Acer Aspire One: the most stylish of netbooks. Acer Aspire One review: Acer's first netbook Acer Aspire One testing

In 2008, many of the largest IT companies managed to launch netbooks. Of course, ASUS succeeded more than anyone else as the initiator of the entire movement. The Eee PC 900 and Eee PC 1000, as well as several of their modifications, came off its stocks. MSI Wind U100 netbooks have become quite popular. Now the Taiwanese company is already going to release the U120. Manufacturers such as HP, Dell, Fujitsu and several more have distinguished themselves. But, unfortunately, so far only ASUS, MSI and Acer products have reached our shelves in sufficient quantities.

Acer Aspire One– one of the youngest netbooks on the market. However, his start was very rapid. Firstly, it immediately became available in several configurations. Well, secondly, its price is on average slightly lower than that of its analogues. By and large, the Acer netbook is something of a mixture ASUS Eee PC 901, 1000 and 1000H, and at the same time MSI Wind U100. The Aspire One comes with both Windows XP and Linux. Well, either a small SSD or HDD can be used as a permanent data storage. But we'll talk about configuration later. Let's look at the design for now.

Design

The appearance of the Acer Aspire One is very attractive. Acer, like MSI, supplies netbooks in four different color options: dark blue, light gray, pink and brown. We got the first one.

In 2008, many of the largest IT companies managed to launch netbooks. Of course, ASUS succeeded more than anyone else as the initiator of the entire movement. The Eee PC 900 and Eee PC 1000, as well as several of their modifications, came off its stocks. MSI Wind U100 netbooks have become quite popular. Now the Taiwanese company is already going to release the U120. Manufacturers such as HP, Dell, Fujitsu and several more have distinguished themselves. But, unfortunately, so far only ASUS, MSI and Acer products have reached our shelves in sufficient quantities.

Acer Aspire One is one of the youngest netbooks on the market. However, his start was very rapid. Firstly, it immediately became available in several configurations. Well, secondly, its price is on average slightly lower than that of its analogues. By and large, the Acer netbook is something of a mixture of ASUS Eee PC 901, 1000 and 1000H, and at the same time MSI Wind U100. The Aspire One comes with both Windows XP and Linux. Well, either a small SSD or HDD can be used as a permanent data storage. But we'll talk about configuration later. Let's look at the design for now.

Design

The appearance of the Acer Aspire One is very attractive. Acer, like MSI, supplies netbooks in four different color options: dark blue, light gray, pink and brown. We got the first one.

The laptop of the Aspire One line is, first of all, a lightweight, ultra-thin device that incorporates the best achievements and developments of Acer developers. The good news is that repairing this model is easier than.

All mini-laptops from this series are equipped with a standard package that includes:

• battery;
• power adapter;
• documentation;
• warranty card for .

The Acer Aspire One D257 netbook is equipped with either a dual-core Intel® Atom™ N570/N550 processor or a single-core N455/N475 processor. This computer Available with standard 2.5" hard drive, with a capacity of 250 or 320 GB, and according to the method of connecting to the network, it can have the following options: Wi-Fi, Ethernet or 3G modem.

1.1 Design and display

The design of the case is made of inexpensive, but high-quality plastic, and due to high-quality assembly, it is free from extraneous creaks and backlashes. The netbook can be painted in 4 different colors: black, red, blue or white.

The cover of the netbook is glossy on both sides, has an unusual wave-like surface, on which the company logo and a drop-shaped pattern are applied. Basically appearance Aspire One D257 is original and minimal. Everything looks cheap, but at the same time practical. By the way, this model is rarely needed.

The Aspire One D257 screen is made using LED backlight technology and has a size of 10.1 inches (28 cm) and a resolution of 1024x600 px with a 16:9 ratio, which makes it ideal for viewing photos and media files.

1.2 Keyboard and touchpad

The netbook's keyboard is simple and convenient. When working on it, the keys have normal travel and work without sticking. A medium-sized but compact touchpad allows you to enjoy convenient navigation with just a slight movement of your finger. Everything works without significant delays, scaling, cursor responsiveness - the sensitivity of the touch pad is excellent.

1.3 Expansion ports and power

As in any netbook, the lack of an optical drive is compensated by the presence of a sequential one on the left side of the case USB port 2.0. Next door, there is an RJ-45 micro connector and a VGA video connector. And just to the left is the device’s power socket. On the directly opposite side, there are two more serial port USB and one connector each for connecting a microphone and headphones. But it is rarely required for this model.

Autonomous power supply is provided by a 6-cell - 4400 mA or 3-cell -2200 mA battery. A six-section battery can operate without recharging for approximately 8 hours, a 3-section battery for about 4 hours.

2 Performance

A dual-core processor based on Intel Atom N570 has relatively low performance, with economical power consumption. This processor works in conjunction with DDR3 RAM and
integrated video card GMA3150.

The 256 MB memory of the graphics adapter used is quite sufficient for decoding videos and viewing photos, but for computer games Such a video card, frankly speaking, will be rather weak. Some games may still run at optimal FPS levels, but only with the settings minimized.

If we summarize the overall operation of a netbook, then for some student or office solutions its power will be quite sufficient.

2.1 Conclusion and price

The price of the Acer Aspire One D257 netbook is in the range of 210-250 USD, depending on the region and configuration. For a fairly modest price, you can buy an Acer Aspire One D257 and experience the following benefits:

• Quite light and dimensional;
• Excellent dual-core processor;
• Simple replacement of the matrix (as well as);
• Nice and well made body;
• Comfortably fitted keyboard and nimble touchpad.

Overall, a pretty good solution for both work and entertainment.

January 30, 2009 Slutsker Vyacheslav 0

Do you want to always be in touch and have a computer at hand, but at the same time you absolutely do not want to carry a laptop with you due to its bulkiness, and a telephone, smartphone or communicator is not suitable due to the inconvenience of use and, often, limited functionality? If “Yes,” then we bring to your attention a compromise - a laptop smaller than a notebook and weighing about a kilogram - a netbook from Acer - Aspire One.

Nowadays, surprising someone with a laptop is almost impossible. In terms of performance, some laptops are already capable of replacing desktop computers, and the difference in price between personal computers and laptops tends to zero over time. Moreover, under the price personal computer I mean not only the price system unit, but also a monitor, keyboard and mouse, which, in fact, laptops do not need.

However, despite the availability and high performance, the mobility of laptops, although exceeds the mobility desktop computers, still does not allow you to always take it with you. Moreover, the point here is not only the weight of laptops, which sometimes reaches 3 kilograms or even more, the point is rather that most laptops, even despite their portability, have quite impressive dimensions, primarily due to the diagonal monitor.

Thus, constantly carrying a laptop with you is beyond the capabilities of not only the fair sex, but also burdens most men. Until recently, only those who most needed to have a computer always at hand carried laptops with them, but not so long ago everything changed. Time passes and laptop manufacturers, well aware of the shortcomings of their creations, offer users so-called - essentially the same laptops, but much smaller in size and weight, which allows you to carry them with you anywhere!

Acer Aspire One

One of these netbooks came to us for testing - meet us, Acer Aspire One. As far as I understand, I won’t have to represent the company - it is already very, very well known, especially in the laptop market. Russian users mostly value products for their good price/quality ratio. Let's hope that there will be no exception to this rule.

Acer Aspire One | Specifications

To be honest, then specifications for the vast majority there is practically no difference. All of them are currently based on processors that are specifically designed for low-cost and compact devices aimed at working on the Internet. Thus, the only differences in the technical equipment of netbooks are the screen diagonal, HDD, volume random access memory and various built-in utilities, such as web cameras, card readers, Bluetooth models, and so on.

Moreover, if the range of RAM volumes is small: from 512 MB to 2 GB, then the range of volumes of hard drives installed in netbooks is really surprising - from 4 GB to 120 GB. However, small hard drives have an undeniable advantage; the fact is that hard drives installed in netbooks and having a small capacity are SSD drives. This begs the question - why are they better than regular hard drives, since they are installed, despite the fact that their volume differs from the volume of hard drives by an order of magnitude?

Acer Aspire One – all the advantages of an SSD

The main advantages of SSDs compared to conventional HDDs are: low energy consumption, light weight, small size, absence of mechanical components and, as a result, complete absence of noise from moving parts and cooling fans. All of the above are very useful in small and portable devices such as netbooks, and even more so, SSD drives with a capacity of more than 250 GB should appear in the near future, although little is known about their price yet.

By the way, since we have noted the advantages of such drives, let’s go over their disadvantages. The main disadvantages are: the high price of each Gigabyte and the relatively low recording speed. The user will have to decide for himself what is more important to him - large recording capacity and speed, or light weight and longer battery life of the netbook. I agree that this choice is far from simple, but I note that if you use a netbook only for correspondence and communication, and not store everything on it, then 8 GB should be enough. In addition, no one has canceled flash drives or portable hard drives.

Acer Aspire One 110-Ab

Came to us Acer Aspire One 110-Ab, he is in model range not alone, there are other modifications of the version 110 , there is also 150th series. It is important to note that the only netbook in this line is Aspire One AOA150-Bk equipped with an additional high-capacity battery. Plus, just recently updated Aspire One, which already has a 10-inch display. So there is clearly plenty to choose from.

Since we are talking about technical characteristics, I would like to tell you a couple of advantages that it has in this regard. Aspire One 110 compared to other netbooks. The first difference is the presence of active cooling - a tiny fan is hidden behind a small protrusion at the bottom of the netbook. Thus, the manufacturer reduced the weight of the device, however, despite the low noise level of the fan, it can still be heard in complete silence, especially when the laptop is heavily loaded and therefore overheats.

The built-in camera and microphone won’t surprise anyone now, but it’s still nice. But the presence of two card readers may surprise you. Moreover, if one of them simply allows you to read and write data to memory cards of the most common formats, then the second, when using operating system Linpus Linux Lite, allows you to automatically expand the capacity of your hard drive, although I’ll talk about this a little later. And now we move from theory to practice - we pick up a box with a netbook.

Acer Aspire One | Packaging and kit

Acer Aspire One comes in a very neat small box. The box has a carrying handle, which, in addition to its light weight, makes it extremely convenient to transport the netbook without a special bag.

The design of the box deserves special attention. Despite the absence of any bright colors, it attracts attention quite strongly. The front and back sides are depicted in different colors, and if the white model flaunts against the background of snow-covered fields, then the model with a blue body is located against the backdrop of a seascape. On one side of the box all five color colors of the cases are drawn Aspire One(I will list the colors a little later), and on the opposite side you can see information about the technical characteristics of the netbook.

After opening the box, what appeared to me was a set that was not very rich by “laptop” standards.

• Netbook.
• Accumulator battery.
• Charger.
• Instructions.
• DVD - recovery disc.

I suggest looking at the elements of the kit in more detail. Actually, we are most likely more interested in the netbook itself, so let me first say a few words about all the other elements of the kit Aspire One, and then I’ll go directly to the culprit of the review. Regarding the charger, I would like to note that the Aspire One it is very light compared to chargers for laptops - its weight is slightly less than the weight of the Aspire One, and it weighs only one kilogram. Battery Acer Aspire One 110-Ab lithium-ion 2200 mAh.

The instructions are also worthy of praise - it is completely Russified and contains enough information so that a user of any level can as soon as possible understand the netbook, or rather its unusual operating system. By the way, the disk included in the kit contains exactly the same operating system, which, by the way, is called Linpus Linux Lite.

So, most of the kit has been described, all that remains is the netbook itself. In nature Acer Aspire One found in five different colors - white, blue, pink, brown and black. Thus, the manufacturer expanded the circle of its consumers from female representatives, who would most likely prefer white and pink models, to male representatives, who would like the remaining colors. Moreover, the number of colors Aspire One reduces the likelihood of meeting a netbook exactly like yours, which is important, because a netbook is also largely an image thing. As you can see from the photographs, I received a neutral blue model - I will describe it to you.

Acer Aspire One | Appearance

Housing Aspire One does not contain sharp corners - all the lines are only smooth, and is made of very pleasant plastic, and its assembly is also excellent - no squeaks were detected during use. The laptop lid is decorated with a gray logo Acer and quite heavily varnished.

On the one hand, this is great, since the device looks glossy and pleases the eye with its shine, on the other hand, every touch of this glossy surface inevitably leaves a mark on it... Agree, it is quite difficult to open a netbook without touching its lid, so to remove fingerprints from the device, you will have to constantly wipe it. Here is another example of the fact that beauty requires sacrifice. Regarding internal surfaces Acer Aspire One, then they also leave fingerprints with enviable ease, however, here the plastic is not so heavily varnished, so it looks decent even without regular wiping.

The underside of the case is black, without any frills, however, there is a small bulge on it, behind which there is a fan for active cooling.

In addition to describing the appearance of the case, I would like to note the rather stylish silver logos located around the perimeter of the device, as well as the red rings that are on the hinges connecting the two parts of the netbook.

The placement of ports and connectors deserves special praise. On the back side, where, by the way, the battery is located, there is not a single connector, but on the sides there are Aspire One there is everything you need, namely, on the left side: a connector for connecting to the power supply, VGA- output, connector RJ45 to connect to local network, one USB port and card reader for SD/MMC kart.

And on the right side: a Kensington lock slot, another card reader for cards SD/SDHC/MMC/MS/xD, two USB- port , headphone jack and microphone jack.

The presence of USB ports on both sides will clearly appeal to most, but the presence of two card readers will definitely surprise. Why are there two of them? I’ll allow myself to answer this question a little later, but now let’s finally open the lid of the netbook.

Acer Aspire One V open form becomes even cuter. Moreover, if in the closed state the device differs little from most netbooks, and outwardly stands out, in fact, due to the shiny coating and smoothed lines, then immediately after opening the lid its individuality appears. As you can see in the photographs, the screen hinges are made in a very unusual way. This arrangement allows you to see the LED indication even when the lid is closed. And the red rings on the sides of those same loops simply attract the eyes of others to them.

What do we see? Screen! Before us appears, again, a glossy lover of storing prints on itself - an 8.9-inch display, above which, by the way, there is a built-in web camera and a hole behind which the built-in microphone is hidden.

Acer Aspire One | Controls

We look just below - a touchpad with a keyboard that is quite wide for such devices.

The keyboard itself is black, the inscriptions are white. At first, it seems that she is the most ordinary, but upon closer inspection, it turns out that not everything is so simple. Do you think that if the device is very small, then the buttons should be very small? The engineers will clearly disagree with you. Due to the fact that the group of arrow buttons is lowered slightly lower than the rest, it was possible to at least slightly expand the space for the keys, and, therefore, more space is allocated to each of them.

The result is a very comfortable keyboard, although, I must admit, I didn’t expect this from a netbook - it’s really nice and convenient to use - the keys don’t play, don’t wobble and have a very pleasant and smooth stroke, and this is very important for those who are going to do a lot of typing on the netbook.

Naturally, like the vast majority of laptops, the keyboard Acer Aspire One there is a button Fn, clicking on which in combination with others allows you to quickly change the screen brightness, adjust the sound volume, disable the touchpad and much more.

Speaking of the touchpad Acer Aspire One. It's as good as the keyboard. Relative to the surface of the netbook, it is slightly recessed downwards, and the buttons are located not as usual - under the touchpad, but on the sides. It would seem like such a small thing, but the result of this transfer is a very convenient control element. I would like to add that the touchpad buttons, just like the keyboard buttons, do not play, and this is very nice.

Finishing the conversation about controls Acer Aspire One, I will mention two more. The first of these is the on/off button, it's located in the top right corner, right above the keyboard. The button itself has a small oval cutout, behind which there is a green diode that lights up when the device is working. The last control is a small sliding button, which is located on the side of the netbook closest to the user, right under the keyboard. The button is responsible for turning on and turning off Wi-Fi. By the way, to understand whether it is turned on or not is simple: if Wi-Fi is active, the yellow diode next to the button lights up.

Acer Aspire One | Linpus Linux Lite

As I already said, on the netbook we got to me, the operating system was installed Linpus Linux Lite, specially tuned for this netbook. Let's figure out together how successful the choice of the manufacturer turned out to be. So, we turn on the laptop - the first pleasant emotions are brought by the loading time Linpus Linux Lite-about 10 seconds from the moment of switching on to full readiness for work - to be honest, you won’t see this everywhere, but in the case of operating systems Windows, it's practically impossible.

The laptop has booted up - there is a desktop in front of us, but it looks very unusual. It is worth immediately noting two more advantages - the first is the excellent Russification of all software, the second is the very nice appearance of the operating system as a whole.

In the lower right corner of the screen, in tribute to tradition, there is a system tray with a clock and many useful icons. The upper right corner is dedicated to the search bar, both local and global. In a place familiar to users Windows, the "Start" button has a button with an icon with a blue house, clicking on which does not display any menu, but minimizes all windows.

Most of the screen area Linpus Linux Lite is divided into four sections, which, according to developers from Acer, reflect the main functionality laptop, and at the same time the user's needs. These are the sections “Connect”, “Work”, “Entertainment”, “Files”.

In each such section there are three large icons responsible for launching the corresponding applications, as well as an arrow, clicking on which opens the entire section with all the icons related to it. In chapter "Connect" located: Browser - aka browser, IM - client - which for unknown reasons does not support ICQ, viewing programs Email and RSS feed readers, as well as icons quick access to such popular, according to the manufacturer, resources as Wikipedia, google maps and Hotmail.

Chapter "Job" in fact, it contains most of the necessary office applications for working with texts, tables and presentations - in short, it is installed here Open Office. Also available in this section is a convenient calculator, calendar, and programs for storing contacts and notes.

The entertainment section allows you to access a program for viewing multimedia data, a program for viewing photos, games, a Web camera, as well as a simple graphics editor.

In its turn "Games" are also an independent section, in which there are about ten simple, but quite beautiful and colorful toys, some of which, unfortunately, are paid. For example, in checkers in free mode you can only make a certain number of moves, which simply cannot be enough to win, and a large number of people are unlikely to want to pay 442 rubles 80 kopecks for them (that’s how much the license costs). In general, the presented mini-games can help kill extra time - just like the “immortal” Tetris.

In chapter "Files" icons are collected that allow you to quickly open folders with the desired content, for example, clicking on “My Images” will open the corresponding folder on the disk. All presented in this section buttons launch file manager, which will not be difficult for a user of any level of training to understand.

Having discussed the sections, let's return to the desktop for a moment. In the lower right corner, just above the system tray with the clock, there are two buttons "Settings" And "Reference". Clicking on the second one entails opening a file with documentation and therefore is not very interesting to us.

But as for the settings, there is something to look at. By clicking on "Settings", the user is taken to a separate section in which he has access to options for screen, power supply, network connections, calendar, sound, touchpad, connected printers, language, updates. Here you can also call up information about the system, as well as change the user password.

At first it seems that Acer Aspire One everything you need is already installed. Judge for yourself, here you have a completely Russified, neat and “nimble” operating system, office applications and a media player and browser are installed, and even a few games, but at some point the user may want to add some other programs - the same graphics editor or a program for communicating via ICQ, what should I do in this case?

Frankly, I have been looking for a long time to get to the “real” settings of the operating system, in which, for example, there is access to installing and uninstalling programs. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find it in the settings section. I had to look for the command line - something without which it is difficult to imagine an operating system Linux. This task also turned out to be not so trivial, but I still managed to find access to the command line from the file manager.

To get into the system settings I used the command xfce-setting-show . After a little manipulation, I finally managed to get into the “real” operating system settings. Where I could easily install necessary programs, so in the end I got a full-fledged operating system with everything necessary, as well as the ability to increase functionality by installing additional programs, of which, by the way, there are simply a huge number of them under Linux.

enjoy Linpus Linux Lite It’s really convenient, it works quickly, and all the necessary controls are always at hand. I would especially like to note the speed with which the netbook running this operating system connected to the Internet, both via cable and wireless connection.

After installation network cable, the Internet became available in one second, and in the case wireless connection- in less than 10 seconds. The best part is that it is not installed on the netbook Windows, then it is practically not susceptible to viruses, Trojans and similar infections, which, combined with competent Russification, allows it to be used by users of any level of training, including children.

Acer Aspire One and Windows XP

operating system Windows XP was placed on Aspire One with only one goal - to run all the necessary tests and benchmarks on the netbook; you can see the results just below. However, I understand perfectly well that many users will decide to install Windows XP instead of Linpus Linux Lite, guided by their own interests or for the sake of compatibility with any applications they need that have no analogues for Linux. Therefore, especially for such users, I will describe the installation process a little Windows XP on Aspire One.

The netbook lacks Acer, like the vast majority of its competitors, the built-in DVD/CD-ROM undoubtedly made it a little difficult (there was no external DVD-ROM at hand) and slowed down the installation process, but, strangely enough, the media player came to my aid, which was just was tested by us, and was easily identified as an external optical drive.

The installation took a relatively long time, after all, being a DVD drive is not the main job for a media player, but an hour and a half after the installation began, I still saw a desktop familiar to absolutely everyone Windows XP.

Immediately after installing the operating system, which clearly did not have all the necessary drivers, I had to get these drivers. I was thinking of finding drivers for Windows on the DVD included in the kit, but they were not there, but on the official website www.acer.com everything was found. After installing the drivers, all the “insides” of the netbook were identified Windows XP no problem.

Apparently because I first used Aspire One With Linpus Linux Lite, use on it Windows XP I wasn't very happy. Moreover, it’s not even a matter of loading speed, which Linux Lite at an unprecedented height, the point, most likely, is that using a netbook as a regular computer, for which it is intended Windows XP, in my opinion, not the best idea.

8.9-inch screen, as well as fillings Aspire One hardly enough for professional and convenient photo editing, working with video or running any demanding games and applications, a netbook is more suitable for checking mail, communicating in the same ICQ or Skype, Internet surfing, video conferences, watching movies or editing documents. In this connection, if the listed capabilities are enough for you, I definitely recommend using an OS specially adapted for a netbook Linpus Linux Lite.

However, set to Aspire One family operating system Windows it is possible, and it will naturally work, although not as quickly as we would like. In defense Windows XP we can also say that the netbook under her leadership ran on battery power for only a few minutes less than under the control of Linux Lite.

Testing Acer Aspire One

Then on Aspire One tests were installed to evaluate the performance of both the entire system as a whole and individual components, and the time battery life laptop, both under full load and without it.

So, in the test 3DMark 2003 netbook earned modest 710 points, the test was run at 1024x768 resolution with anti-alising disabled, optimal texture filtering and vertex shaders, and maximum anisotropic filtering 4.

Affairs in 3DMark 2005 things were, naturally, worse, here the netbook only typed 243 points.

As for the operating speed of an SSD drive, the average read time is about 35 MB/s, but the write speed, alas, does not exceed 15 MB/s. The last digit greatly distinguishes this SSD drive model from classic SATA hard drives.

We did not forget to measure such an important indicator as the time to fully charge the battery, which for the tested model is approximately 87 minutes.

Acer Aspire One | conclusions

During use Acer Aspire One I came to the following conclusions. We won't talk about performance Aspire One compared to other netbooks due to the fact that they all currently have almost the same hardware. So the user has a unique opportunity to focus on the user experience when choosing this type of device.

A definite plus Aspire One is its appearance and ergonomics of controls. The keyboard is very comfortable and good-looking, and the touchpad also deserves all sorts of praise. The operating system also deserves special envy from users of other netbooks Linpus Linux Lite, which not only looks very unusual and beautiful, but also works quickly and reliably. All this, of course, is true only for the average user, if professionals do not have enough functionality Linpus, no one forbids installing any other “penguin” distribution on a netbook.

The idea is to use two card readers, one of which allows you to expand the space system disk(I promised to mention this in more detail), for a device with a memory capacity of 8 GB, it is very successful, especially since memory cards are now cheaper than ever. True, restrictions on the total capacity of memory cards located in both slots, amounting to 8 GB, somewhat reduces the possibility of “unlimited” expansion of the volume hard drive via SD cards.

Lack of built-in Bluetooth module for many users can be a significant disadvantage, especially for those who want to connect to the Internet via GPRS/EDGE, using their phone as a modem. However, a netbook version with a 3G modem (there is space for installation in any Acer Aspire One) makes the presence of Bluetooth not so critical.

An important characteristic for this type of device is weight, it is also at a decently low level, only 1 kilogram - and the dimensions are small, therefore, it can be worn Aspire One You can take almost anything with you.

Now, as for battery life. According to this characteristic Aspire One at least a little, it is inferior to its competitors, however, three hours of operation at minimum load and a full battery charge in one hour and twenty-three minutes is a quite decent result and, in theory, will be enough for many. Theoretically, battery life can be increased by using an additional battery, but this will inevitably entail an increase in the final cost and weight of the device.

Acer
for the netbook provided for testing Acer Aspire One

Netbook hardware configuration options

Typically, netbooks are sold as laptops in most stores. At best, the price tag indicates that this is an ultraportable laptop. Unfortunately, this often misleads inexperienced users who purchase a netbook, coveting its low cost and portable size, as a laptop. Alas, in this case, the netbook can only bring disappointment to its owner.

Despite their similar appearance, netbooks cannot be classified as laptops (even ultraportables). The fact is that netbooks are designed to solve different problems than laptops, and in this sense they form a new class mobile devices. A laptop allows you to solve all the same problems as a netbook, but not the other way around. Therefore, it is more correct to classify netbooks as digital gadgets. Before moving on to the tasks that can be performed using netbooks, let's look at the possible configurations of these devices.

In general, if we talk about the distinctive features of netbooks, then there are three of them. First, they look like ultraportable laptops. Secondly, compared to laptops, their cost is significantly lower. Thirdly, netbooks, again compared to laptops, have very low performance. Actually, it is the low performance that limits their scope of application and does not allow them to be classified as laptops.

All modern netbook models are based on the same hardware platform. And it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about ASUS Eee PC, or MSI Wind, or Acer Aspire One - in all cases there will be the same hardware platform inside, including one and only (at the moment) model of the Intel Atom N270 processor And motherboard based on the Intel 945GSE chipset (ICH7M southbridge).

The Intel Atom N270 processor (codenamed Diamondville) has a die size of 22x22 mm. This single-core processor with a clock frequency of 1.6 GHz is made using a 45-nanometer process technology. The L2 cache size is 512 KB, and the FSB frequency is 533 MHz. The Intel Atom N270 processor supports Hyper-Threading technology, EIST (Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology) and SSE2 and SSE3 instruction sets. Besides, Intel processor Atom N270 supports 64-bit EMT64 extensions (though why this is needed for netbooks is completely unclear).

A distinctive feature of the Intel Atom N270 processor is its low power consumption. Thus, the TDP of this processor is 2.5 W, and the average power consumption is only 0.6 W.

If we talk about the performance of the Intel Atom N270 processor, it is comparable to the performance of the Intel Celeron 600 MHz processor, which has long been discontinued.

The Intel 945GSE Express chipset (ICH7M southbridge), which is part of the netbook platform, can only be used in conjunction with the Intel Atom N270 processor.

Essentially, the Intel 945GSE Express is a stripped-down version of the Intel 945G Express chipset. It has a built-in Intel GMA 950 graphics core with support for hardware acceleration of HD video formats 720p and 1080i. However, in netbooks this function is unclaimed because, firstly, the screen resolution still does not allow viewing HD video, and secondly, netbooks do not have a built-in optical drive.

Compared to Intel 945G chipset Express chipset Intel 945GSE Express consumes significantly less power. Thus, the power consumption of the Intel 945GSE Express chipset is 9 W (the power consumption of the north bridge is 6 W, the south bridge is 3 W).

The Intel 945GSE Express chipset supports FSB frequencies of 400 and 533 MHz, and the northbridge of the chipset has a single-channel DDR2 memory controller. The use of DDR2-400/533 memory with a maximum capacity of up to 2 GB is supported.

In addition, the Intel 945GSE Express chipset has bus interfaces PCI Express, USB Host and USB Client, SDIO, etc.

In all modern models netbooks do not have an optical drive, there are three USB 2.0 interfaces, a built-in card reader (flash cards of SD, MMC, MS and MS Pro types are supported), a web camera, an RG-45 network interface, a VGA connector for connecting an external monitor and connectors for connecting microphone and headphones. In addition, all netbooks are equipped with a module wireless communication Wi-Fi 802.11b/g.

As for the connectors present in netbooks, in principle, they are quite sufficient for comfortable working conditions. Of course, the lack of an optical drive somewhat limits the netbook's ability to install software. However, software You can also install from a flash drive. Of course, if you need to install the Windows XP operating system, doing so using a USB flash drive is not so easy, but it is still possible. We will tell you later how to install Windows XP on a netbook from a flash drive.

By size, all netbook models can be divided into two categories: netbooks with a screen diagonal of 8.9 and 10.2 inches. Moreover, there are simply no other options. In both cases (both 8.9- and 10.2-inch netbooks), the working resolution of the LCD matrix is ​​1024x600 pixels. Speaking about screen resolution, we note that for netbooks a typical situation is when, when working with dialog boxes, a height of 600 pixels is not enough. The fact is that many standard dialog boxes have a height of more than 600 pixels. When such a window is opened, the buttons located at the bottom remain inaccessible and it is simply impossible to click on them with the mouse. You have to guess for a long time and painfully until using the keyboard the focus is transferred to the desired button in order to press it. This is, of course, extremely inconvenient. Moreover, you need to be prepared for the fact that such a situation will arise when working not only with standard Windows windows, but also with dialog boxes in various applications.

If we talk about the difference between the configurations of different netbook models, then it can only be in the amount of installed RAM, as well as in the size and type of hard drive used.

Netbooks can use both solid-state SSD drives based on flash memory and regular 2.5-inch HDD drives. Netbook models with SSD drives are cheaper, but the volume of SSD drives used in them, as a rule, does not exceed 8 GB. Well, the typical HDD capacity in netbooks is 80 GB.

As for the amount of DDR2 RAM, it is equal to either 512 MB or 1 GB.

In addition, netbooks may differ from each other in the type of pre-installed OS. They can be pre-installed with Windows XP Home or an OS based on one of the Linux variants. As a rule, Windows XP Home is preinstalled on more expensive models with HDD and 1 GB of RAM, and free versions Linux - for budget models with SSD and 512 MB of memory.

Note that different netbook manufacturers use different versions Linux-like OS, and we are not talking about original distributions, but about modified versions.

Purpose of netbooks

Having considered possible options hardware configuration of netbooks, let's determine the purpose of these devices. So, what tasks can be solved using netbooks?

First of all, a netbook is a mobile means of accessing the Internet. Actually, effective Internet surfing is the main task solved using netbooks. As already noted, all netbooks, in addition to the traditional wired Fast Ethernet network interface, have a built-in wireless controller of the 802.11b/g standard and can optionally be equipped with a WiMAX and 3G controller (however, netbook models supporting WiMAX and 3G networks are not yet supplied to Russia via due to the lack of appropriate infrastructure). In addition, almost all netbooks have a built-in web camera, which allows you to organize video communication over the Internet using, for example, such a popular application as Skype.

However, it would be wrong to say that a netbook can only be used as a means of accessing the Internet. In this sense, netbooks have wider capabilities than MID devices (Mobile Internet Devices). A netbook can be effectively used as a typewriter (not just a simple one, but one with Internet access). However, you need to keep in mind that for everyday work with office applications Netbooks are inconvenient to use. The fact is that the portable size of netbooks also imposes restrictions on the size of the keyboard. If you are used to working with a full-size keyboard, then switching to working with a netbook keyboard will be quite difficult. That is, if we are talking about typing small text (for example, communicating on ICQ or working with mail), then a netbook keyboard is quite suitable, but if we are talking about regular work with text or typing large amounts of text, then in this case a netbook will not be the most successful choice.

In addition, the netbook can be used for entertainment. You can listen to music and watch movies on it. True, netbooks do not have an optical drive, so watching movies is only possible with internal hard disk or from external storage, connected via USB interface. In addition, you need to take into account that the maximum screen resolution of a netbook is 1024x600 pixels.

In principle, netbooks can be used for games - however, no modern shooters or even just dynamic games with 3D graphics will work on them. But logic games with 2D graphics are welcome. It’s quite possible to play checkers, chess or schedule a game of preference with a netbook.

Another option for using a netbook is storing and viewing digital photo albums, that is, using it as a digital photo frame. You can always take such a digital photo album with you on a visit to show the photos to your friends. But as for editing digital photos using applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, then a full-fledged laptop is better suited for this. Theoretically, you can install Adobe Photoshop on a netbook. But the netbook screen resolution will not be enough to work effectively with it, and the performance is too low for such an application.

To summarize, we emphasize once again that the scope of use of netbooks is limited. A netbook can be considered as a kind of addition to a full-fledged computer, but this device, of course, cannot act as the only home PC.

Netbook Acer Aspire One 110

Currently Acer company offers two netbook models: Acer Aspire One 110 and Acer Aspire One 150 in different colors. Both models have an 8.9-inch LCD screen size (working resolution - 1024x600 pixels) and differ only in the type of hard drive, the amount of installed RAM and the pre-installed operating system. The more expensive Acer Aspire One 150 model uses a 120 GB HDD, 1 GB of RAM and is pre-installed with the Windows XP Home operating system.

Main characteristics

The Acer Aspire One 110 netbook is based on an Intel Atom N270 processor, and the motherboard is based on Intel chipset 945GSE Express (ICH7M southbridge) with integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics controller.

The Acer Aspire One 110 netbook is equipped with 512 MB of integrated DDR2-667 RAM. It uses an 8 GB SSD drive based on NAND flash memory as a storage device.

In addition, this netbook has two built-in card readers. One of them is intended only for SD cards, which are used as an extension of an SSD drive. By installing a 16 GB SD card into this slot, it can be used as a second flash drive. It is noteworthy that SD cards installed in this slot completely go into the body of the netbook, and do not protrude from it, which is extremely inconvenient if the SD card does not need to be removed from the netbook often. The second built-in card reader is multi-format. It supports the main card types: SD, MMC, MS and MS Pro.

The communication capabilities of the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook are provided by a network controller based on the Realtel RTL82102E chip (10/100 Mbit/s) and an 802.11b/g wireless communication module based on the Atheros AR5007EG chip.

To connect peripheral devices, the netbook has three USB 2.0 ports. In addition, there is a built-in web camera and microphone. The netbook is also equipped with a VGA connector for connecting an external monitor or projector and an RJ-45 connector for connecting to a local network segment. The laptop's audio subsystem is based on the Realtek ALC888S codec.

We also add that the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook is equipped with a three-cell lithium-ion battery capacity 54 Wh.

It remains to add that the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook is pre-installed with the Linpus Linux operating system complete with various applications, and we are talking about a modified version of this operating system.

Model features

For many users, a netbook is not a tool, but a kind of toy. Many people had a construction set as a child. So, for most users, a netbook is also a kind of construction set, only for adults. Therefore, after getting acquainted with the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook, the question involuntarily arises of how to improve its configuration.

The first thing that comes to mind is to replace the 8 GB SSD with a normal HDD with a capacity of 160 GB or even more and, of course, add RAM. Indeed, the 8 GB disk capacity imposes serious limitations on the functionality of the netbook. With such a storage capacity, you can’t download many movies or install programs on it.

There is another problem with SSD drives. Netbooks that use SSD drives are inferior in performance to netbooks with HDD drives. The fact is that, firstly, these discs have low speed recording, and secondly, when accessing the SSD disk, it is severely overloaded, which is already not very powerful processor. As a result, even the usual procedure for installing a program on a netbook takes a very long time, and everything depends not on the speed of writing to the SSD disk, but on the 100% processor load when working with the SSD disk.

Alas, in terms of upgradeability, the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook can only disappoint, since this procedure is not provided at all. With some skill, you can remove the cover of the netbook, although this is not an easy procedure and, without enough experience, we do not recommend doing this. But even removing the cover of the netbook will do nothing. The fact is that 512 MB of memory are soldered onto the netbook board, and there is simply no slot for installing an additional memory module. In addition, the SSD disk does not provide the possibility of replacement. That is, there is no traditional SATA connector for connecting a disk, so installing an HDD in the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook is simply impossible.

The only thing that can be done with the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook is to increase the storage capacity by using an additional SD card.

After getting acquainted with the operating system preinstalled on the Acer Aspire One 110 netbook Linux system Linpus the first thought that comes to mind is how to tear down this operating system and install something normal. Indeed, the pre-installed version of Linux Linpus is a very stripped-down version, and it is not very clear who it is aimed at. Experienced Linux users and devotees will not be satisfied with the capabilities of this Linux versions Linpus. It doesn't even have an interface. command line. Well, for those users who have so far worked only in operating systems of the Windows family and are not aware of the existence of other OSes, Linux Linpus is unlikely to be able to replace the usual Windows interface. So there is only one way out - to demolish Linux Linpus and install a normal operating system.

The only question is what to install instead of Linux Linpus. If we are talking about an OS of the Windows family, then there is only one option - Windows XP, but if we are talking about an OS of the Linux family, then there can be a lot of options - whoever likes what.

Installing the Windows XP operating system

As we have already noted, the Acer Aspire One 110, like all other netbooks, does not have an optical drive. Therefore, when installing programs or operating systems, you must use either an external drive with a USB interface or a USB flash drive. Actually, if you have an external optical drive, then there are no problems with installing the operating system Windows systems XP does not occur. But installing an operating system from a USB flash drive is not an easy task, so we will consider this option.

So, to install the Windows XP operating system from a USB flash drive, we will need the operating system distribution itself, a 2 GB USB flash drive, as well as several special utilities, which will allow you to prepare a USB flash drive so that you can install the OS from it.

You can, of course, install a full version of Windows XP on an Acer Aspire One 110 netbook, however, given the limited capacity of the SSD disk and the not very high performance of the device, this is not recommended. Still complete Windows version XP is a bit heavy for such a little thing as the Acer Aspire One 110. Therefore, first of all, you need to prepare a Windows XP distribution using the well-known nLite utility. This will allow us to remove everything unnecessary, that is, those components of Windows XP that we do not need, and at the same time integrate all operating system updates into the distribution. In the future, we will tell you how to prepare a Windows XP distribution, using the English version of Windows XP Professional as an example.

Preparing a Windows XP distribution

To prepare a Windows XP distribution kit, we need a disk with the Windows XP Professional SP2 operating system or an ISO disk image, as well as the nLite 1.4.8 utility. (www.nliteos.com).

In the case of an ISO disk image, you must first unzip the disk image into a folder, for example WinXP (it is better to create this folder in the root directory C:\). To unzip an ISO image, you can use various specialized utilities such as Ultra ISO or the WinRAR archiver.

After this, we launch the nLite 1.4.8 utility and, having selected the interface language in the welcome window (in our case, we chose Russian), go to the Location installation files Windows, in which you must specify the path to the folder with the unzipped ISO image (C:\WinXP) or, if you are using a disk with the operating system, the path to optical drive. After this, the utility will scan the contents of the specified folder and display information (name, version, language, size) about the operating system distribution (Fig. 1). In our case, we used an ISO disk image with already integrated SP3 (Service Pack), but if you are using the Windows XP Professional SP2 distribution, then, naturally, information will be displayed that SP2 is integrated into the distribution.

Rice. 1. Specifying the path to the folder with the Windows XP distribution kit

The next dialog box will display the OS distribution settings (presets) previously implemented using the nLite utility, which can be loaded so as not to repeat them again. Since we assume that the distribution has not been created previously, feel free to skip this dialog box and move on to the next one.

This window (Fig. 2) is very important. It is necessary to note in it all the actions that will be performed with the operating system distribution (integration into the Service Pack distribution, integration of updates, drivers, selection of OS components, installation automation, etc.). We recommend selecting all operations except Drivers(driver integration).

Rice. 2. Selection of actions to be performed
with Windows XP distribution

In the next dialog box ( Service pack) it is possible to integrate SP3 into the OS distribution, for which you need to specify the path to the SP3 file (file WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe) by clicking on the button Select(Fig. 3). The file WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

Rice. 3. Integration of SP3 into the operating system distribution

In the next dialog box ( Hotfixes and service packs) you can specify all the updates and additional Windows components that need to be integrated into the distribution. To do this, click on the button Add, you need to specify the path to the corresponding files. We specifically downloaded several from the Microsoft website Windows updates XP, not included in SP3, as well as a component such as Internet Explorer 7 (and an update to it) to integrate them into the operating system distribution (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. Adding updates and Windows components into the OS distribution

Next dialog box - Compatibility- suggests specifying (checking) those Windows components that you need to work in order to prevent the possibility of uninstalling the corresponding drivers, applications and services. You don’t have to mark anything in this window (Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. Specify Windows components that cannot be removed

Next dialog box - Components- is the most important. It allows you to “lighten” the operating system by specifying applications, directories, services, drivers, etc. that can be removed from the operating system distribution. The fact is that initially the OS distribution contains a lot of all sorts of “junk”, the existence of which you don’t even suspect, but which will take up disk space, and therefore it is advisable to get rid of it.

However, you shouldn’t get carried away, otherwise you can “lighten” the operating system so much that it simply turns out to be inoperable. The main principle in this case is “if you’re not sure, don’t delete.” This is especially true for services, special OS components and hardware support.

On the left side of this window, operating system components are grouped in a tree structure. Expand the item Applications(it is not the first in the tree structure) and mark those applications that can be removed from the distribution (Fig. 6). We recommend marking the following applications for removal:

Rice. 6. Selecting applications that can be removed from the OS distribution

• screensavers;
• Internet games;
• pinball;
• briefcase;
• viewing the exchange folder;
• backup in NT;
• special abilities.

Next, expand the item Drivers and boldly select all drivers for removal (Fig. 7). We don’t need drivers built into the distribution, because, firstly, they take up space, and secondly, we will still install drivers for all devices separately. Removing drivers will not affect the performance of the system in any way.

Rice. 7. Selecting drivers to remove

Next, expand the item Hardware support(Fig. 8) and mark all those points of hardware support for devices that we will not need in a netbook. When selecting items Hardware support To remove it, you need to be careful, because if you make a mistake and remove an extra component, this may affect the performance of the system. Items are marked in red and black. Deleting items marked in red should be approached with particular caution. At the same time, we definitely don’t need many of these points. For example, you can safely remove hardware support AMD processor(AMD CPU) and much more.

Rice. 8. Removing hardware support for devices

• CPU Intel;
• Intel PCI IDE Controller;
• IEEE-1284.4 (Dot4) devices;
• Microsoft Color Management (ICM);
• Secure Digital host controller;
• USB video capture device;
• battery;
• video capture;
• dispatcher logical drives;
• USB audio support;
• support for multiprocessor configuration;
• printer support;
• ports (COM and LPT);
• AGP filters.

Next, expand the item Keyboard and mark all keyboard layouts for deletion, except United States-International and, of course, Russian. Similarly, expanding the item Language support, we remove support for all languages ​​except Russian (Russian) - fig. 9.

Rice. 9. Removing support for unnecessary languages

Going to point Multimedia(Fig. 10), mark all components for removal except the following:

Rice. 10. Selecting media components to remove

• ActiveX for streaming video;
• DirectX;
• Windows Media Player;
• Windows Media Player 6.4;
• voice services;
• Intel Indeo codecs;
• ACM kernel codecs;
• MIDI support;
• OpenGL support;
• image and fax viewer;
• standard CD player.

Rice. 11. Selecting Windows XP components to remove

• .NET Framework;
• Jet Database Engine;
• Out of Box Experience (OOBE);
• audit of library resources;
• administrative templates;
• "Dr. Watson";
• additional fonts;
• command line tools;
• application compatibility fixes;
• data access components (MDAC);
• management console group policy;
• file system filter manager;
• setting local politics security;
• environment Visual Basic 5;
• Visual Basic 6 environment;
• disk cleanup;
• support for 16-bit applications;
• Visual Basic Scripting support;
• disk formatting support;
• manual installation and updates;
• certificate management systems;
• Service pack messages;
• login notifications;
• Internet Explorer core.

At the next stage, expand the item Net and select network components that can be deleted (Fig. 12). We recommend not marking the following components for removal:

Rice. 12. Selecting network components that can be removed

• H323 MSP;
• IP video conferencing;
• MSMail and MAPI;
• Netmeeting;
• MACa bridge;
• Internet Explorer browser;
• support for TAPI applications;
• support for telephone connections (Dial-up) (can be removed if VPN connections are not used);
• viewing vector graphics(VML);
• Active Directory service.

Next, you need to mark those system services that will not be used, and therefore can be removed. To do this, expand the item Services and mark those that are subject to removal (Fig. 13).

Rice. 13. Selecting system services that can be removed

• SNMP;
• Telnet server;
• automatic update;
• IPSEC Policy Agent;
• secondary login;
• source uninterruptible power supply;
• siren;
• task Manager;
• IMAPI COM CD burning service;
• indexing service;
• error logging service;
• messaging service;
• Terminal Services;
• fax services;
• removable memory;
• volume shadow copy;
• remote registry;
• node of universal PnP devices.

All we have to do is expand the point Folders and mark all folders for deletion (Fig. 14).

Rice. 14. Selecting folders to remove from the distribution

By going to the next dialog box, you can automate the operating system installation process by specifying in advance serial number OS distribution, indicating the PC name, time zone, etc. Actually, it is proposed to perform all those actions that are traditionally performed during the installation of the operating system. It all depends on personal preference. For example, when we create our own OS distribution, we indicate the serial number and determine the localization of the PC. All other dialog boxes (and to get to the final stage, you will have to go through several more windows) are less significant, and nothing can be changed in them. At the final stage, the nLite utility will create a new OS distribution in accordance with our settings in the same folder into which the ISO image of the distribution was originally unzipped (in our case, C:\WinXP). Moreover, the size of the new distribution will be approximately 240 MB. In order to create a new distribution in the form of an ISO image, you must in the last dialog box Boot imageISO press the button CreateISO(Fig. 15).

Rice. 15. Creating an ISO image of a new distribution

However, for our further work we will not need the ISO image itself, so we don’t need to create it.

So, our new distribution is ready and we can start preparing the USB flash drive.

Preparing a USB flash drive

In order to install the Windows XP operating system on a computer (netbook) from a USB flash drive or SD card, it must be prepared in a special way. On the Internet you can find descriptions of several methods for installing the Windows XP operating system from a flash drive, however, as it turned out during testing of these methods, only one method actually works, the description of which we provide.

So, to prepare a USB flash drive you will need three small utilities: usb_prep8, PeToUSB 3.0.0.7 and Bootsect.exe, which are easy to find on the Internet. Unzip these utilities into the appropriate folders (they are downloaded from the Internet in zipped form) on your computer (for example, in the root directory C:\).

Insert a 2GB USB flash drive or SD card into your computer. Next, the executive file PeToUSB.exe from the PeToUSB_3.0.0.7 folder must be copied to the usb_prep8 folder. Then in the usb_prep8 folder we find the command file usb_prep8.cmd and run it. After opening the cmd console window, press any key to continue the process of preparing the flash drive. After this, the PeToUSB utility should start and the corresponding dialog box will open (Fig. 16).

Rice. 16. Main window of the PeToUSB utility

In this dialog box, you only need to check that the USB flash drive previously inserted into the computer is selected. Without changing anything else, press the button Start.

Having confirmed twice that the flash drive needs to be formatted, we wait for the completion of the formatting process (Fig. 17).

Rice. 17. Waiting for the process to finish
formatting a flash drive

After formatting is completed, close the PeToUSB utility dialog box (button Close), but leave open (this is important) the console window that opened after launch batch file usb_prep8.cmd.

Rice. 18. Run the bootsect.exe file

After executing the bootsect.exe /nt52 X: command, go to the usb_prep8.cmd console window, the contents of which should have been updated after closing the PeToUSB program. The menu will ask you to select one of seven actions (Fig. 19).

Rice. 19. Contents of the usb_prep8.cmd console window after execution
bootsect.exe /nt52 X commands:

Initially, select item 1 (Change XP Setup Source Path, Currently) and indicate in the dialog box that opens the path to the folder with the OS distribution (C:\WinXP). Next, after updating the contents of the usb_prep8.cmd console window (item 1 should look like this: Change XP Setup Source Path, Currently [С:\WinXP]), select item 2 and specify the letter for virtual disk, which does not match any media (by default it is the letter T - it can be left unchanged).

Go to step 3 and indicate the letter corresponding to the flash drive installed in the computer to which the OS distribution will be copied (in our case, H:).

Next, go to step 4 and confirm the start of the process of creating a bootable flash drive (if a warning appears about the loss of all data after formatting, we agree by typing Y). When the formatting process is complete, the message will appear on the screen Pressanykeytocontinue... Accordingly, press any key, which will copy the installation files to temporary media (in our case T:).

At the end of the copying process, the message will appear again Pressanykeytocontinue..., and after pressing any key, the process of copying files to the flash drive will begin. However, first a dialog box will appear warning that the copying process will take approximately 15 minutes. By clicking the button in this window Yes(Fig. 20), we will start the copying process.

Rice. 20. Confirmation of the start of the installation copying process
files to flash drive

At the end of the process of copying the installation files to the flash drive, a dialog box (Fig. 21) will appear asking whether the USB flash drive will be used as a boot drive. We answer Yes.

Rice. 21. Dialog box asking whether there will be a USB flash drive
used as boot

Rice. 22. A window asking if it needs to be unmounted
virtual disk

Then press any key twice in response to the inscription Pressanykeytocontinue... in the usb_prep8.cmd console window, which will terminate the usb_prep8 utility and close the console window.

Installing Windows XP on an Acer Aspire One 110 netbook

So, the bootable flash drive with the Windows XP distribution is ready. Now you can proceed directly to installing the OS on your Acer Aspire One 110 netbook.

To do this, insert the flash drive into the USB connector of the netbook, turn it on and go into the BIOS. In chapter Boot select download USBHDD(this type of loading should be the first). We save the settings made and boot. When booting from a flash drive, a screen will appear with a boot menu in which you can choose from two options:

• GUI Mode Setup Windows XP, Continue Setup + Start XP;
• TXT Mode Setup Windows XP, Never unplug USB-Drive Until After Logon.

IN this menu you need to select an item TXT Mode Setup Windows XP, Never unplug USB-Drive Until After Logon. After this, the normal installation process of the Windows XP operating system will begin. During installation, you will need to delete all existing partitions on the SSD disk and create one partition with the NTFS file system.

After the first reboot of the netbook, the screen with the boot menu will again appear, and in it you will need to select the item GUIModeSetupWindowsXP,ContinueSetup +StartXP. Next, you need to wait for the operating system installation process to complete. After this, you can remove the bootable flash drive and select BIOS loading from disk.

So oh last step which you need to do to complete the OS installation process. The fact is that after the described installation procedure, when loading the netbook, the boot menu, offering the option of booting from a flash drive or from a disk. To avoid this, just edit the boot.ini file by deleting in the section the item that offers booting from a flash drive (leaving only the item multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /noexecute =option /fastdetect).

After installing the Windows XP operating system on your netbook, you can begin the traditional procedure for installing all the necessary drivers, which are downloaded from the Acer website.

After installing the Windows XP operating system, it is recommended to configure the system to maximum performance. Still, even a stripped-down version of Windows XP without additional tuning will be too heavy for such a tiny thing as an Acer Aspire One 110 netbook. Of course, no amount of tuning will make Windows XP “fly” on a netbook, but you can make the OS a little faster.

There is one more point that needs to be paid attention to. The fact is that we have removed support for all unnecessary languages ​​from our distribution. If, while setting up the operating system, you implement regional settings in the dialog box RegionalandLanguageOptions and on the tab Advanced in Group Languagefornon-Unicodeprograms specify the Russian language (Russian) (otherwise programs with a Russian-language interface will not display Russian letters correctly), then you will need to access a file that is not in our distribution or in the directory of the installed operating system. The only way out is to unzip the original one again Windows ISO image XP, copy the i386 directory to the flash drive (the required file is located in it) and, when necessary, specify the path to the directory with the required file and the path to the i386 directory on the flash drive.

That's all, actually. After this, the OS setup process can be considered complete. All that remains is to install all the necessary software. In this case, there is no need to get carried away. Select only those programs that you really need. For example, you can put Microsoft package Office 2003, but not all of it, but only those applications that you really need ( Microsoft Office You should not install 2007, since it is more demanding on the PC hardware configuration).

In conclusion, we note that for netbooks, of course, operating systems of the Linux family are more preferable, which work quite quickly even on weakly configured PCs, for example ASP Linux 12, SuSE 11 or Ubuntu 8.0.4. This is not to say that there are no problems with them. So, there are problems with the lack of drivers. For example, our experience of installing the Ubuntu 8.0.4 operating system on an Acer Aspire One 110 netbook revealed that this distribution does not have a driver for the Atheros AR5007EG wireless controller and it is not so easy to find it separately. However, installing a Linux operating system on a netbook from a flash drive is a topic for a separate article, and we will definitely return to it in the near future.