Install to old netbook

[barrowman]

I have been running Linux since the 1990's when it was a case of editing files to get on the dialup network but I am completely at a loss with this.
So I have an old netbook on which I installed Mint a few years ago just to see if I could. It worked but of course it was very slow. I saw Tinycore mentioned yesterday and thought I would put it on the netbook.
Now how do I actually install it on the HDD? All 3 options are for downloading iso files. Do I mount one of them and run something from it? Does that install it on the HDD or on a USB stick? I don't want Mint to still be on the drive so it can go.
Can someone point me in the right direction please? 

[patrikg]

As first user of tc you should read free the tiny core book.

http://tinycorelinux.net/corebook.pdf

[CardealRusso]

In particular, I recommend getting a dedicated tinycore USB stick.

...case of editing files to get on the dialup network...

Heh. On windows, I used to use my ISP's network cable directly to my computer, so I could access the internet without relying on a modem. I tried to do this on TinyCore without the help of GUI programs and got completely lost, it seems that only a very experienced user can pppoe this way.

[linic]

Hi barrowman,
patrikg is right, the book is very good! Section 2.1 shows how to do the frugal installation. That's the one which will install on the hard drive. This page will also be relevant http://tinycorelinux.net/install.html.

You'll probably want to have the graphical interface, so I am not sure how much help this will be, but you'll see a terminal only installation from this post where you'll see the steps I took using a bootable CD on a very old laptop http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,22583.msg170008.html#msg170008

Then, there's this thread that covers an even older laptop http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,26359.0.html

Sometimes, practical examples are useful to me in conjunction with official documentation. I'm sharing in case you're like me. good luck!

[NewUser]

First question, I guess, is this old netbook your only computer?

[evawillms]

 Insert the bootable USB drive into your netbook and restart it. Access the boot menu or BIOS settings (usually by pressing a specific key during boot, such as F12 or Del) and set the USB drive as the primary boot device. Save the changes and exit the BIOS settings.

[CentralWare]

@barrowman: If you're versed in Linux for that long, this should be a piece of cake.

First, download the ISO you think will fit the purpose of the netbook.
Burn the ISO image onto CD or USB depending on which netbook you have.
Update your BIOS settings to set the device to boot from the new CD or USB drive.

Once you've booted the CD/USB device, you'll land either at the shell or the TinyCore desktop.

Since "an old netbook" tells me nothing about the unit, whether it's wifi capable, ethernet capable, 32 or 64 bit, how much RAM, etc. I'm blind as to what's working out-of-the-box when you boot TinyCore so you'll have a little hunting to do in order to figure out your hardware specs.

If you HAVE internet access at this point, your next task would be to install tc-install to assist you in creating a bootable version of TinyCore where Mint used to live.