Installing Linux Mint

W

William400

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I have posted to this site before about not being able to install Linux Mint on my HP Laptop. Stay away from HP. It will not accept any Linux distro. I just installed Linux Mint 18.1 with Cinnamon on my other computer a Gateway (they don't make them anymore). It took about 5 seconds for the installation and everything is working fine. Hope this helps anyone else.
 


I have posted to this site before about not being able to install Linux Mint on my HP Laptop. Stay away from HP. It will not accept any Linux distro. I just installed Linux Mint 18.1 with Cinnamon on my other computer a Gateway (they don't make them anymore). It took about 5 seconds for the installation and everything is working fine. Hope this helps anyone else.

I tend to suspect that your HP laptop is a newer computer (and we all know that Gateway is an ancient brand). If your HP came preinstalled with Windows 8 or Windows 10, then I can understand your difficulty installing Linux on it. There are a number of issues with newer computers, but they can usually be overcome with some investigation and maybe some trial-and-error. But it often takes EFFORT to get it going and is not as simple as you found the Gateway install.

I have such a laptop myself, HP (Model 11-n010dx) that was purchased with Windows 8. It is currently running 2 Linux distros, Debian and Linux Lite. I have fought this thing many times over many years, so I really do understand your frustration. If you'd like to change your mind and try again, I (and many others here) will be glad to try to help you.

Cheers!
 
Hi William, glad to hear you're going to give it another shot. Take your time, and remember that you may encounter several difficulties along the way. Linux Mint may or may not be the best choice for your laptop, but if you like it then by all means pursue it as your first choice. Tell us more about your system before you begin, if you will. Such as:

1. Does it currently have Windows 8 or Windows 10 running?
2. If so, do you want to dual-boot and keep Windows? Or do you want to erase Windows and go Linux only?
3. Before trying to install Linux, have you tried first to boot up a "live" version on USB or DVD?

One of the "tricky" things that Windows 8 and 10 does is that it may not truly shut down when you tell it to... instead it "hibernates" so that it comes to life faster when you think you are booting it up. Being in a Windows hibernation state is not a good place to begin to install Linux, and booting on a live USB or DVD may give you a clue if this is happening. If you think this is happening with you... don't tell Windows to "shut down"... tell it to "restart" instead. A Windows "restart" bypasses the hibernation process.

But it still may not boot right away. Sometimes you have to get into the "UEFI" settings (what we used to call BIOS or CMOS settings). Anyway, more about that later. Let's see where you're at right now and try to figure out how to get you into Linux!

Cheers!
 
Currently running Linux Mint 18.1 on a HP Pavilion G7. It came with Win8. Win lasted about a year before it got very troublesome. Had to re-install Win8 then Win8.1 three times in three days over DSL. Took 8+ hours each time. Good thing I had decent backups! Long story shortened... Linux would not install either after all the trouble with Win. Finally, I just re-formated the HDD and installed Ubuntu 14.04 in about an hour. I've also had Debian, Puppy and now Linux Mint. They all run like gang-busters! Even replacing the HDD with a SSD. Runs even better :)
 


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