If the BIOS is configured to boot first from the CD/DVD reader - and it is usually the case - you should see at the bottom of the screen a pictogram (The Vitruvian Man). Press the space bar and you will see the following screen which let you choose the language you want during the installation process (English by default).

Pick the option « Install Emmabuntüs (Classic Installation) ». The installation process will start:

You are asked to confirm your language of choice:

Then the install preparation window is displayed:

The partitioning will divide the hard disk drive into several partitions and format them.

Depending on your current configuration, Emmabuntüs will propose you a limited number of choices:

• If you want to keep another Operating System on your machine, like a dual boot with Microsoft Windows or another GNU/Linux distribution, choose the option “Install next to...”. This option will show up only if you have an OS already installed on your machine. You just need to click and choose the amount of disk space you want to keep for the old system. Keep in mind that you will need a minimum of 16 GB for Emmabuntüs itself. Be aware that at the end of the installation process, the boot-loader of the old system will be replaced by the Emmabuntüs one.
• If you want to delete the existing system, or if your hard disk is empty, choose the option “Erase disk and install ”
• If you have some free unallocated space on your disk, you can use it to install Emmabuntüs; to do so pick the option “Use the maximum space available”.
• If you are an advanced user and you know what you are doing, pick the option “Something else”

When your choice is made, click on “Continue”

Here we have chosen “Something else” and we defined two partitions. One is /dev/sda1 as swap partition of 8 MB and the other /dev/sda2 as system (root) partition of 35 MB, and of type ext4.

In all cases, the installer will display the partitions to be deleted and ask for confirmation. Only if you agree, you can click on “Install Now”. Then the formatting will start.

During the unfolding and installation process (partitions management, file copy …), Emmabuntüs offers you to configure your desktop in parallel. This step last around 20 minutes.

Click on your geographical location, which will define the time zone you are in, and click “Continue”.

 

The Emmabuntüs installer will propose by default a keyboard configuration based first on your installation language, and the time zone you just entered. At this point you can pick another layout by looking at your country in the left column. Since I use a French keyboard, I changed it to “French - French (alternative).

For some countries, Emmabuntüs associate several potential keyboard layouts. You can keep the one proposed by default. A small area below the keyboard layout list let you do some tests. You can use it to see if all the keys are recognized properly! Then click on “Continue”.

Choose your login user name and password. If the later is too weak, the Emmabuntüs installer will let you know. You should then think about a mixture of letters, numbers and special characters to harden your password.

Decide if your password will be required or not at start-up. We suggest to pick the option “Log In automatically”.

When your choices are made, click on “Continue”.

 

The beautiful original Ubuntu slide-show has been suppressed for Emmabuntüs because it was blocking the installation. We are sorry but you will not be able to see it this time.

The installer will let you know what is going on, like copying file, installing system, creating user account, configuring hardware, running post-installation triggers etc ...

Once the install is done, you should see the following message:

Click on the “Restart Now” button, and wait for the system to shutdown gracefully.

Then you are asked to remove the DVD, manually close the tray, and press the Enter key for a complete shutdown.

 

During the first start-up, the splash screen is displayed:

You will then be able to perform the Emmabuntüs post-installation.

The fist proposed choice is the Xfce menu: Classic or Whisker.

Do you want to activate the text to speech synthesis at every computer start-up?

You are offered to pick one among three types of dock: « All », « Simple », « Kids».

After the dock selection you will see the following dialog box: “The non-free software installation modifies essential parts of your system”. You must enter your password to perform such administrative tasks. This is the one you have registered at the beginning of the installation process.

Confirmation to install non-free software is asked:

Then you can select the non-free software you want to install:

The installation starts with the Adobe flash plug-in:

Then continues with the «Pepper Flash plug-in» for the Chromium navigator:

Then this is the Teamviewer installation:

The installation of the Arial and Calibri Microsoft fonts is automatic:

When the proprietary software installation is done, your password is asked again in order to suppress the unused languages. By doing so you will minimize the number of necessary updates:

You are asked if you want to remove (yes or no) the unnecessary languages. We strongly suggest to answer “YES”:

Then you are asked to select the languages to be deleted:

Deletion starts with the French language removal:

The installation process is complete. You can start using Emmabuntüs.

The “Install LXDE” icon is accessible only via the “All” dock and in the “Utilities” category. In order to make it visible, please click first on the “Help” icon, then on the “Change dock type” icon, and select the “All” dock type in the window displaying the various dock versions.

Then in the dock you click on the utilities icon, and select the LXDE icon to launch its installation:

This action is under the responsibility of the system administrator and you should again provide your password (the one that you that defined art the beginning of the installation):

Confirmation is required before installing LXDE on your system:

Installation starts

If you want an easy access to various software applications, the Cairo-Dock is very convenient but has a rather large memory footprint. Here we chose not to activate it.

To lighten your desktop environment, it is suggested that you remove several services.

Once deleted, they will no longer be available.

First the usual “Enter your password” box:

Information about services to be potentially deleted:

Then the selection of the services which are no longer needed:

Services being removed:

Log Out request:

Log Out confirmation:

Log back In, using the LXDE environment connection:

Welcome in the new lightweight environment:

In order to spare the system resources, it is recommended to NOT activate the Text to Speech Synthesis at every start-up.

If you launch the HtopHtop system utility, you will note that the LXDE desktop environment consumes only 155 MB of memory at start-up.

You can run a test by launching in parallel the Chromiumnavigator, the Clementine music player, the Thunar file manager, the Geanytext editor, and the Htopsystem utility. You will then note a memory utilization of 346 MB, which leaves yet another 156 MB of free space, if you have only 512 MB of RAM installed on your computer.

This optimization of Emmabuntüs with LXDE for a smaller memory footprint, induce some lost in functionality compare to Xfce which id heavier but more complete. For more information, you can have a look at this comparison of the two desktop environments, or that one.