[Conservative Gato]

I've had good success with Ubuntu, but have run into a couple of machines on which it has repeatedly failed to install,....

I've run in to this too but in some cases it's the hardware limitations of the machine is the reason they won't install. I then usually try lighter versions of Linux, like Zorin Lite OS, Lubuntu, or Peppermint and they usually install with little or no problems.

CGato

[DJ Frisat]

"I then usually try lighter versions of Linux, like Zorin Lite OS, Lubuntu, or Peppermint..."

Thanks for the suggestion. Haven't heard of those, but I've tried Mint & Knoppix with variable results. My experience has been that Ubunto seems to auto-detect drivers that the others don't, especially for wireless devices.