JedMeister

Not that I'm aware of. But again, the Ubuntu forums is probably the place to be asking Ubuntu specific questions. PS now I think about it, it probably is possible, but how easy would be to set up is probably another matter. Happy to be proven worng though!

A few things (ie my 2c worth): Firstly upgrading from 11.04 to 11.10 is not a 'minor upgrade'. An Ubuntu upgrade replaces pretty much every single package on your computer! So it hardy counts as a minor upgrade. Although in some respects less radical than changing from one version of Windows to another, it's still a pretty major thing. Secondly, personally I don't like doing in place upgrades (like you've done). I much prefer to do a clean install. In my experience they're much more successful and much less prone to 'glitchy' problems, like you're reporting. This is nothing new, in fact they have got better over time, but I still prefer a clean install. I haven't used 11.10 but I strongly suspect that your issues are more to do with the fact that you've upgraded, rather than specific issues with 11.10. Given your specs I'd be going for something a bit lighter myself. If you want to stick with Ubuntu, try Lubuntu (Ubuntu with the LXDE desktop) or if you're willing to try something else have a look at Mint LXDE edition. Mint is based on Ubuntu but it's prettied up a bit and a bit more user friendly (eg all the non-free codecs preinstalled). My personal favourite is Bodhi Linux. It's based on Ubuntu too, although on the older 10.04 (which is a LTS release - Long Term Support) but includes a number of updated packages and uses the awesome Enlightenment desktop. It's really lightweight like LXDE but much prettier. Like Ubuntu it's available as a live CD so you can give it a whirl without installing it. Having said all that you state that you'd rather not reinstall, so rather than posting here (on a Windows forum) I'd head over to the Ubuntu forums and post there. The likelihood of you getting someone who knows enough about Ubuntu to help you solve (or at least improve) your system woes is much higher there. I doubt there are too many Ubuntu experts hanging out on these forums. Although I could be wrong...

Thanks for the link bookie32. FOG looks very interesting and I will definitely have a closer look at that when time allows. But from the brief look I had at it I think I see what the issue is. From what I can gather FOG has DHCP built-in and 2 (or more) DHCP servers on one subnet is bad! They will clash! Because FOG requires DHCP to do its thing over the network (ie give IPs to the PCs booting from the FOG server) for it to function properly you will need to leave that one enabled and disable the one in your router. AND definitely set a static IP for your FOG server.

Firstly I have no idea what FOG is so a little more info or a link or something would be useful. Secondly I would strongly suggest setting a static IP for a server. Generally DHCP is ok for clients/desktops/laptops/etc but many routers only give time limited leases, even if this is not the case (or you disable it) if you don't bind the MAC to the IP (in the DHCP setup) if there is a power outage or the router is reset for any reason you will most likely end with a different address for your server. Easy solution: go static.

Sometimes you need to log off and log back in again before monitor configuration works. Other thing to check is which driver you are using. I think by default newer versions of Ubuntu will install the open source drivers, personally I have had more luck with the Nvidia proprietary drivers (assuming that your Dell has Nvidia graphics). If this simple stuff doesn't help then I strongly suggest that you head over to the Ubuntu Forums and ask some of the experts there. I found a couple of threads that are vaguely relevant (here and here) but as they're not quite the same as your issue you're probably best to start a new thread detailing your hardware (find out what graphics chip etc). Provide links to other threads that seem similar (if you find any) and if you don't get any response then bumping after 24 hrs seems to be acceptable over there. Good luck