Help: Converting an Acer Windows Based Laptop to a Linux Based Laptop?

L

linbgs

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Hello I've been looking around at the various Linux versions out there and I've finally decided to go with the Mint Linux. I was wondering can anyone help me with this?
First thing I want to know is where do I start?
I think my current laptop is about 3 years old, how can I find that information?
Is there anything thats not compatible with Linux i.e. networks, websites, or programs?
 


The surest way of finding out is by trial and error. Download Linux Mint if you want to. Choose the Isadora distro. That one is built on the 2.xx kernel. I have tried the latest Linux Mint built on the 3.xx kernel and it didn't work with my old laptop.

Actually I would not recommend starting with Linux Mint. I would say it's better to start with Puppy Linux. There are smaller distros but that's the smallest that I could boot up and get to work straightaway.

Download Slacko Puppy 5.3.3. It's based on Slackware and it works with old machines. It even has support for 3G modems but I have no idea how well since I haven't tried it with a 3G modem yet. Then download Unetbootin. Use Unetbootin to make a pendrive that boots up into Puppy Linux. You can use Puppy Linux indefinitely from a pendrive. You can install programs and save files without any problem. When you feel confident about using Linux, install it into the hard drive.

When I boot up with Puppy Linux, everything is automatically detected. I connected automatically with the internet. I have a choice of browsers to use with Puppy Linux and I have tried Firefox, Chrome and Opera without any problems.

For wordprocessing, I use Abiword. I have also tried OpenOffice and LibreOffice. All these programs can read and write to Microsoft Office formats.
 
I have the latest Ubuntu loaded on my son's 3 year old Acer Aspire One. It works great. I don't know which model of Acer you have, but if it is the same, the latest version of Linux Mint should run fine. Just download the .iso file and burn it to a DVD or USB Flash drive. Any disk burner, like Nero, will work for the DVD. Unetbootin or LinuxLive USB Creator will both make a good bootable Flash drive.

Here is a link to the latest Linux Mint downloads. http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php You have a choice between Mate and Cinnamon. I have not really used either so I can't recommend one over the other. Maybe you can download both and try each to see which one you like best.

Here is a link to Unetbootin. http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Here is a link to LinuxLive USB Creator. http://www.linuxliveusb.com/
 
Just download the latest ubuntu, then do a clean install whiping the disk in the prosess. That will give your Acer a hole new life
 
Just download the latest ubuntu, then do a clean install whiping the disk in the prosess. That will give your Acer a hole new life

I would not recommend doing this for a couple of reasons.

1. You should try it live first to make sure that everything works: wifi, sound, ethernet port, etc. If something does not work, you will have to spend time trying to fix it. And if you can not access the internet, this can be a real problem.

2. You should try it before installing it to make sure that you actually like it. There are many different flavors of Linux, and each is different from the others. You may not like Unity, as many people do not.

3. You already paid for Windows. Why just wipe it from the computer instead of dual booting? I see doing this if you are experienced with Linux, but for a newbie, they may get a little frustrated at first and need to go back to Windows off and on while they are learning. If you wipe Windows, then you are stuck with Linux, no matter how frustrated with it you might get.

If you do want to install it on the whole drive, at least make a back first so you can go back to the way it was if you choose to.
 
First, download Linux Mint, then follow the instructions on their website.
 

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