Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Problem Installing OS on Old Computer

by Jul 2, 2015 9:25PM PDT

Ok so I have an XPSm1530 (2007ish). My mother gave it to me because it had problems overheating. When i got it i had to wiggle the power cord to make it stay on and the batt is dead. Now i have a universal power cord, and i just keep it plugged in all the time. While trying to take off all the viruses I decided it would be better to just reinstall the os, or even switch to ubuntu if i could. But for some reason the windows 8 disk I burnt (wife gets it free from her school) will take my key, select language, but wont install past 1%. So I Decided to burn an ubuntu disk (on another computer) and it starts up, gives me the menu to select language, and if i want to just try it out or install it. When i choose any option it will try and load (screen with orange and white dots) but freezes after an hour or so. I figures i was burning the disks wrong, so i followed some instructions (on this site) and using roxio i burnt another dvd (using the option to make a bootable cd). when i try and boot of that it tells me there are no bootable drives. The first ubuntu disk i tried wont load, but it runs the program to check the disk. It says it's missing a file. i called a computer store, and they told me it was a faulty hard drive. they wanted to charge me almost 300 dollars to put a new one in. I actually had an old laptop sitting around, so i just switched out the hard drive with that one (hp laptop that's from 2010 or so) I put on the windows 8 and formatted the drive partitions, but when it came to actually installing it stopped at 1% again. my wife has a toshiba she just stopped using, should i try that hdd, or is this a lost cause.

Discussion is locked

7 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Answer
old laptop
by Jul 2, 2015 10:10PM PDT
My mother gave it to me because it had problems overheating

Therefore it still does. You need to vacuum or blow out the dust in the corner where the cpu and heatsink fan is. If vacuum use something to keep the fan from spinning, the vacuum can cause it to overspin and may damage it. Canned air will clean it, but may blow dust back up into it and create more air blockage, so try and blow the dust out if you go that route.

"When i got it i had to wiggle the power cord to make it stay on and the batt is dead. Now i have a universal power cord, and i just keep it plugged in all the time."

Be careful using a universal.


When i choose any option it will try and load (screen with orange and white dots) but freezes after an hour or so.

Ubuntu shouldn't take an hour to install. Maybe 30 minutes or 40 at the most.

The first ubuntu disk i tried wont load, but it runs the program to check the disk. It says it's missing a file.

Do you mean the "integrity check" of the DVD or something else? Is this the fsdk program instead?

I Decided to burn an ubuntu disk (on another computer) and it starts up, gives me the menu to select language, and if i want to just try it out or install it. When i choose any option it will try and load (screen with orange and white dots) but freezes after an hour or so.

Does this mean you can use the Ubuntu disc to run browser and other programs, until it suddenly "freezes"? Up till then it works OK?

Can this computer boot from USB flashdrive? It would be shown in BIOS access if it can. Reason I ask is because a keychain type 32 GB USB3 flashdrive direct from Kingston can be had right now for about $15 and that's like a small hard drive and Linux can be fully loaded to it, just like to a hard drive, something windows can't do.

I think your freezes when running from a DVD probably have nothing to do with the hard drive, and more likely related to the overheat issue. You could boot into the BIOS and access the Health area, watch the temp climb, see what it goes to at idle, let us know.
- Collapse -
typo
by James Denison Jul 2, 2015 10:11PM PDT

fsck program, not the fsdk.

- Collapse -
When i choose any option it will try and load (screen with o
by blindmandefdog Jul 3, 2015 5:49AM PDT

it freezes before instlling ubuntu. So it has no OS on it now. It's completely blank. The disk check an option that the ubuntu disk offers. When i boot from the disk it asks me to select a language, then it produces a list of options like, try ubuntu before installing, install, check disk, stuff like that. but thats as far as it goes. the first two options (trying it before installing, and installing) will start to load, but never finish. it gets stuck on those dots. the third option (check disk) will actually run, and it says something is missing (not sure if it means from the dvd or the hard drive). ill clean it out tonight and try again. run the thing with a fan behind it to keep it cool. kinda ghetto, but it wont overheat that way.

- Collapse -
check disk
by James Denison Jul 3, 2015 8:17AM PDT

some say "check disk integrity" on menu. It's talking about checking the DVD on most Linux distros, but if it offers to check a disk during the installation, then that's the hard drive.

the third option (check disk) will actually run, and it says something is missing (not sure if it means from the dvd or the hard drive).

That means the DVD is a bad downloaded ISO, or had a problem when it was burned. If you still have the ISO file you can run the md5sum program on it to get the hash and then compare that to the reported hash which would show a valid ISO download. Sometimes when downloading such a large file some bits may get hit up and then the DVD won't be accurate. The resulting action of a bad DVD can't be defined exactly since the area hit could just be a file in one program which then doesn't work, or it could interfere with installation, or yet some other symptom.

Are you able to run the "try first" and get programs on it to work? Any of them?

discussion on it

Longer more involved discussion on confirming good ISO and good burn to DVD.

If you are using windows to burn the DVD, be sure to "burn image file" and not as "data file".

- Collapse -
more problems
by blindmandefdog Jul 3, 2015 4:56PM PDT

Yeah it was a bad disk. I actually burnt another using the iso file and it worked! yay i have ubuntu. ALso the hard drive i had in it was faulty. SO now i have a hard drive from a toshiba satellight and ubuntu is working, but now it wont connect via wifi. even if i turn on and off the switch on the side it does nothing. lol a rabit hole.

- Collapse -
achilles heel
by mejustsayin Jul 3, 2015 6:44PM PDT

if linux has an achilles heel it would be with wifi.

I have had my feel of messing with wifi on older linux computers. one time I even went out, purchased an extender and ran a wire from it to my computer so I would not have to mess with wifi.

check out the following and see if any of the solutions there will help

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=906296

- Collapse -
You can fight with the wifi
by James Denison Jul 4, 2015 3:39AM PDT
Back to Computer Help forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info