Lightwieght Linux distro with GUI needed

[Marnomancer]

Let's make this simple.
When I was testing Windows 8, my Ubuntu installation got...urm...screwed. My OpenSUSE 11 installation was apparently unharmed, but a few days later, it started asking me for a root login (this has never happened before). I've tried everything from the default 'tux' to 'linux', but to no avail. No one has access to my computer when I'm not at home (requires password), so over-the-shoulder is not an issue. So I purged both from my HDD, and now only Win7 resides on it.Neither *nixs' CDs load now. Huge scratches on them, courtesy of Amber. I've googled a lot, but results were unsatisfactory and inconclusive.
So here it comes:

What I need:
A small distro that can load into the RAM from a Live-CD or USB disk. I have 2 GB of DDR2 RAM.
A GUI. For obvious reasons.
You suggestions are appreciated.

 

[GaryIKILLYOU]

Try Puppy Linux or DSL (Damn Small Linux)

 

[Marnomancer]

I've already checked and tried them up, but they weren't very satisfying. Performance wise.
I basically need something armed to the teeth like I had with Backtrack, but not that massive in scale.
Something that'll load into memory and leave no traces behind, in the computer or cyberspace. Tor-work, if you know what I mean.
In short, a mini fortress, smaller than 100 MB.

 

[Zen]

I'd be no help to you here, for I only have exposed myself to Ubuntu 10.10, which I used for a year, before making the choice to go back to Windows XP. But you might want to direct connect with Leeky, when I was trudging and clawing my way through Ubuntu, he was right there whenever I needed him and was able to answer every question I ever had. So as far as Linux, you might want to chat with him, maybe he would know the right option for you!

Good luck.....

 

[Marnomancer]

Yes, actually I've been waiting for his reply.

 

[MrBlkfx1]

Did a little Google searching and found this webpage.
8 of the best tiny Linux distros
Maybe that will help you a bit until Leeky comes to save the day.

 

[Marnomancer]

I had seen that page earlier, but now that I read it again, Crunchbag makes sense. I've downloaded Slitaz in the meantime.
I guess I'll ask Lee to help narrow down the list.
Thanks

 

[Leeky]

Sorry for the delay, been a busy week!

Crunchbang is pretty good actually. I was seriously impressed when I tried it out recently. It has a low footprint as well. Also, being based on Debian its mature, and has plenty of packages available in the repos.

Does it need to be a live CD though? You could install a small image of Debian and customise it from there. That's assuming bandwidth is an issue. Also, check out my Linux ISO to USB thumb drive tutorial here as that will eliminate the requirement for CDs, and it works on pretty much any USB device as long as the computer can handle booting from them.

You could of course use any Live-based distro with the above tutorial I linked, and literally plug it into any computer you wish. If you want low overhead for a Desktop Environment then I suggest you use XFCE or LXDE (same DE as the Raspberry Pi Debian uses in the review). As far as lightweight DE's go, my personal preference is XFCE.

If you need more specifics, let me know Marnomancer. I'll do my best to explain or assist if I can.

 

[Marnomancer]

No, not necessarily a LiveCD, but I only have one spare 250 MB thumb drive which I can permanently allocate it to. And since my system is a 64-bit one, I'd like an x64 version to fully exploit it's capabilities.
Anyhow, I'm downloading Crunch now. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks Lee. You've always been a great help

 

[Leeky]

I'd look at getting something larger. 250MB is pushing it for pretty much everything other than insanely small distros, like DSL or Puppy.

No worries, let me know if you need any more assistance.

 

[Marnomancer]

Yeah, now that I was installing Slitaz on the 256MB drive, I saw it was broken. Haha. I installed it on the 1GB drive. So anything up to that size will do now.