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Couple of things here...

  1. I need my old HP to run ubuntu. But there's two problems here. -The HP notebook is old -It's running on Pentium 2 processor from Intel.

So i'm wondering if the i386 iso version is flawless, I don't want any emergency's here...

  1. Some questions when answering my question.

-Does Ubuntu run fine with old laptops?

-Does it overheat often? I know there is a lot of dust inside my laptop... :D

-And finally, Shall I dualboot or clean install?

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    Are you sure it's a Pentium 2 ? That's ancient, from 1997. Perhaps you meant Pentium Dual core ? If it's a Pentium Dual core, then yes, you can run Ubuntu, although I'd recommend one of the lightweight variants of Ubuntu, such as Ubuntu MATE, and yes, you need the i386 ISO, since it's not 64-bit. Regarding dust in your laptop - I'd recommend actually cleaning it, either yourself or have someone do it, as it will avoid overheating. But no, Ubuntu should not cause it to overheat more than Windows would. And finally, regarding dual boot or clean install: that's up to you. – JonasCz - Reinstate Monica Jun 13 '16 at 6:16
  • Write lubuntu 14.04 (since 12.04 will expire in 1 year) in a usb (if your laptop boots from usb) or cd and choose try (not install) and test if its working. With a google search I see that most likely pentium II supports PAE so it should work. When you say dual boot with what os do you mean, windows xp or older (like windows 2000)? – Thanos Apostolou Jun 13 '16 at 11:51
  • @JonasCz just confirmed, it is a pentium 2 – boomt14 Jun 14 '16 at 5:06
  • @JonasCz also its one of dhoes hp special edition ones – boomt14 Jun 14 '16 at 5:11
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    I'd be very surprised if a HP notebook comes with a Pentium 2. How much memory does it have ? But yes, in that case I would definitely use Lubuntu, or an even more lightweight Linux distro. – JonasCz - Reinstate Monica Jun 14 '16 at 13:40
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Wikipedia to the rescue...

"The Pentium II brand refers to Intel's sixth-generation microarchitecture ("P6")..."

— source

The P6 microarchitecture is sometimes referred to as i686. The Linux kernel and Ubuntu userspace are compiled against the i686 architecture, so in that respect, your CPU is compatible.

However, you have a different problem.

The minimum recommended system requirements for Ubuntu Desktop require a 700 MHz or faster CPU. The fastest clock speed for a CPU in the Pentium II series (the Pentium II 450) is 450 MHz. Therefore, you would need to use another variant (such as Ubuntu server) that has lower requirements or use another distro.

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