hello everyone, I tried to install Linux on the "old" laptop as described in the subject. When installing several versions of Linux the installer detected i686 CPU. I couldn't find right version so I used those for i386 with 32_bit. I have already tried the following: Ubuntu 9.04, 16.04, 16.04.4, 15.10, 15.04, 14.10, 14.04.5, 13.10, LinuxMint: 17.1 xfce, 19, 17, 16, 18. Nothing worked. With some of them I went really far with the installation. The Installer crashed almost at the end of installation when the slides have been shown what the Linux does. (Can't buy better laptop now.) My DVD drive works fine. I've burnt couple of CDs before trying to install Linux and they are all fine. Machine originally with Windows XP that has been overwritten (partially) because of my attempts to install Linux so I can't start it anymore. I'm trying to install using burnt installation DVDs. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions because I am completely newbie.
Would anyone have an idea what else could I try?

With hardware like that, I wouldn't even try Ubuntu or Mint. You need something smaller. Try AntiX; it's designed to run on "antiques". And use a command-line installer, not a graphical one. They are much less likely to crash on you.

Yep, put AntiX 32bit on your machine, (I'd start with 'base', you can add extras later).
https://antixlinux.com/download/

Hopefully you can use one of the discs you already have to fetch the image to store on your hard disk, (if not use it to reformat your internal hard drive, so that you can use it to temporarily store the downloaded AntiX .iso). You can then burn it to a disc, use the slowest speed.

hello to you, many thanks for your advice. I am going to download the AntiX 32bit
although I do not know yet what "command line installer" is.
Does AntiX have the graphical interface ?

try slackware

Yes, AntiX has all the normal graphical features although the actual applications it uses are smaller than the standard ones, with fewer "bells and whistles". For example links is preferred to firefox and abiword to libreoffice. It also has a graphical installer program, which it uses by default, but in my experience, that's unstable on really old hardware. You would do better to use its more robust command line installer, which is called "cli-installer".

Command Line Interface or CLI simply means that you type commands into your computer in response to a prompt and the computer obeys them. No icons, no menus, no pretty pictures! But it's immensely powerful. Even on a fully installed system, cli (also called the shell) is often the quickest way to do things.

You will find instructions on how to use cli-installer on the AntiX site, but we can hold your hand a bit while you do it.

PS Don't try Slackware! It's a lovely distro but I wouldn't recommend it to a complete newbie.

puppy linux is another one to try. http://puppylinux.org/wikka/WhatpuppyLinuxisbestforyou