Which Linux?

[#1]

Kinda like what I was thinking.

I never got round to swapping out the SDD from my PC and putting it in hers. Maybe that will help.

I may even have some old RAM sticks hanging around from my earlier PCs that may work. Will see what I can find.

[#2]

Well that's worth a try with the SSD and if you've got memory all the better. If you can use a clone of the disk save you having to go through a re-install as it's for Linux it will work better or it won't.

[#3]

You could also look at one of the lighter* distros. 

LXLE is worth a try. It's kind of aimed at XP refugees...

*and I say 'lighter' rather than 'light' because light distros tend to be bare bones and not particularly user friendly.

[#4]

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@Anonymous wrote:

if you've got memory all the better.

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Can't actually remember

To be honest the installation only took minutes and will probably be a bit faster installing on the SDD anyway.

I have a spare HDD (more recent but I thing 160GB) as well for data hanging around so that may help.

[#5]

@Mav  If Mint is running slow... and you only have 1GB of ram... then maybe a replacement RAM module would speed it up...  what about the HDD.... did you format it...  ?  What about the size of the HDD?      Mint would be ideal for the purposes you have mentioned... a bit of surfing... emails... and photo editing.. all should not present any untoward problems...

if WINE is installed, then about 90% of windows orientated software will run on  Linux Mint..  with no bother.. and they download and install in just the same way as on a windows machine.. so, again, limited computer knowledge should not be a problem to the user.

HUH !... why didn`t this forum software take me to the last post on this thread... ? ? ?   never mind.. I hope my input helps...  ! !

[#6]

1GB of RAM is sufficient for most Linux Desktop Environments - which did you try?

[#7]

Mate as recommended by HairyMcbiker in message #12. I used the 64bit version.

[#8]

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Mav wrote:

I finally got Mint installed on my sister-in-law's PC week before last and gave it a bit of a road test.

Unfortunately everything ran very slowly baring in mind the PC is about 10 years old with 1GB RAM. I even tried using W7 on it but that, too, was pretty unusable. Not really practical anyway as I don't have a spare key for it.

I also came to the conclusion that Mint was going to be far too complicated for her as she has no knowledge about using a PC at all and sorting out issues remotely may not be easy, either.

So, baring in mind that the remit was to get it working mainly for emails, browsing and the storing (since been told some editing) of photos what other suggestions are there?

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First thought on reading the above: buy her a Chromebook

Second thought: install something like CloudReady (ChromiumOS-based) on the available hardware.

Even low-end Chromebooks have 2GB RAM now, however, so CloudReady might also be slow if limited to 1GB but doing everything in a browser window is arguably as simple as it's going to get.  

[#9]

Mate should work fine in 1Gb. Might just be the hdd or video card being slow.
LXDE would be another try Puppy Linux will run in less than 0.5Gb but is not as user friendly.

Bung in some more ram if you have even 0.5Gb might be fine. Alternately the hdd maybe near EOL.
Open the menu, type in disks, and run the Disks program (should be shown on the RHS). Click on the hdd and chose SMART from the tripple = menu or press ctrl+s.

[#10]

An update.

I have really appreciated all the help and advice given but just don't have the time or inclination to really get such an old machine working especially as SWMBO reminded me we had my mum's PC sitting upstairs unused and gathering dust. Due to dementia she will never use it again so have given it to my SIL to use.

I added a new Administrator Account in her name then removed my mum's and reference to her name and files. It is 4 years old so much more usable with W7 installed plus it will be easier for either myself of SWMBO to give support when needed.

Again, thanks for all the help.

Cheers.

[#11]

@Mav  whilst Linux is an "interesting" O.S.  it takes a lot of "getting used to....."  and it is not so easy to work out "how do I ...... ?"  so your solution for the SIL wlith the old Windows 7 PC upstairs, is probably the best way for it to go...

as you say,... it will be a great deal easier for you to offer help and advice, should your SIL need it.

At least you have learnt something about how Linux works, and how to install it....

[#12]

I've found that after Windows XP, that Windows has become extremely complicated and hard to use for anything more than "out of the box" uses. Even in the days of Windows 3.1 or NT4 you needed a fat textbook to be an administrator.

Linuxes like Ubuntu or Mint are much more straightforward to use, even though there are more features available.