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I need to run Ubuntu, other OS (e.g. Win XP), VirtualBox / WMvare / XEN and Open vSwitch in my Dell Latitude c640:

  • CPU: P4, 1.20 GHz,
  • HDD: 30 GB HDD
  • RAM: 256 MB (can be increased upto 1GB)

Source: Specification PDF

Please tell me the minimum hardware changes/upgrades I need in order to be able to install & run the above software without difficulty. Kindly note I am on a tight budget so buying a new laptop/buyback is not so feasible. Thanks in advance.

sd

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WinXP requires 64 MB of RAM (128 recommended): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865

Ubuntu requires 512 MiB of RAM: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Do the math, take into account the RAM that you need for Windows applications (base services, antivirus, firewall, VirtualBox) and the RAM that you need for Ubuntu applications, and upgrade your RAM accordingly.

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This appears to be an 8 year old laptop. It is time for a new one. 1 GB of ram would be the absolute minimum to attempt this with. That CPU also does not have the hardware support required for virtualization.

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  • Why not ? - I remember the good times I had with Pentium III - so this one is not so bad at all. - and it is more fun, when you can read the scrolling while compiling ... – dschinn1001 Jul 12 '13 at 18:07
  • @dschinn1001, because Xen requires hardware virtualization support to run Windows. I'm pretty sure VMware and VirtualBox do too. You can run qemu without kvm support, but it is like watching paint dry. – psusi Jul 12 '13 at 18:12
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It seems hard to upgrade your current hardware to supply that requirement.. In my opinion, you definitely need more ram at least 512MB for host, and might be at least 256 MB for each virtual machine.. You need to choose very light weight desktop environment such as xfce.

but It's good to know that modern virtual machines are smoother with Intel Core I CPUs, since they have a feature called VT-X.

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  • Actually I doubt this machine has a Mobile CPU with VT-x technology support. – lgarzo Jul 12 '13 at 9:46
  • Well, which one are you referring to? – Smile.Hunter Jul 12 '13 at 9:55
  • According to the specifications (which is a bit odd, since it does not say there is a 1.2 GHz CPU version) there should be „Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processors-M” in the laptop. I do not see one in the list. – lgarzo Jul 12 '13 at 11:37

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