Optimum OS for Dell Mini

randombar

So got one of these on ebay for the g/f, 16Gig 2GhZ just wondering, I know it might be stupid to put it here but what would your ideas be?

Ubuntu

Pro
Small filespace on ssd?

Con
Girlfriend wouldnt like it

Windows XP

Pro
Straight forward
Average filespace on SSD (Is that footprint or is that another story?)

Con
Dated

Windows Vista

HAHAHAHAHAH

Windows 7

Pro
It's coming installed with this.
Aparently pretty quick.

Con
By the looks of things a pretty large filespace used up


OS X

Pro
I like it

Con
By the looks of things a pretty large filespace used up

Capt'n Midnight

If the netbook came with SSD then it probably doesn't have a windows license, and they aren't that cheap unless you have a spare transferrable one lying around

Fresh Pots

If its coming with windows 7 installed it must just be a trial.

randombar

It's the beta version of windows 7. Isn't that free to download?? It does have a windows license, coming with the xp disks. Just wondering which OS to go for?

Capt'n Midnight

You could also put ubuntu on USB so don't need to worry about SSD space.
Perfect for Openoffice / browsing and girls don't play games :pac:

You will have to change from windows 7 in august. Even if you upgrade to a full license a clean install is recommended highly.

Vista is a non starter costs of license + drive size

IIRC you can upgrade the ram for about €20 , well worth doing as you may be able to turn off the swapfile. Defrag is a non issue with SSD as disk access time is constant.

randombar

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

IIRC you can upgrade the ram for about €20 , well worth doing as you may be able to turn off the swapfile. Defrag is a non issue with SSD as disk access time is constant.

so you recommend more than 2 Gigs of ram? Sorry been a while since I've had a look at the innner workings. Swapfile???

PogMoThoin

GaryCocs wrote: »

so you recommend more than 2 Gigs of ram? Sorry been a while since I've had a look at the innner workings. Swapfile???

Its not advisable to have a swapfile at all when it has a SSD as hard drive, these have limited read and write times, swapfile would eat that up quickly. I've Cruncheee on my eeePC with no swapfile.

An Fear Aniar

Ubuntu

Pro

Much less security worries.

That's always a major factor for me. Although I never got a virus in Windows it's a pain having to run anti-virus.

.

Capt'n Midnight

Sorry didn't see the 2GB on the spec
thought you might have one of the earlier 512KB machines

if the SSD is wear levelling then number of read/write cycles for normal file operations is not an issue as the number of times would take years to wear out. It might be an issue with swap file if it constantaly wrote to the same area, with > 768MB ram XP will generally be faster without the swap file, so 2GB should be fine, if you run out of memory you have the option of eating into the free space on the drive later, or reboot the pc.

Tre4

GaryCocs wrote: »

Windows Vista

HAHAHAHAHAH

I've just install the 64bit version of Vista and it absolutely flies. Love it.

Is Windows 7 64 bit too?

Capt'n Midnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

It might be an issue with swap file if it constantaly wrote to the same area, with > 768MB ram XP will generally be faster without the swap file, so 2GB should be fine, if you run out of memory you have the option of eating into the free space on the drive later, or reboot the pc.

I always run my XP machines without a swap file/page file if the machine has 2GB of RAM or more. I find it runs much better that way. With Vista I wouldn't feel so comfortable turning it off though. Maybe with 4GB I'd consider it.

andrewison

I would say stick with xp sp3 or windows 7 as a fun mess around. Vista works just as well if you remember to tweak it. Mine came with ubuntu pre-installed. 1st thing i would do is buy 2gb of mem, around £22 ukp from crucial.... Remember with any of the installs to remove hibernation (save space), disable indexing, remove swap file, remove restore point, and when installing use nlite to strip all the never used xp stuff out. There are a great many sites out there with "how to". Without a doubt use mini9 forums to check it out..

here are a few i have use to streamline mine

http://mydellmini.com/ (check out the window section)
http://www.i64x.com/eeexp.php (gr8 step by step)

Any probs just pm me, have done alot of work on the 9s.

andrewison

Also forgot to mention, if u wanted linux , use UNetbootin to install from usb drive. Fairly straight forward to usse. Stick a memory stick into mini9 and u essentially choose ur OS, a major selection of linux running from the pen stick.

randombar

Thanks Andrew, getting it tomorrow so looking forward to it . . I mean the girlfriend is looking forward to it . . . are you saying I should get another 2 Gigs for it, i.e. a 4 Gig RAM? I used nlite for the asus last year and I remember it was a bit of work, has it gotten easier?? Also what do you do for extra space? I doubt I'd need much but mp3s and docs?

Thanks for the advice.
//Gary

andrewison

Sorry didnt realise u had 2gb already.. I think I didnt realise the 2 ghz reference was in ref to the mem tho thinking about it it couldnt have been anything else tho i think it would be better i u state 2GB and not Ghz ..one refers to space while the other speed.

. No 2 GB is best at the mo. This gist to the whole issue is make sure u have no swap file (use mem). turn indexing off, turn off hibernation, turn off indexing, turn off file restore, ...

Like I say I used this as a template for my nlite install.
http://www.i64x.com/eeexp.php , it worked a treat. One word of warning if ever u ever need to upgrade your SSD , make sure it is a fast one. I brought a slow one from crucial and it ran a hog.

bear in mind once u do the iso , u can always do an automatic install again and again. For space I have a gig and half after all the XXXX i have placed on the SSD (using a 4gb SSD) . This is with all windows updates etc ..sp3...

Or what I normally do, get a perfect image , and then ghost it . Have it ready to install again when ever I think there are issues. No need to sysprep as it is only going on ur pc.

Dont forget to use this hack, great for having docs and the likes ready to hand
http://mydellmini.com/forum/gmail-drive-for-storage-use--t186.html

Regards
Andrew

randombar

Apologies, ya I don't know what I was up to the other day with the specs! Might give that nlite a whirl so depending how she gets on with windows 7!

Saw that gmail thing all right, DEFINITELY setting that up!

andrewison

u sure its coming ith windows 7, seems a tad unusual. minis normally come with ubuntu or xp. Never seen it with betas of 7.

randombar

Yup, I'm getting it off a fella, it's 3 months old, he put 7 on it, but has the XP SP3 disks with it!

Tre4

I would get as much RAM as your computer can handle - it's the cheapest way to make your computer MUCH more powerful. Just the operating system and basic packages can use up to 2GB so with more you will find it a lot faster.

I've just installed 8GB (tho you need a 64 bit operating system for that) and it flies like never before!