God I love this Linux OS so far. No need for virus or adware/malware scanners anymore. Very easy to use. I only use this comp for going on the internet/email/and word processing. Who needs windows? I'm never going back to windows again. The only thing is, why does my fan in the computer constantly run when I use ubuntu?
i've seen this on laptops with the included video drivers. If you have a high power graphics card you might need to install the cards own proprietry drives see system->hardware drives, and check if says somethign about this driver is not enabled
I've had an issue on a netbook, where it would overheat in 15 minutes when idle, so I guess the fan didn't turn on, or something was running. I updated the BIOS, and its temperature never went up again.
I'm no computer buff so I'm taking my comp to a computer expert to get everything up to date tomorrow. Hopefully he will be able to help streamline my transition from windows to ubuntu. I can't figure out why adobe flash won't install correctly. I'm gonna get the guy to update everything, get all the proper drivers, etc.
How lucky you are. I almost changed from windows XP to Ubuntu. The only thing that totally stopped me was that Ubuntu didn't recognize my modem (I use it via USB since my ethernet cable made my computer crashes every 20 minutes due to the blue screen of death. I've even changed my RAM memory because the technician told me so, but we later realized it was due to the ethernet cable). I've been told to try the ethernet cable, but having a blue screen of death appearing every 20 minutes is not nice at all. Hence Ubuntu... remains a dream for me.
Go to a friends' house or a library that has a RW cd drive. You can make an Ubuntu CD to use for installation. I believe you can also get one mailed to you.
If you have an IT guy to tweak your machine, that's great. For adobe flash, or any other software, go to the synaptic packagermanager, find your software, and install, or reinstall if needed. or do it from the terminal sudo apt-get, but it could be daunting at first. do you use a USB to ethernet converter, or do you connect the modem directly via USB? I don't think your computer can crash because of the ethernet connection, something else is going on. Did you try reinstalling windows xp?
you may also want to look at your appearance settings and turn off fancy effects, or close any tabs to websites in firefox that are eating up cpu cycles with stupid scripts (see also: adblockplus and noscript).
I already have a CD for installation, I can even install Ubuntu if I want, but I won't have internet...
Try this forum, these guys are experts in Ubuntu and can give really great advice.http://ubuntuforums.org/