irlandes
03-27-2010, 07:18 PM
Here in Mexico, a niece with a job signed up for DSL. The problem is they don't have a computer except when her sister brings her netbook home a couple times a month from the University.
I knew right away the solution. I have an old Dell Inspiron 2650 which got hit by lightning. Also, the battery is shot. It is multi-boot Kubuntu 7.04 and 7.10 and XP.
The CD is gone, and it won't boot on USB, rats! The NIC is fried. However, I do have a Linksys WPC54G ver. 2 wireless card that snaps in the side of the laptop. And, the USB slots work normally.
The problem is no one there can use a computer in English, and I may not be accessible in Linux when they need help.
I booted in Kubuntu 7.04, set up wireless, (isn't Linux wonderful?) downloaded the driver for the wireless card, put it on flash drive and rebooted to XP, then installed the wireless driver. Wireless works in XP.
Then, knowing they needed as much Spanish as possible, I tried to download Firefox in Latinamerican Spanish. Turns out Latam Spanish is still in Beta, so I tried to get an older version. Nope. The Firefox dudes shut off all older versions before the new ones were released. Grrr!!! So, I installed the beta version.
Then, I decided I should install a newer IE than 6. 7 not available, at least not in a few minutes of Googling, only IE8. So, I downloaded it, and tried to install. WON'T LET ME INSTALL BECAUSE LANGUAGE IS NOT THE SAME AS MY OS. Sounds like more monopolistic practices, to prevent people from bringing in cheap US computers and installing Spanish language programs??? At the same time, it also prevents Spanish speaking people in the US from installing the Spanish IE8 on an existing machine.
So, Firefox Spanish and IE6 in English it is.
I uninstalled Avast which has expired anyway, installed Defender, and also turned on Windows Firewall, turning off Zone Alarm, because these people are not set up for much operator decision making.
I'd still like to try Linux, but 7.04 and 7.10 are no longer supported, so I'd have to manually install anything I need, and still be using 7.04 and 7.10. If support existed, I could tell it to upgrade.
I may try taking out the HD, put it in my enclosure, and load it with 9.10, and see if I can make it work when re-installed in the old machine. Past attempts to set up for a different network card after installing on one machine have not gone well. I see that as a defect.
Perhaps the decider is going to be if I can get the wireless to come up automatically in 7.04 or 7.10. If not, I will probably have to work with XP. When XP needs to be reinstalled, in a few months, I will probably have to junk out the machine.
One other thing is to see if there is a way to change the BIOS to allow USB booting, but I have never heard of such a thing.
I knew right away the solution. I have an old Dell Inspiron 2650 which got hit by lightning. Also, the battery is shot. It is multi-boot Kubuntu 7.04 and 7.10 and XP.
The CD is gone, and it won't boot on USB, rats! The NIC is fried. However, I do have a Linksys WPC54G ver. 2 wireless card that snaps in the side of the laptop. And, the USB slots work normally.
The problem is no one there can use a computer in English, and I may not be accessible in Linux when they need help.
I booted in Kubuntu 7.04, set up wireless, (isn't Linux wonderful?) downloaded the driver for the wireless card, put it on flash drive and rebooted to XP, then installed the wireless driver. Wireless works in XP.
Then, knowing they needed as much Spanish as possible, I tried to download Firefox in Latinamerican Spanish. Turns out Latam Spanish is still in Beta, so I tried to get an older version. Nope. The Firefox dudes shut off all older versions before the new ones were released. Grrr!!! So, I installed the beta version.
Then, I decided I should install a newer IE than 6. 7 not available, at least not in a few minutes of Googling, only IE8. So, I downloaded it, and tried to install. WON'T LET ME INSTALL BECAUSE LANGUAGE IS NOT THE SAME AS MY OS. Sounds like more monopolistic practices, to prevent people from bringing in cheap US computers and installing Spanish language programs??? At the same time, it also prevents Spanish speaking people in the US from installing the Spanish IE8 on an existing machine.
So, Firefox Spanish and IE6 in English it is.
I uninstalled Avast which has expired anyway, installed Defender, and also turned on Windows Firewall, turning off Zone Alarm, because these people are not set up for much operator decision making.
I'd still like to try Linux, but 7.04 and 7.10 are no longer supported, so I'd have to manually install anything I need, and still be using 7.04 and 7.10. If support existed, I could tell it to upgrade.
I may try taking out the HD, put it in my enclosure, and load it with 9.10, and see if I can make it work when re-installed in the old machine. Past attempts to set up for a different network card after installing on one machine have not gone well. I see that as a defect.
Perhaps the decider is going to be if I can get the wireless to come up automatically in 7.04 or 7.10. If not, I will probably have to work with XP. When XP needs to be reinstalled, in a few months, I will probably have to junk out the machine.
One other thing is to see if there is a way to change the BIOS to allow USB booting, but I have never heard of such a thing.