win98, kubuntu, ubuntu or xp??

[spazz31585]

ok, the only operating systems i have are kubuntu 8.04, ubuntu(not sure what version, but i got it at the same time as kubuntu), windows 98 and windows xp

i have an old hp that doesn't seem to like the xp. the system originally shipped with windows 98 and it's 8 years old. whenever i've tried to install xp before, it always ends up blue screening on me.

what i'm needing to do, is be able to access my data drive and have no computer to access it from. it is a 40GB maxtor that is formatted as ntfs and is encrypted with truecrypt.

i'm trying to find a way to make either 98, kubuntu or ubuntu be able to support reading and writing to the encrypted NTFS drive.
any suggestions?

or maybe any tricks that anyone knows to get xp onto this machine?

 

[porterjw]

i have an old hp that doesn't seem to like the xp. the system originally shipped with windows 98 and it's 8 years old. whenever i've tried to install xp before, it always ends up blue screening on me. ... or maybe any tricks that anyone knows to get xp onto this machine?

What are the specs of the computer? It might simply be a matter of not enough RAM. If it is and getting a bit more is an option (and you want XP), that might do the trick.

 

[spazz31585]

well, it has 256 megs of ram.
as far as the actual specs, like the proc and stuff, i'm not sure anymore.
i have the board and everything in another case now.

well, i'm gonna go try to piddle with it for awhile and see if i can get it to work.
if anyone has any other ideas that may help, i appreciate it


by the way, i know about the NTFS3g(i think that's what it's called) for kubuntu, but it will only read the data and will not allow you to write to it

 

[porterjw]

by the way, i know about the NTFS3g(i think that's what it's called) for kubuntu, but it will only read the data and will not allow you to write to it

It's for all flavors, not just Kubuntu. In earlier versions, it's an add-on from the Repositories, but from...7.04(?) onward, it's standard. So if you load up Xubuntu 8.04, let's say, you should have NTFS support from the get-go.

Edit: Heh - forgot about the first part of your Post. 256 RAM is above the minimum for XP. My next guess would be a CPU, but you've had it for 8 years, and XP was designed to work on (at the time) slightly older systems. Without knowing the exact system specs, it'll be hard to pinpoint.