Get a different machine. Any will do. Go to a recycling center and buy one for twenty bucks. Check whatever the equivalent of craigslist is in your area. Ask if

Get a different machine. Any will do. Go to a recycling center and buy one for twenty bucks. Check whatever the equivalent of craigslist is in your area. Ask if someone has a computer in the basement he discarded in 2005. Then take that machine and experiment with it. In my opinion it's important that you don't have any fears while tinkering, which you'll inevitably have when risking the ruin of your work manchine and the loss of your data. When you installed the distro you wanted to try, use the machine as a media box. When you run into issues, fix them. Then repeat. You'll figure out the system naturally.