anyway, as we're a bit short on PCs (one Dell 600
which is so obsolete there's no point in using it, One
Dell 8100 which is short on Rambus memory which is so
expensive and so difficult to get that it's not worth
the effort - especially since it's an obsolete
machine), I'm now trying to put Windows 98 onto the
Dell 4300s but even though the disk has been formatted
and Windows reinstalled, it's coming up with that
dratted Linux leftover: Grub 1.5 Error 17 and then
hanging. That Dell had XP on it originally but there
seemed to be files missing from the Dell installation
CD which meant that as the XP installation was
corrupt, I could not reinstall XP. 

/rant
What is it with these computers? I have a very slow
Dell 600 that's well nigh useless for anything. I have
a Dell 4300s that shrugs off every attempt to install
Windows. I have a Dell 8100 that's chronically
underpowered with memory and which isn't worth
upgrading and I have an HP a705w that works but which
seems to fry additional memory - every time it's
added.

In addition to that... both manufacturers claim their
machines take a different kind of memory from that
which is installed in the machines! What is it with
these manufacturers. The Dell has memory that Ubuntu
identified as PC133 and Dell identifies as DDR 2100.
To me, it looks awfully like DDR 2700 - as printed on
the label on the memory.
/rant

It seems that what this household needs is a big skip
to dump all the old computers in and a budget big
enough to buy new computers.


	
	
		
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