how do you install linux on a PC with no OS?

Hello all.

   New to the Linux site. I will try and keep my question to the point. I was referred to this section by a Admin. 

I have a computer that has crashed, it is an older unit that all i want to do is just play around with it.  it is as follows.

HP Media Center m8340f

Intel Core 2 quad Q6600

4 MB RAM

750 GB HHD

NVIDIA GeForce8500GT Video Card

  I have downloaded and made a DVD copy of Linux,

 It has been years since I have messed with computers and just trying to get back into it as a hobby and nothing else. 

  If someone can take the time and do the baby step process with me, so I can load Linux on this conversation piece of a computer. 

  The computer did work when I bought it, it had windows 10 installed on it. it had a hiccup 3 days ago and the blue screen help window popped up and I selected restore. well, it tried to restore windows 7. and that is where the problem began. after restarting the pc, it just comes up OS missing, 

so, I will appreciate any help on this. thank you.

 

I have downloaded and made a DVD copy of Linux,

It couldn't be simpler.

Make sure your distro of choice is burned to CD/DVD/USB as an .ISO

Insert said CD/DVD/USB and boot PC then follow the prompts as you have no operating system on the pc Linux will take care of it all for you...

Oh sorry.

You may need to set the BIOS to boot from removable media in some cases.

To add to m'colleague's comments above, the biggest thing to get used to is that - unlike Windows - most Linux distros will allow you to run them as what's called a "Live Session". This lets YOU see if you like that particular distro.....and lets the distro see if IT likes your hardware. The whole thing 'loads' into RAM, and runs from there.

Normally, this would permit testing without touching whatever's on your HDD. In your case, you say it doesn't matter, so.....

You may want to repeat this process a few times with a bunch of different distros. I know of very few people who fall in love with the very first one they try and NEVER look at anything else. I will, however, recommend taking a look at Linux Mint; it's designed to be familiar to Windows users insofar as layout goes; it's hugely popular, and has a very enthusiastic community with an enormous user base.....so support is not an issue.

You can find the latest downloads here:-

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

Let us know if that helps.

Mike. 

 

 

I have downloaded and made a DVD copy of Linux,

 

It couldn't be simpler.

 

Make sure your distro of choice is burned to CD/DVD/USB as an .ISO

 

Insert said CD/DVD/USB and boot PC then follow the prompts as you have no operating system on the pc Linux will take care of it all for you...

 

Oh sorry.

 

You may need to set the BIOS to boot from removable media in some cases.

 

ok, I guess the way i downloaded and burned it to the DVD must not have been done correctly. I remember back in the days of doing this to windows. when the system boots up, i hit the F10 button until the BIOS screen comes up. i went to boot up, selected 1st boot CD/DVD and then exit and save and rebooted. the cd spins as it is going through the boot up process, but then the screen reads, NO OS . so i will go back on the Linux site and make sure i am downloading the program correctly and making sure it has the bootable exe. on it  

To add to m'colleague's comments above, the biggest thing to get used to is that - unlike Windows - most Linux distros will allow you to run them as what's called a "Live Session". This lets YOU see if you like that particular distro.....and lets the distro see if IT likes your hardware. The whole thing 'loads' into RAM, and runs from there.

 

Normally, this would permit testing without touching whatever's on your HDD. In your case, you say it doesn't matter, so.....

 

You may want to repeat this process a few times with a bunch of different distros. I know of very few people who fall in love with the very first one they try and NEVER look at anything else. I will, however, recommend taking a look at Linux Mint; it's designed to be familiar to Windows users insofar as layout goes; it's hugely popular, and has a very enthusiastic community with an enormous user base.....so support is not an issue.

 

You can find the latest downloads here:-

 

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

 

Let us know if that helps.

 

 

Mike. 

I will look into this. back in the day i would not have tried this, as i only had 1 computer and i was pretty heavy into as it was my part time business. but now that i have a dedicated system, and in my man cave i 4 computers systems running, Win 95, Win98, Win XP and Win 11. all are just to mess around with and to reminisce on, i feel comfortable taking this newly acquired pc and loading Linux on it and to see what i have been missing over the past 20 years with it   

. . .  i downloaded and burned it to the DVD must not have been done correctly . .

Hotolds,

Welcome to the Linux forum.

Here you will find people who will help you through your Linux problems.  Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Please remember, we are all volunteers, here.  Also, at one time, we were all Linux Newbies!

It is possible that instead of extracting the ISO file and writing the system to the optical disk, you ended up copying the actual ISO file onto it.

The ISO file is just a giant archive that contains the operating system within it.  You need an optical burning program that will copy the contents of the ISO to a disk.

Have a look at this post.  It is aimed at beginners, but is also a good refresher for people who have not done a Windows to Linux conversion in a while.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/785322/how-to-test-drive-linux/

You should be able to use any Windows based computer to do the task.  Just ensure that the burning software can handle ISO files.

Also, if your old computer supports booting from a USB stick, then I would suggest you use that, instead of an optical disk.

The advantage of the USB stick is that it can be used over and over again, as opposed to the limited re-write capabilities of a CD or DVD.

It is also faster, when it comes to read/write, so copying and using times are much better.

Cheers!

Naught.

What kind a luck is this? So today a friend called me up and asked me of I wanted a PC. I said sure. so i picked it up. here it is the exact same model i have been working with all you. he installed a new HD, 10 MB RAM and then installed Linux on it!!! He gave me the complete system plus the old 750MB hard drive if i want to swap it back to windows. so now i am going to play around and check out Linux. and when i find time, i will mess with the other one later. so yeah, I'm happy