dspame@yahoo.com schrieb:
> I've got an old Compaq Armada e500 laptop, with 128MB memory. I won't
> be connecting it to the web,
> so I don't need antivirus
>
There is no need for antivirus software with linux. Antivirus software tries
to cure the symptoms but cannot heal the disease, which is security holes
inside the installed software.

There are <100 viruses out there for linux and the security holes concerned
are patched for a long time now. Just update your distribution frequently.


> or firewalls
>
This is a linux kernel builtin, you get it anyway unless explicitly switched
off (not recommended).


> running.
>
> I'd like to view movies,
>
The processor of this laptop is presumably too slow to play zoomed
fullscreen videos at natural resolution of the display. If the graphics
adaptor is supported by the XVideo extension (xv), it may work, though. If
not, you could try to set an additional low-res video mode (like 640x480)
just for playing videos and let the hardware zoom it -- some laptop
displays are able to do this. Switching video modes on-the-fly works with
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Numpad+] ...+[Numpad-]


> play music,
>
Perfectly possible, assuming the sound adaptor is supported (presumably).


> and use a memory stick through the USB port.
>
If this machine has USB1.1 only, transfers will be slow (~1MB/s).


> Can I do this with 128MB.
> Also, are there guides for using Linux with small memory,
>
128MB is not small memory. This is 32MB and less (some say 8MB and less).


> eg to tell you how to eliminate
> unnecessary services or other running components that I won't need?
>
The usual way is to use a distribution with small memory requirements where
that was already done. Just install it and try. No manual fiddling
neccessary. Stefan gave you some pointers.


Kind regards

Jan