HomePage > Software Index > File-system (image: DropBox. Use online file host DropBox. Dropbox for linux. 2nd Method - Download the dropbox installer as per your environment. Install - Dropbox. Search for Dropbox icon and select, it will redirect you to the login page of dropbox, login with your account credentials. See full tutorial Dropbox for linux.
Brief: Don’t throw your old computer just yet. Use a lightweight Linux distro and revive that decades-old system. What do you do with your old computers?
The one which once had good hardware configuration but now those are considered outdated. Why not revive your old computer with Linux? I am going to list best lightweight Linux distributions that you can use on your older PC. While our focus is on older computers, you can also use most of these lightweight Linux on relatively new hardware.
This will give you a better performance if you use your computer for resource-heavy usage such as video editing on Linux. Let’s see which lightweight Linux distro you should use. Best Lightweight Linux distros for old laptops and desktops I’ll try to order the list in decreasing order of hardware requirement.
Which means the lightweight Linux distro at the number one position would need the minimum hardware. Peppermint Peppermint is a that doesn’t need high-end hardware. It is based on Ubuntu and uses LXDE desktop environment to give you a smoother experience. Originally created with the web-centric approach of netbooks in mind, Peppermint has developed for integrating any website as a desktop app. It also has a decent to help the new users.
A is also there to help troubleshooting issues and answering your questions. Minimum system requirements for Peppermint OS:. RAM: 1 GB of RAM (recommended 2 GB).
CPU: Processor based on Intel x86 architecture. Disk space: At least 4 GB of available disk space You can get more information about Peppermint on its website: 9. Lubuntu Next on our list of best lightweight Linux distributions is Lubuntu. As the name suggests a member of Ubuntu family but based on. In fact, it is one of the. Lubuntu also supports older computers that had been buried (Just kidding!
You can also use Lubuntu on modern hardware). Lubuntu is the lightest derivatives of Ubuntu so it specializes speed, support for older hardware. Lubuntu has fewer packages by default consisting mostly of. GPicView for image viewing, MTPaint for paint, Evince for PDF, Audacious for music, Gnome-Player for video, guvcview for webcam, Chromium for web browsing, Sylpheed for email, Pidgin for instant messaging, Transmission for torrent, Gnumeric for spreadsheet, Abiword for office, Xpad for notes and there are even more. If you were using Ubuntu earlier then you will not find Lubuntu unfamiliar. Software and repositories are same so you will get all software that you were using on Ubuntu from their repositories. But take care of your system when installing any application. Select an application that can consume fewer resources of your old computer.
Don’t use resource-heavy apps. Minimum hardware requirements for Lubuntu:. RAM: 512 MB of RAM (recommended 1GB). CPU: Pentium 4 or Pentium M or AMD K8 or higher 8.
Linux Lite As the name suggests Linux Lite is a lightweight Linux distro that does not need high-end hardware to run it. Even a beginner will be able to use it on older computers easily. Linux Lite is based on Ubuntu LTS (Long Term Support) releases. The LTS version gives support for 5 years which means once you install Linux Lite on your computer, it should provide updates for 5 years. Linux Lite Team says: “ Linux Lite is fully functional out of the box, this means that you won’t have to install extra software when you boot your computer for the first time.” This is pretty helpful for newbies as they don’t need to go for some basic apps search to install. Most of the basic apps are built in with OS. Some of the pre-installed apps are Firefox for web browsing, Thunderbird for emails, Dropbox for Cloud storage, VLC Media Player for Music, LibreOffice for office, Gimp for image editing and Lite tweaks to tweak your desktop.
Considering that it is based on Ubuntu, you’ll have plenty of support and resources available online as you can follow the Ubuntu tutorials. Minimum hardware requirements for Linux Lite:. RAM: 512 MB RAM (recommended 1 GB). CPU: 700MHz processor. Display: VGA screen 1024×768 resolution (recommended VGA, DVI or HDMI screen 1366×768). Disk space: At least 5 GB free disk space 7. LXLE LXLE is actually a respin of Lubuntu LTS version.
Which means that it is basically Lubuntu but tweaked for a specific purpose, to revive old computers in this case. Despite being lightweight Linux distro, LXLE tries to provide an intuitive UI and eye candies. The system is tweaked to improve performance and comes with a wide range of lightweight applications installed by default. Minimum hardware requirements for LXLE:. RAM: 512 MB (recommended 1 GB).
CPU: Pentium 3 (recommended Pentium 4). Disk space: 8 GB 6.
CrunchBang CrunchBang is also known as CBPP or #! or CrunchBang Plus Plus. Crunchbang is the clone of that was known for simplicity and lite weight. CrunchBang supports old computers and runs without any issue. CrunchBang is based on with the minimal design interface and built around the minimal and lightweight. This project is continuing with the same aim to provide easy to use & lite weight Linux with good functionalities. That’s why Crunchbang includes a minimal design, simple & sleek interface.
Some of the default applications in Crunchbang are Geany IDE, Terminator terminal emulator, Thunar File Manager, Gimp for image editing, Viewnior image viewer, VLC Media Player for music, Xfburn CD/DVD burning software, Iceweasel for web browsing, Transmission torrent client, Gnumeric spreadsheet editor, Evince pdf viewer, gFTP file transfer client, Xchat IRC client, AbiWord for office. Minimum hardware requirements for CrunchBang: There are no official hardware recommendations for Crunchbang. Ideally, it should work with 512 MB of RAM and Pentium 4 CPU. Openbox is not very beginner friendly but this doesn’t mean you should be afraid to try it: 5. Bodhi Linux Another light Linux distribution is Bodhi Linux that gives life to older PCs & Laptops. Bodhi Linux is quite known for its lightness. There are not many software pre-loaded on Bodhi Linux so the ISO is not big in size and when installed on older computers it runs freely without using much memory.
But do not think that you can not install other applications, you can install any application that you need. Other than this, Enlightenment makes the distro a lot faster. Enlightenment is faster than other window managers that are used in other Linux distributions. If you have any problem using Enlightenment or any other function of Bodhi then there are helpful guides written by the team. There are some basic applications such as Ephoto for Graphics, Midori for web browsing, ePad text editor but, unfortunately, there are no applications for Multimedia.
But don’t worry! As I said above you can install other applications through. PPAs meant for Ubuntu also work in Bodhi Linux, mostly.
Minimum hardware requirements for Bodhi Linux:. RAM: 256 MB of RAM. CPU: 1.0 GHz. Disk space: 4 GB of drive space 4. AntiX Linux antIiX is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Debian Linux.
It takes pride in boasting of a systemd-free Linux distribution. If you are not aware of the term systemd, then it shouldn’t matter to you that antiX doesn’t use systemd. AntiX uses to keep the system running on low-end hardware. It doesn’t provide many software by default so the ISO is less in size. You can always download and install more software later if you have access to an active internet connection. Minimum hardware requirements for antiX Linux:. RAM: 256 MB of RAM.
CPU: PIII systems. Disk space: 2.7 GB of drive space 3. SparkyLinux The third position on our list of lightweight Linux distro is occupied SparkyLinux. SparkyLinux is another lightweight but at the same time, SparkyLinux also targets modern computers so it has another version which is loaded with applications and make the distro run instantly after installing. Did I tell you what distro SparkyLinux is based on? Actually SparkyLinux is based on Debian testing branch and it has several desktop environments including LXDE, OpenBox/JWM, e17, MATE, LXQt, Cli and the GameOver edition.
LXQt is quite faster than other mentioned except Cli (Command Line Interface). As said earlier, it has two editions: Full edition and Base edition. Full edition is loaded with applications so that you do not have to install them manually, but that is not for our old computers. The Base edition is not loaded with heavy applications so it’s light and does not use much system resources. Although Sparky has its own repositories to install most of the applications. The list of applications installed by default is different for different Sparky, Full, Base and Gaming edition and is available below each edition on the download page.
Minimum hardware requirements for SparkyLinux:. RAM: 256 MB of RAM for LXDE, e17, Openbox, GameOver and 384MB RAM for MATE, LXQt. CPU: i486/amd64. Disk space: 5 GB of drive space 2. Puppy Linux As I mentioned above now distributions will be less in size but speedy. Puppy Linux is one of them, Puppy Linux latest release is Puppy Linux 6.0.2 tahrpup CE that is only 199 – 201MB in size.
It’s very small. This small Linux distribution can be booted with a small size USB stick. Puppy Linux can be booted live with either a CD/DVD/USB and onceits booted you can eject CD/DVD/USB and Puppy Linux will run smoothly. It’s so tiny that it saves everything on RAM which makes it very fast.
You can even save any data on the same USB that you are booting the Puppy Linux from. The Quirky 7.0.3 release is even smaller than tahrpup CE, it is only 176MB. Puppy Linux uses JWM and Openbox window managers by default which makes it very easy on resource consumption.
If you are using Puppy Linux on old computer then this will more likely to fit into that but do not demand those high graphics applications. Try to complete your work with light applications and tools. Because Puppy Linux is built to be fast, it does not come along with bundles of applications. It does have some basic apps, though. For example, Abiword for word processing, Gnumeric for spreadsheets and assorted graphics editing and media playback programs.
Personally, I use Puppy Linux to recover data or to repair my corrupt OS and believe me, it helps me a lot. Minimum hardware requirements for Puppy Linux:. RAM: 64MB (recommended 256 MB). CPU: 333MHz 1.
Tiny Core Be ready to be amazed by the Tiny Core. I bet Windows’ smallest image editing app will be heavier than Tiny Core Linux. It is just 15MB in size! It takes more time download a low quality small video clip than the Tiny Core.
Well, that was about the size of distro but what is inside will also amaze you. It comes with the minimal interface and very few applications installed. If you have an ancient computer then try this out and see the magic. It boots faster than any other OS. The Tiny Core Linux was forked from but now it is completely independent. This small distro comes with FLTK/FKWM and BusyBox desktop by default.
You will find many things missing, for example, hardware graphics but don’t worry you can install them manually if you want. There are three editions of Tiny Core which are Core, Tiny Core and CorePlus. Core is the base system that has only CLI (Command Line Interface).
This will amazingly fit inside the old computer but as this is a CLI so an experienced/advance users can operate it well. The current version of Core edition is only 9MB.:) TinyCore edition will be for a normal user who is familiar with GUI (Graphical User Interface). A beginner can be familiar with this edition of Tiny Core Linux. The current release of TinyCore is only 15MB in size. Yeah, that’s tiny, I know.
CorePlus is an installation image and not the distribution. It is recommended for new users who only have access to a wireless network or who use a non-US keyboard layout. It includes the base Core System and installation tools to provide for the setup with the following options: Choice of 7 Window Managers, Wireless support via many firmware files and ndlswrapper, non-US keyboard support, and a remastering tool.
The current release of CorePlus is only 72MB in size. Minimum hardware requirements for Tiny Core Linux:. RAM: 46 MB (recommended 64 MB). CPU: Pentium 2 Conclusion Installing any of the following Linux on your older hardware will be very easy. The good thing is that there are many tutorials or guides provided by the team itself to help new users.
Also, you will need to do a little research about the applications you want to install on very tiny distributions. Prefer the application that uses fewer system resources and has a simple user interface. If you maintain the installations then there will be no problem using any of the light Linux distro listed above. Finally, thank you for reading the article and don’t forget to tell your favorite Linux distributions in the comment below. In similar read, I recommend reading about the. Also, check out some.
Thanks for the article! As much it may sound weird to some people, I went with Gentoo as a lightweight distribution after I found out about this website DOTSLASHLINUX. It has some nice configurations for many of the primitive things on any linux distro including the kernel and stuff like that (the dude idles at 60MB ram with 0% cpu usage on a 64-bit laptop which is much lighter than everything I’ve seen so far). For those who are interested: But true, for those who don’t want to bother compiling Arch Linux is probably the way to go!
Keep’em coming! What about KolibriOS? It’s bit overkill since it flits on a 3,5″ floppy and uses only 8 MB RAM, but i think it worth to try it. Even if you don’t have such an old computer. I found it first on DistroWatch and decided to try it. So i set up a VirtualBox VM as other Linux, didn’t create a storage for it and set 10 MB for start. Okay, it was working.
Stopped the VM and set 8 MB RAM and it still worked. It was slow in VirtualBox, just like every other Linux distro i tried, but i don’t think it will be the case when it runs on a normal PC.
Here’s their website. Hi Mohd Sohail!. With all due respect to your efforts here Mohd, I am ROYALLY FED UP with these kinds of reviews! And for one basic reason! They are not tailored to the specificity of one’s PC!
And, they fail to cover the majority of other FOSS OS distros and apps in existence (not to mention, FOSH developments!)!. What we DESPARATELY NEED Mohd, is an Artificial Intelligence package managed by a FOSS AI-oriented website (networked to a GLOBAL FOSS/ FOSH AI community!)! That can scan one’s PC, determine its hardware specifics, and come up with a list of the best FOSS OS distros and apps (and including, AI apps!
And FOSH developments!)) possible, for one’s PC!. We are heading to an AI world! B-I-G T-I-M-E! And the way “volunteer interests” have been doing things in their attempt to assist Netizens!
IS YESTERDAY’S NEWS! AND, RIDICULOUS! AND THOSE IN NEED OF EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE INFO FOR THEIR SYSTEMS! DON’T HAVE TIME TO CONTINUALLY R-E-I-N-V-E-N-T T-H-E W-H-E-E-L EVERY TIME THEY NEED TO ADDRESS SOME SYSTEM CHANGE FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE PCs!. There are simply TOO MANY VARIABLES, and TOO MANY ADVANCES in FOSS OS distro and App design (yea, FOSH technomae!), for you (and netizens!) to efficiently and effectively address in an AD HOC FASHION!
THE ENTIRE GLOBAL ICT COMMUNITY SHOULD BE RETROFITTING THEIR “SERVICE MODEL” IN THE FASHION I’VE SUGGESTED! AND, NOT JUST, THE GLOBAL FOSS/ FOSH COMMUNITY!. The benefit of this approach for FOSS/ FOSH users, is, that based on the FOSS/ FOSH philosophy of S-H-A-R-I-N-G and addressing generic aspects of both software and hardware! Netizens don’t run the risk of being manipulated (for profit!) by MATRIXWARE huxsters and hustlers!. I’m not trying to put you on the “hot seat” here Mohd! And wanting you to begin a personal campaign to lobby for the suggested aforenoted new FOSS/ FOSH gameplan! That will require an effort on the part of EVERYONE who may read this comment!
To whatever extent, such choose to bring this message forward! To the extent that such a model as aforeoutlined would appear to be of value to you! And, to your readers!
I’d ask you– implore of you!– to bring this notion to the attention of whomever you might feel is best able to objectively examine this, and to effect its realization! And simply put Mohd! ICT is only going to get more complex as time goes on (e.g., when FOSS/ FOSH Quantum Computing arrives!) and so, we can’t continue to “H-A-C-K A-W-A-Y” at the “ICT forest”, in order to “clear a path” towards an efficient and effective ICT future! WE NEED THE BEST DARN TOOLS OUT THERE! AND THAT– FOR ME!– MEANS AI/ EXPERT SYSTEMS/ INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS FOR “P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L D-E-V-I-C-E C-O-N-F-I-G-U-R-A-T-I-O-N, M-A-I-N-T-E-N-A-N-C-E, U-P-G-R-A-D-I-N-G, A-N-D G-E-N-E-R-A-L U-S-E!. No emails please!
Advertisement I regularly find myself writing about USB sticks. Why am I currently obsessing over these cheap dongles, which many have come to regard as fundamentally obsolete?
Because they’re still useful. Sure, you’re probably not going to use them to store your files on. In that regard, they’ve been utterly supplanted by cloud storage services Cloud storage services have come and gone, but Dropbox is probably the one that's been here the longest. And now it has upped its game with a host of new features. Let's explore. But they can be used to Aren't USB flash drives redundant?
We don't think so. There are many ways in which a USB drive can still come in handy, including keeping your computer secure. Better yet, when you install Linux on them, they can be used to keep your digital worlds in-sync wherever you go, or to protect your computer when things go awry. Here are the 5 most useful Linux distributions for installing on a USB drive.
As a Portable Desktop: Puppy Linux and Elementary OS Confession: I hate using other people’s computers. I hate using public computers. The only computers I am comfortable using are my own. But sometimes, it’s unavoidable. When you travel on budget airlines like EasyJet and Spirit, you’re limited to how much baggage you can bring.
Sometimes you have to leave your machine at home. If your computer breaks, you might have to use someone else’s while you wait for Amazon to deliver your replacement. One of the best ways to solve this is to shove a desktop distribution onto a USB drive and boot into it as required. But which one should you install? Puppy Linux For the longest while, has been seen as little more than a curiosity.
Designed to be used on the most austere of hardware, it could comfortably chug away on early Pentium machines without breaking a sweat. But it wasn’t that practical. Many installed it on their antique hardware to see how little ‘oomph’ it needed, and then forgot about it. But it Here, we'll be taking a look at a distribution of Linux that is famous for being able to run with very little hardware requirements, Puppy Linux. Puppy Linux isn't based on another distribution; it is. Updates and new versions are still regularly released.
Sure, it’s still stripped down; it can run on low-end and underpowered hardware. But you can now use it to get stuff done. There are three different versions of Puppy. One, called is based upon SlackWare, which is one of the longest established Linux distributions. People continue to use it as their day-to-day operating system. People understand it. Another is built around Ubuntu 14:04 LTS,.
The third version of Puppy is the mainline project, originally founded. The recent versions, have been built with the express goal of running on a USB drive.
Although I’d still err on the side of caution and use TahrPup, in order to mitigate any potential hardware compatibility issues. Elementary OS I know that people have their own preference when it comes to what Linux distribution they want to use. It’s for this reason why I’m reticent to just talk about desktop operating systems. But please, indulge me just one more. After that, we’ll talk about how you can use Linux and USB sticks to accomplish specific tasks, like resizing hard drives.
In recent months, I’ve come to really take a shine to Elementary OS. It’s often overlooked, especially by its larger brothers like Ubuntu and Linux Mint.
I’ve never understood that, because in addition to being fast, and built upon the sturdy foundations of Ubuntu LTS, it’s also a pretty ( Dislike the new Ubuntu theme? Want to turn back the clock to the 'Human' theme? You can, with the help of Elementary OS and the 'Humanitary' theme and icon pack. Here's how.) face. Since it shares a lot in common with Ubuntu, you can be confident you won’t have to deal with any hardware compatibility gremlins. Plus, it proves to be buttery-smooth, even on low-end hardware, like laptops and cheap Atom and Celeron-powered machines. This is important when you’re also dealing with the inherent performance bottleneck that comes with booting your operating system from an USB drive.
For Managing Your Hard Disk: Gparted Live Hard drives are divided into chunks called ‘partitions’. Your computer’s hard drive might have just one partition for all your files and folders.
Or it might have a partition for your programs, and another for your documents and files. From time, you might need to modify these partitions to either resize them, or wipe them entirely. There’s a common Linux tool used to manage these partition. Many distributions come with this pre-installed. But there’s also a distribution which is centered around this tool. It’s Edit your partitions from outside your operating system. The GParted Live CD is a simple Linux distro you can use to change the size of your partitions – or wipe a drive entirely.
Built around. Burn it to a CD (or, better yet, a USB flash drive) and you’ll be able to reshape your hard drive as you require.
Be careful though, as one mistake could potentially render your hard drive unbootable. For Removing Viruses: AVG Rescue CD and BitDefender Rescue CD When malware strikes, it can often be game over. Your machine will run slowly, or perhaps not at all. Your files and folders will be held to ransom. Everything you do on your computer could be monitored.
Worse, many viruses and Trojans are designed to actively fight removal. They’ll prevent antimalware programs from updating their definitions, or even running.
But you have alternatives. By booting into a special Linux distribution, you can scan your system for problems, and resolve them. There are two worthy of note, each produced by a major security company you’ve probably heard of. Here’s what you need to know. AVG Rescue CD Over the past twenty years, one of the biggest names in computer security has been AVG. The Czech-based firm has produced one of the first free antivirus programs to hit the mainstream.
You probably haven’t heard of it though. AVG have chosen to market it at their enterprise customers.
But although they’re not marketing it at home users, you can still download it from the AVG website. It’s also worth noting that although it’s called the “AVG Rescue CD”, you can still burn it onto a USB flash drive. Instructions can be found in the video above. BitDefender Rescue CD Another big name in computer security is Romania-based BitDefender, who boast an array of premium and free antivirus and antimalware solutions. Like AVG, they too. In terms of sheer effectiveness, BitDefender’s products tend to rank quite highly.
Which is why I’d personally lean towards BitDefender’s offering. Antivirus is the type of thing where you want to pick a product and commit to it, so as to avoid causing problems. Like AVG’s Rescue CD, you can install this on an USB stick. BitDefender have, where they explain how you can use the Windows tool Stickifier to create one. Possible, Sure – But is it Practical? But how does this actually work in practice? You might have concerns that running a desktop operating system on a USB flash drive would be an exercise in frustration.
But actually, it isn’t too bad. This is partly due to the proliferation of newer USB standards, USB 3.0 beats USB 2.0 in so many ways. Here's everything you need to know about why you should always pick USB 3.x when possible., which is an increasingly common feature on laptops. This standard offers vastly improved read-write times, which are essential if you’re running an operating system. Then, there’s the fact that prices have crashed, while storage quantities have soared. You can easily get a 64GB drive for less than $50.
USB drives that stretch into the hundreds of gigabytes still remain an expensive proposition though. Do you run a Linux distro on a USB stick? Tell me about what it is and why in the comments below.
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