[Channeal]

Although I am not very technically savvy at all, I have for a long time been tempted to play around with using Puppy Linux. There is no real reason for this: the idea of it just fascinated me when I first heard about it (on this forum actually) and I have been toying with the idea of trying it out ever since!

 

So..... today I very unusually had some spare time all to myself and thought I would try it out. All I managed to do though was read about it on various sites and never got around to actually downloading anything! I - very stupidly - could not work out which version I should download for my computer.    The computer is very nearly ten years old and is still running XP. Please can anybody tell me which version I should download?

 

Also.... my daughter has an old Sony Vaio laptop which runs Vista (I think). Would the Puppy Linux I download work on her laptop as well? The laptop is about seven years old and she is thinking about buying a new one, so there is a possibility I might inherit the laptop from her, if she can be persuaded to give it to me! I think it might need a lot of maintenance though!

 

Many thanks,

Chris

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Best Answer

Hello Chris,

 

Some good reading at the link here and some info that we use on the forums included below;

 

=================== 

***Required Hardware*** 

CD Burner (CDRW) Drive, 

Blank CD, 

Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)

=================== 

 

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

• Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-528.iso) 

   

  Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software 

   

  There are instructions on how to boot from flash drive with puppy here; http://www.pendrivel...e-from-windows/ 

   

   

   

• Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer 

   

   

• Extract All files to a location you can remember 

   

   

• Double Click BurnCDCC 

   

   

• Click Browse and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded 

   

   

• Open/Double Click that file 

   

  IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x 

   

• Click Start  

   

   

• Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically 

   

   

• Insert a blank CD and close the tray 

   

   

• Click OK 

   

   

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created

 

 

2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second 

 

•  

   

   

• Start the computer/press the power button 

   

   

• Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup" 

   

  (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen) 

   

• Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to: 

   

  CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd 

   

• Open your ROM drive and insert the disk 

   

   

• Press F10 to save and exit 

   

   

• Agree with "Y" to continue 

   

   

• Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD 

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

3.  Recover Your Data 

 

• Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM).  You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer".  Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning.  Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy.  To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once.  Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to.  This is normal.  Ready?  Let's get started. 

   

   

  3a. Mount Drives 

   

• Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.  

   

   

• A Window will open.  By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted.  Click on Mount for your hard drive. 

   

   

• Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount. 

   

   

• USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted. 

   

   

• If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab.  Mount it now. 

   

   

 

 

3b. Transfer Files.

•  

   

   

• At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon. 

   

   

• Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1 

   

   

• Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1 

   

   

• If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows) 

   

   

• From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window. 

   

   

 

 

For The Novice:  The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders for XP is: Documents and Settings >> All Users (or each individual name of each user, for Vista and above  C:\Users\$USERNAME\[...]. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos. 

 

Remember to only click once!  No double clicking!  Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy.  Choose COPY each time you drag and drop. 

 

YOU ARE DONE!!!  Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer.  Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations! 

 

 

 

 

 

[phillpower2]

Best Answer

Hello Chris,

 

Some good reading at the link here and some info that we use on the forums included below;

 

=================== 

***Required Hardware*** 

CD Burner (CDRW) Drive, 

Blank CD, 

Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)

=================== 

 

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

• Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-528.iso) 

   

  Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software 

   

  There are instructions on how to boot from flash drive with puppy here; http://www.pendrivel...e-from-windows/ 

   

   

   

• Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer 

   

   

• Extract All files to a location you can remember 

   

   

• Double Click BurnCDCC 

   

   

• Click Browse and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded 

   

   

• Open/Double Click that file 

   

  IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x 

   

• Click Start  

   

   

• Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically 

   

   

• Insert a blank CD and close the tray 

   

   

• Click OK 

   

   

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created

 

 

2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second 

 

•  

   

   

• Start the computer/press the power button 

   

   

• Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup" 

   

  (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen) 

   

• Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to: 

   

  CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd 

   

• Open your ROM drive and insert the disk 

   

   

• Press F10 to save and exit 

   

   

• Agree with "Y" to continue 

   

   

• Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD 

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

3.  Recover Your Data 

 

• Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM).  You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer".  Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning.  Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy.  To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once.  Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to.  This is normal.  Ready?  Let's get started. 

   

   

  3a. Mount Drives 

   

• Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.  

   

   

• A Window will open.  By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted.  Click on Mount for your hard drive. 

   

   

• Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount. 

   

   

• USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted. 

   

   

• If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab.  Mount it now. 

   

   

 

 

3b. Transfer Files.

•  

   

   

• At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon. 

   

   

• Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1 

   

   

• Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1 

   

   

• If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows) 

   

   

• From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window. 

   

   

 

 

For The Novice:  The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders for XP is: Documents and Settings >> All Users (or each individual name of each user, for Vista and above  C:\Users\$USERNAME\[...]. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos. 

 

Remember to only click once!  No double clicking!  Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy.  Choose COPY each time you drag and drop. 

 

YOU ARE DONE!!!  Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer.  Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations! 

 

 

 

 

 

[Channeal]

Thank you very much, Phill.

I have seen this information elsewhere in GTG, but was unsure if I could use the download on an XP computer as I have seen elsewhere that there are versions specifically for older computers.

Anyway, I downloaded the file and put it onto CD. I have no more 'quiet time' available now (my husband just got back from playing golf lol) but will try to proceed further another time.

Many thanks for your help,
Chris.

[phillpower2]

You are most welcome Chris 

 

Great tool is Puppy and the best part is that you can explore it without even going near the data on the HDD, unless you are wanting to back it up for some reason that is.

[Channeal]

Sorry to trouble you again, Phill.

 

I had a go at loading the CD this evening and am actually writing this from the Puppy Linux browser - so some success there!

 

Unfortunately though, I think I opted for the wrong screen resolution when setting it all up, as the text in the browser was tiny and hard to read. I did manage to change the resolution to 1024x768 via the Xorg video wizard so it is okay at the moment, but it told me not to make this permanent as it can cause problems.

 

Is there a way to change the screen resolution permanently, please?

 

Many thanks,

Chris.

[phillpower2]

No trouble at all 

 

Is there a way to change the screen resolution permanently, please?

 

 

Not without getting involved in adding code in to Linux and not for all versions, the best screen resolution is detected on boot using video drivers non specific to your video card, not sure why 1024x768 is a problem, is your refresh rate set at 60Hz

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

I inadvertently solved the problem with the screen resolution. When I exited Puppy Linux, I opted not to save - mainly because I couldn't make up my mind where to save to! It was only after closing down the computer for the night that it dawned on me that this probably meant that no settings were saved and that I would be asked to customize everything again next time I put the disc in. Sure enough, that happened..... and I was able to select the resolution again without problem.

 

Strange thing though..... my usual 1024x768 resolution didn't work on Puppy. I had to choose the next resolution which made everything a bit smaller. Maybe I should try doing the same with the screen resolution for Windows, as I have occasionally thought it might not be quite right

 

Anyway, thanks once again for your help. I am really glad I have tried this out at last: I find it fascinating - and it was so easy to do (apart from me being stupid and putting in the wrong screen resolution the first time!). I remember being really nervous when I thought I might be needing to try this strange Puppy thing a couple of years ago, but it is really easy to do. If I can do it, anybody can!

 

Cheers,

Chris

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

Glad that you are enjoying using Puppy and have also worked out your display settings in the process.

 

As ever you are most welcome  

 

If you are happy that your question has been answered correctly let us know and the thread can be mark as being resolved, please select the post that you deem the most appropriate as the best answer.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

I just happened to be looking at this topic, as I was thinking about Puppy Linux again..... and realized that I apparently overlooked your last paragraph. Apologies for that.

Yes, I am happy that the question was answered correctly. I have not looked at Puppy much recently though, due to having been buy with other problems..... I think I should probably use it more though, for stuff such as Internet Banking as if I am correct it will be safer than using XP for such purposes. Is that right?

One thing I failed to do was to get my printer to work on there. Will maybe have another try some time.

Anyway, as always thanks very much for your help - and you can indeed mark this topic as having been answered.

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

No worries, thanks for getting back to us and as ever you are welcome 

 

Yes Linux is safer to use online than XP, online bad guys will exploit the fact that XP is no longer supported  

[Channeal]

Hello again Phill,

Am I allowed to ask another question, even though this topic is now marked as answered? I hope so.....

I have been attempting to set it up so that I can use my printer with Puppy. I thought I had discovered how to do it.... however when I got to the screen shown below, despite (as you can see) it finding my printer, it then asked me to put in the make of the printer - and Dell just was not there at all! I have no idea why, so was wondering if you might perhaps know the answer? If not, no problem.

Btw, you cannot imagine the roundabout way I had to go to get the screenshot; am really not sure I am bright enough to ever fully make sense of this Puppy thing!    Still, if we can get to just use it for Internet banking etc it would be great, as the XP security thing worries me (my husband cannot be persuaded to buy a new computer until this one blows up or something: I have obviously looked after this one too well!  ) It would be wonderful to be able to use the printer too though!

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[phillpower2]

Hi Chris,

 

There is a chance that your printer is branded a Dell but made by someone else such as Samsung who may provide drivers for it, take a look on the base of the printer etc and see if it says made by anyone other than Dell.

 

A Linux article here regarding setting up a printer.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

I tried to look at the base of the printer as you suggested, but it is so heavy that I cannot lift it - and my husband has a bad back at the moment, so he cannot do it either!

 

Just so I can be clear about one point....... I have not loaded my Dell installation disk, as I assumed it was not necessary as it would have only Windows drivers and different ones are needed for Linux. Is that correct? (sorry, that probably seems a really stupid question to you).

 

I did see elsewhere online that people have had problems using the C1765nfw (and also other Dell printers) with Linux. I have read that it might work with a foo2hbpl driver (see http://adminotes.blo...-linux-ppd.html and also http://foo2hbpl.rkkda.com/) but the instructions in the second link look a bit complicated to me, so not sure if I will be able to continue.

 

Thanks anyway,

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hi Chris,

 

Should have thought about the weight of the printer before suggesting lifting it, sorry.

 

Never used Puppy for printing so honest answer is that I don`t know and would not like to simply guess, interesting that your first link says to use Windows drivers.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

That's fine, I am sure we will survive without using the printer! Thanks anyway for your help thus far.

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Chris.