newest kid on the block

H

hacodo75

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2020
Messages
144
Reaction score
18
Credits
0
I recently bought a new HP Lalptop, with win 10. Absolutely hate win 10 from previous experience. would like to convert to Linux Mint or Ubuntu. May need a mentor or recommendation of outside help. I live in Solihull. West Mids.
I:ve read a few of the posts and it gives me the shivers. I'm out of touch with Software, having worked as a desktopsupport over 25 yrs ago. Any help and suggestion welcome. hacodo75
 


well i'm on a Hp laptop now which had windows 10 on it ; it depends on how much space you have on your HD. Windows 10 i've read needs 30 gig otherwise could eat into other spaces due to updates. I've got a 54Gig HP laptop removed Windows, installed slackware and have 17Gig left. Plus for none essential stuff i have a 14gig SD card in the SD card slot.
Its ok for my useage.

The key to install is to take it step by step, read up one step at a time keep it simple. So first how much room do you have ?
 
Thanks for your explanation. I have ssd 256 GB, so plenty of room. My worry is should clean the disc, or leave win 10 on, and do a dual boot job. Deep down I would prefer that especially as I haven't got any experience with linux. Is that sensible. ?? Captain ? My name is Harald
 
ok you have plenty of room so you can leave Windows on. and you are doing things in the right order. You have Windows on and then installing linux after.Some re-install Windows after linux which respects nothing so just over writes stuff. There has also been a report of doing Windows update and then windows also overwrote stuff.


steps are going to be:

probably i would first do any Windows updates you want first . Then do a defrag from menu so that data is in a confined tight area where it should be.


Then you are going to aim that Windows is left with 40 gig of NTFS file space .

Now you can set up partitions before Linux install and some do it at the time of install.
I prefer to do it before install.

A useful distro is knoppix live, which you use by booting from a usb stick. you are going to have to learn how to put things on a stick anyway, because thats also how you can install linux. You boot from a usb stick that has an install iso file.

if you get knoppix or other live, it allows you to first look at whats on your partitions from a linux perspective. Also using gparted from menu you can shrink and set up new partitions.


I have attached a screenshot of my partitions , you see that EFI partition , you will probably have that main windows maybe window reserved.
 

Attachments

  • partitions.png
    partitions.png
    55 KB · Views: 824
if you look at my partitions i've kept it minimal all i have is a swap partition (probably too big) and just one partition for slackware install. The efi is to do with my boot loader (elilo)

You are going to have to think about which distro you might try. I think Mint has a live version, from which you might be able to install as well.

The linux install will have as part of it a bootloader, which will allow you to choose from a splash menu to boot the linux and should also give you a choice of booting windows.
 
the next step then is to decide which live distro to try , get an iso fiel for your choice ,
get a clean or virgin say 4gig usb stick and burn onto it an .iso file of a live linux distro. then to play about with bios probably to allow you to do that.
 
Greetings @hacodo75 Harald,
Welcome to this forum. You have come to the right place for help with Linux.
I have played with several distributions and have come to regard Linux Mint - Mate as maybe the easiest one to get accustomed to, migrating from Windows.
As @captain-sensible mentioned above, you need to get a 'live' distro. LM - Mate is one of those, with quite a small footprint.
Please do yourself a big favor, and get familiar with reading instructions, and digesting what you have read. This is something I have had to learn the hard way.
One more thing that I would mention is, that when you burn a 'live' iso copy to a flash drive, you can then use it without installing it to your HD. You can 'test drive' it without disturbing your present Win 10. Then if you like what you see, you can install it.
You can download a copy of LM 19.3 - Mate here:

Distribution Release: Linux Mint 19.3 (DistroWatch.com News)

News and feature lists of Linux and BSD distributions.
distrowatch.com distrowatch.com
Old Geezer
Tango Charlie or TC
 
Thank you guys, that's aat the moment marvellous news, all a bit hard to understand, but i'm getting the jist of it. It will be worked upon during the day.
I have a stick ready, 32 gig, and will experiment. I have formatted it, so should be able to get iso file or maybe mint - mate set up\
I take your point of learning to read the instructions and digesting them. I'm a perefectd example of wanting to speed things up. So will put the brakes on and slow down. Plenty to digest. again many thanks. H
 
hacondo75,
There are many great mentors here.

As you I hate windows 10 and have no desire to see what comes after it.

Just keep a notebook and the folks here will help you as you get as good or better with Linux as you did with MS.

The folks here have a talent in helping you one step at a time as you learn at your pace and their style has a way of giving you great epiphany moments as they help you learn.
 
Hi captain-sensible, 70 Tango Charlie and Jay Blair,
You all have given me some confidence, but alas my knowledge is not was it once used to be.
I'm totally foxed re partitioning this drive. There are no F buttons on this hardware. So how can I get to bios and c:/drive. I am totally stumped and contemplating some help.
 
G'day Harald and welcome to linux.org :)

If you start at the left hand side of your keyboard at the Escape key, there should be 6 rows of keys (bottom is Control - Ctrl).

Right of the Esc key there should be 12 keys, before you get to ones that have eg PrtScr, Insert, Delete and so on.

If you have that, you have Function keys (F keys).

Most common keys for accessing your BIOS Setup Utility (to change boot order) are F10, F12, F2, Esc and Del (and sometimes F6)

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
to all,
I know have been quite again, but have been learning about resizing partitions and resetting boot sequences. So not all is lost. I guess I will be ready this weekend with down loading Linux mint to my 32 Gig stick. But for that I need a bit more help. Thanks to all your help its been an frightening and amazing experience for an 76 yr old codger. Hacodo75
 
32 Gig might be a waste because iso file for install are circa 4 gig and its best not to have anything else on the stick than the iso. Plus when you burn the iso to the stick it will wipe of everything else. At least with a dd it does. There is no rush at all , so take your time step by step and we will see if we can help
 
you are a sport captain-sensible. My thought was you be all saying what a dump and slow kid I was. But I must say what you said in your first message to me, i.e. learn to read and digest info and trail the explanation in dummy runs has been so true. Thanks for your help.
 
hacodo75 said:
I will be ready this weekend with down loading Linux mint to my 32 Gig stick.
Click to expand...
CAUTION! When you make a "bootable" image of the Linux operating system on the USB stick it will erase everything else on that USB stick! Be aware. Be forewarned!
Be absolutely sure you have a backup copy of any data on the USB stick which you do not want to lose.
 
well i did Fortran IV using punched cards in 1975; so it has taken me quite a while also . It doesn't matter about other people , what they do or how clever they may appear to be. Its about how it works for you
 
you are very kind Sir, I have now created my Linux partition. 110 gb formatted and established as Drive: D. So now I need to learn about this iso installation file. That needs to b e on the Stick? to pull the OS into position??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 569 (members: 5, guests: 564)

Latest posts

Top