Linux Laptop

[Murphyv310]

Andy.
I agree and couldn't have said it better.

[ppppenguin]

I don't have much experience of running Linux but my Windows PCs have, on the whole, been pretty stable. Can't remember what W3 was like for me but from W95 through 2K to XP and W7 things have mostly been OK. ME, Vista and W8/8.1 were abortions that should never have been let out into the wild. I've not run W10 but Ruth's PC seems OK. I've had a few troubles such as a HDD corruption of some kind that needed a system re-install. For whatever reason I couldn't get my carefully imaged system disk to boot and I strongly suspect that Linux would have done better.

[peter scott]

Many years ago I installed Suse Linux on a machine. It was ok but I had difficulties with USB. I also have Knoppix on a disc and that has proved very useful for recovering dead PCs.

Peter

[BusyBee]

Tracy take a look at WINE for Linux.
Wine
Is
Not
Emulator,
it is an extension that adds the windows lib function to Linux.

That sounds interesting, I will have a look.

Hi.
I've used Wine in the past and a virtual machine with limited success. In fact using a VM I had issues with USB and sound and got frustrated.
Dual booting is the easy way TBH.

Thanks for that. It is very useful getting real live experiences rather than recommendations from unknown reviewers who may be unfamiliar with hands on experience of the particular setup. We all know that what works on one system may be iffy on one that is only marginally different.

I want to avoid dual boot, if possible. I think Windows is getting to the extent in which it wants total control over all hardware. The Windows laptop I am using at the moment may (or may not) go on for a long time and it ,is pretty high spec (I7 with 12GB ram, 1GB HD etc). I could dual boot it but, if I can, dual machines may well be better. On the desktop machine which I have networked to, I found that file copying between and external hard disk and the onboard hard disk was extremely quick. It put my Windows 10 laptop into the shade. I do wonder about all these little apps Windows now intalls automatically. They can be removed (even those which are greyed out - see online tips) but are generally re-installed at the next update.

Looking round the companies I have come across other options such as buying the laptop with only a basic DOS (no Windows at all). Beyond the mainstream I have also come across companies here and abroad who use a generic laptop (Taiwanese I think from the one I have found) for their Linux systems. Some mainstream computers do appear to be 'Linux ready' (see HP for instance). This does not appear to be widely publicised.

One option I am thinking about is to use the desktop as a server, both for files and running compute intensive programs, just accessing via a much lesser spec laptop (hence cheaper). This seems practical. Linux being derived from Unix and having a multi-user / networking background. Is that reasonably practical? It is something I could maybe try out with what I have (maybe with small expense) with a view to upgrade if found practical, whereas a 'up market' laptop would obviously be more expensive from the outset. I think that both routes would, in finality (if there is such a thing lol), be fairly similar in expense although the server option would be more complex (useful learning though).

Your sytem crash needing a re-install of Windows was similar to what originally prompted me to install Linux on my desktop computer Jeffrey. I had previously tested Puppy Linux on a stick with it so had a little experience, but it was Windows Vista. I had had few issues with Vista but my recovery disks were not to hand, and, as Microsoft no longer support it, I decided to install Linux Mint instead.

Tracy

[reset]

"I want to avoid dual boot, if possible. I think Windows is getting to the extent in which it wants total control over all hardware. The Windows laptop I am using at the moment may (or may not) go on for a long time and it ,is pretty high spec (I7 with 12GB ram, 1GB HD etc). I could dual boot it but, if I can, dual machines may well be better. On the desktop machine which I have networked to, I found that file copying between and external hard disk and the onboard hard disk was extremely quick. It put my Windows 10 laptop into the shade. I do wonder about all these little apps Windows now intalls automatically. They can be removed (even those which are greyed out - see online tips) but are generally re-installed at the next update. "

I have used Linux with WINE to run my SPICE and APCAD programs on an ASUS netpad

I put Ubuntu on my desktop with Windows 7 and it worked . The desktop was "upgraded" to Windows 10 and I am not able to install Ubuntu on it.

When I attempt to install Linux on my new laptop Windows 10 declared it a virus and aborted the install for me.

My experience is that Windows 10 (Windows Defender) does not want to coexist with Linux.

Good luck.

I will follow the thread and see if I can learn something.

[Murphyv310]

I've no issues with windows 10 & Linux co existing in a dual boot system in fact both the laptop and main desktop PCs are configured that way.
I could only do this with a totally clean HDD or SSD, with a full format, ideally done through a Linux Live stick. Trying to add Linux to a system that is pre installed with Win 10 doesn't work on many computers now.
Before you wipe your HDD etc obviously do back ups etc and copy an ISO image of win 10 (the latest version) to a stick of at least 8gb, once the HDD, SSD is wiped reinstall Windows, this should go smoothly and you skip the product key input as your pc will have a digital license stored in the bios. Once complete install your Linux distro and set the amount of space you want on the Windows and Linux partitions by using the slider.
Every one I've done works perfectly that way. The key is getting rid of hidden partitions on the HDD from either pre installed windows or when windows after a few days of a fresh install, this seems to baulk adding Linux so put aside a few hours to install windows and it's updates and half an hour for Linux.

[reset]

I've no issues with windows 10  & Linux co existing in a dual boot system in fact both the laptop and main desktop PCs are configured that way.
I could only do this with a totally clean HDD or SSD, with a full format, ideally done through a Linux Live stick. Trying to add Linux to a system that is pre installed with Win 10 doesn't work on many computers now.
Before you wipe your HDD etc obviously do back ups etc and copy an ISO image of win 10 (the latest version) to a stick of at least 8gb, once the HDD, SSD is wiped reinstall Windows, this should go smoothly and you skip the product key input as your pc will have a digital license stored in the bios. Once complete install your Linux distro and set the amount of space you want on the Windows and Linux partitions by using the slider.
Every one I've done works perfectly that way. The key is getting rid of hidden partitions on the HDD from either pre installed windows or when windows after a few days of a fresh install, this seems to baulk adding Linux so put aside a few hours to install windows and it's updates and half an hour for Linux.

Thank you.
I will try again.

[BusyBee]

Perhaps a final update for this thread.

I have considered my old desktop with it's use as a server and decided to follow that path, using a laptop for it's processing power rather than trying to run software remotely on the server, which would require an upgrade to it anyway. On Monday, this week, I updated the Linux Mint 19.3 to 20. I came across all manner of articles suggesting that problems were likely so I was pleasantly surprised when things went well. I was even more surprised when the update asked me if I wanted to keep my updated Samba config file (for networking) plus , without mention, the 'hosts' file (I think) which I had also updated was left unchanged without my input. This meant that my network server access from the two Windows 10 laptops worked without problem after the update.

Another issue which I then planned to address was printer access via the server. I am still surprised to the fact that I found the printer was there for selection without any input from me at all. I will not worry about it but did consider it strange that the printer was there even though I did not setup sharing. Perhaps I have forgotten. It was not even connected, as I have previously had to use a flying lead and carry my laptop over to it, and the printer driver I had setup from Linux was not the correct Epson one as it was not available (it wasn't even Epson). Running from Windows does load the correct driver on the laptop but I knew this was available for Windows. This worked perfectly.

I have now ordered a laptop so my original questions on this thread have now been sorted on way or another. Thank you everyone for your input. If I have any major issues I may open another thread but it is probably just research and spadework in configuring. As far as I am concerned this thread may now be closed.

Thank you

Tracy

[Murphyv310]

Hi Tracy.
Linux is wonderful isn't it.
Printers are found seamlessly, as are printer combos with scanners. I've had problems with windows in the past and even adding my two printers to Win10 came up with a conflict, again worked perfect with Linux Mint.
I upgraded to Mint 20 with no issues. I normally save the home folder including hidden files before doing an distro upgrade as the home folder contains everything including all your emails and passwords, this can be pasted into a fresh install if necessary, again seamless and easier than Windows.
Good luck with the new laptop.
Happy New year to you.

[BusyBee]

Thank you Trevor

I am enjoying learning and using Linux. I find it less frustrating than Windows as I feel I have more control over what happens. There are good points to both Linux and Windows and I feel they both have their place but I like to keep them as far apart as I can.

Happy New Year to you too - Best wishes for 2021

Tracy