i was LOOKING for an old free/really cheap laptop/desktop computer to screw around with, and not worrying about totally messing it up (on accident)

i looked at puppy Linux, and i want to try it out, just not on my computerAnother one is DSL or "*censored* Small Linux" I think they have recently released a new update that upgrade it quite a bit.i've heard of that before, i downloaded it, but i t wouldn't run on virtual box, it just SHOWED tux the penguin.. IDK what happenedSome linux has a HARD time identifing virtual computers. At the very least you should have 2 partitions set up and one of them 1-2GB for swap and formated as a swap partition.what's the swap partition supposed to do?My understanding, is it's the same as a swap file, but Linux reserves a entire partition for it. Much better, since it ensures it's always contiguous.Correct. swap should be 1.5x(your ram) there is a SPECIAL format for it. Some Linux will not run without a swap partition. Some live distros will notice if you have a swap partition and automaticaly mount and use it.