Psion

I had an inckling this could be the prob.. I used cheapo unbranded CD's and burnt at 24speed via Nero Express. Not only that, but during the install process, my laptop was doing overtime with the fan and CD got very, very hot. I think I will borrow the original cover discs and install from them, maybe make a back-up copy of the discs on decent CD's at a low speed as you advise.. Thanks, hopefully this will sort it. I have been trying for 4 weeks now to get Linux to work on my laptop, still must be better than the dredded XP..

Hi all, I am thinking of installing Mandarake Linux 9.2 on my laptop (A Time Traveller XP1400 - AMD 1.4GHz with S3 Twister AGP, Crystal 3d sound and DVD/CD-RW drive) Can anyone tell me if: 1. It's gonna work or is it going to be a nightmare finding drivers? 2. Will my main software apps work - Adobe Photoshop 7, Dreamweaver MX, MS Office 2000. The set-up is going to be used mainly for off-line web testing of PHP and MySQL databases. My main server is running Win2000pro - is this going to be a prob?

OK - here's a bit of an update, now I didn't have to long to play because it was getting late (you know...). I have tried out Knoppix 3.2 (EN) from the bottable CD, the desktop appeared soon after. The only parts not working correctly where the sound chipset (Apollo I think) and no network connection yet. I might wait to see Mandrake 9.2 in opperation before I decide which to install. Can anyone give me advice on how to set up my small office network, cos I keep running into too many Win2000 brickwalls... 8) If yes, I'll supply my basic hardware / software sit and the kind of system I'm trying to achieve.... ;(

I received a warning today from Tech Republic that the main source code for the Linux kernel was hacked last week. A hacker changed just 2 lines of the code which would of enabled him/them to gain access over a system running that code. The invection was spotted several days later and rectified. What is the best messure to ensure security on the net while using Linux?

Cheers Dapper Dan, you've been a great help...

Where's the best place to get Win4Lin from..?

I've just downloaded Wine for Mandrake 9.2 from http://rpmseek.com/rpm-dl/wine-20030813-1mdk.i586.html?hl=com&cx=0:-:0:917159:0:0:0 I'll try out once Mandrake is up and running....

This is good though - I was thinking of installing 98 on something, so I could play my old games, most of them don't like Win2000. I have also just ordered Knoppix from MaxTrux.co.uk - only a couple of quid - files are too big for my poor dial-up... ;( It will be here in a few days, can't wait to try out...

Which would you recamend: Win98se Win2000pro WinXP ;(

Thanks both, I shall try what you have suggested, It's been a while since I use to play with my ZX Spectrum - messing about with programs to make them more 'mine'. I think I might enjoy Linux - if it all works...

I have no experiance of installing Linux as of yet, I have used a Unix system once and have some experiance of DOS as well as installing all the diff Windows OS's (including setting up networks). I have heard a few people mention that my laptop is designed around XP only and I did try installing 2000pro but had problems finding drivers. So am stuck with XP home, why I really want to put Linux on it cos XP pi$$es me off (too restrictive in its setup). I guess, its like you say - Partition off and try... I am using a NTFS system and do not really want to put back to FAT32 if I can help it. Thanks for you comments, do you think I should try Red Hat instead?