Recently Zorin OS released the Lite version of their Ubuntu based Linux distro. It is intended for older and low powered computers so I was anxious to see how it would fare on my Asus EEE PC 701 4G Surf. For those of you new to this feature the 4G means it only has a 4GB hard drive.
The good news is that it Zorin OS 9 Lite does fit on the 4GB hard drive after install. The bad news is there’s not enough hard drive space left to do any updates.
However if you have an older or low-powered computer that is in need of repurposing that has a hard drive larger than 4GB I would highly recommend Zorin OS 9 Lite. Zorin always makes a solid distro without a steep learning curve for new users. OS 9 Lite is no different.
The Trench Reynolds Report 
Hallo:
I did find your blog at looking for actual news about my favourite computer ever: the Asus eee pc 701.
I’m the happy owner of 3 items of this pc, one with the original linux Xandros, the next one with Windows XP both were bought new on 2008. The last one is second hand.
This is the one that I use for experiencing different configurations and OSs.
Just three days ago I started to experience with the following configuration: I did use the original Windows’ XP recovery disk in order to obtain a fresh like new computer. Later on I’ve deleted all the soft that I’ll not use. I did actualize Windows XP until SP3 is installed. Here I’ve stopped any new actualization of Windows XP. So there is about 500 MB free on the internal HD.
Why?
Here comes the interesting thing.
Since some time ago I tried to specialize on what I call “pendrive computing”. This means: I use a 64 GB pen drive in which I’ve installed YUMI 2.0.2 (see pendrivelinux.com).
YUMI is a launcher of different stuff: quite a lot of different linux OS, tools, other launchers, etc.
With this configuration I’m able to use on my very trusty eee pc, within others, the following OSs:
Linux Mint 17.3, Lubuntu 14.04, Xubuntu 14.04 (The 16.04 version of both Ubuntus seem not work on the 701, but didn’t have time to go deeper), Puppy linux: Tharpup, Precise and Lucid, etc. All this distributions have the possibility of creating some persistence, from several Mb until a maximum of 4GB for each OS.
So you just put your pen drive on a free USB bay, start the OS of your choice and you can work as if everything was installed on your internal HD. You can install and delete other programs, and you’ll find all this changes on you next session.
It’s really, for me, the Holly Graal of computing.
And, at going at the start of this comment, Why I did install Windows XP on the internal HD?
Well, on the free space of the pen drive I’ve installed the complete collection of Portable Apps.
So, I have over 300 different programs that I can use within the still trusty Windows XP, mainly without connecting to Internet (for security issues)
This takes about 16 GB of space on the pen drive.
In total, I’ve occupied about 50 GB of the pen drive.
All this stuff is suitable for any computer that is capable to start from a USB device.
Just today I’ve configured a SD Card with the same configuration. It just work fine as the pen drive does. So, now, I can use the SD bay letting me to keep the free USB ports for other uses.
Think about all the possibilities that this system offers all of us. It’s a wonderful way to use either old of new computers, using always the same stuff.
No matter which computer you use at any moment. All your changes you do are always with you!
Good luck.
PS: if you find this useful but have any doubt, you can contact me at jgpsipalm@yahoo.es
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I’m actually glad you posted this. I’ve recently purchased a 32GB SD card and I’ve been trying to install a persistent Linux distro on it.
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