If you just want to check it out and be sure it runs get a magazine with Ubuntu 11 in it. Boot from that. 11 will start up the wireless cards in both my old Sony and Toshiba. My Sony is really too old to run Win 7, and the laptop battery died, but it's doing stellar duty running the backups of my important files using the NetDrive I put on the network as Z:

On Z I have 2 TB of net drive running Linux, an HP media 'monster' running Win7 and other sundry old systems that hang around and have not yet died.

Any of my computers will boot fine from the Ubuntu I got in the magazine, but booting from thing requires a working dvd drive and the ability to boot from it.

I do have a copy of puppy linux for other occasions, on a usb thumb drive and CD.


John Conley
Musica est vita