notebook to recover photos and other data from a friend and told he didn't want the machine back. I tried in vain to re-install Windows XP this was an impossible task.
My neighbor a Linux promoter, and I believe he has contributed to the community, encouraged me to install Linux Mint he stated it's a very user friendly distro for those new to Linux and should work well with old tired machines. 
Well I downloaded the latest ISO file created a bootable disc and proceeded to boot up and install Linux Mint with no problems whatsoever. I am truly impressed! Once the installation was complete a report on the health of the hard drive was displayed It stated that the hard drive has many bad sectors so hard drive failure is somewhat eminent.
Regardless I am so impressed with how fast this old machine boots up and how user friendly this OS is. It detected all the hardware with no problems without me having to enter terminal to install any drivers! There was only one issue that had to be deal with I replaced the existing network manager with wicd network manager. I'm currently out of work sort of semi-retired and I'm looking at providing computer repair and software services to our local community. I believe that this distro would be a great benefit to providing senior citizens with a user friendly laptop. I could salvage old unwanted laptops or desktops that many discard because Windows runs way to slow to be usable and give them new life with Mint. I'm excited about the new opportunities.
Again thanks and keep up the good work!