First. Get more ram. This will be the single best thing you can do. Computer flea markets are the best place to find such ram, or try the trading post. Don't worry if this is not possible, it is feasible to get Linux working on a laptop with 4mb of ram, but not so easy.
To choose the distribution, you need to know what you want to use the box for. If you are not planning on installing the X Windowing System, any distribution will do, more or less.
Personally I prefer Debian. I love it. But that's me, it may not be you. The best advice I can give anyone who is a relative Linux newbie, is get your hands on as many distributions as you can, and try them all. also check out damnsmalllinux, puppy linux, etc
for setting up server http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/we鈥?/a>
http://www.linuxforums.org/servers/setti鈥?/a>How to bring back life to an old dell computer?servers dont need to be all that powerful. Some more ram is probably the cheapest option. That will get it running xp relatively well.
Also, check the specs of your router - if its gigabit capable then putting a gigabit nic into it will give you extremely fast transfer speeds (assuming other computers are capable also). This is also a way to make the whole setup run very fast.
CPU is fine.
Thats about it. You may also want to look at running minixp, or using vlite to strip down the installation so that XP is a bit more zippy. But with a p4 and say 513-1gb ram it will run xp no problem. Particularly if all its doing is acting as a server.
But you have the basis of a pretty decent server there.
[edit] I dont know about the idea of Linux being an 'easy' server option. Ive used it with a few windows machines and it gave me nothing but headaches. Different strokes for different folks I guess.How to bring back life to an old dell computer?It's like trying to put a Ferrari engine on a Model T Ford.
I say give your old Dell a decent burial.
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