The divorce is final. Now to ditch MS for good! (And a bit of useful info.)

[aeiou]

I'm really glad you said this.

I can't believe all the obstacles I've had to leap over this past year. Seems like one thing after another, after another.....

Can it be done with a 3GB thumb drive?

I ordered an Amazon Basics high speed 128GB thumb drive in May specifically to get Linux. It sat unopened in my desk until last night. It's "Write Protected". It has zero used space and ZERO available space. I don't think I can return it and I don't feel like messing with it.

"Messing with it" is a toned down version of what I would actually say. The word I prefer starts with an 'F' and is much more satisfying to say when I'm intensely irritated.​

I have thumb drives all over the place. One is a 500GB high speed drive. But of course the only ones I can find have 2 GB, 3 GB and 0 GB

I've never, ever seen any sort of switch on a USB (Thumb) Flash Drive. Unless there is an actual switch, then the write protection notice is likely a file system compatibility issue. I commonly transfer data-USB Flash Drives between Windows 10, macOS, Ubuntu Linux and Android cellphone, but they are not always compatible. I suggest finding a repair utility and then reformatting the USB Drive. Actually, 128GB is rather large for a simple Linux install. I would recommend 8 or 16GB. 128GB has to use exFAT, whereas 8 or 16 GB can be formatted plain old FAT. 3GB Flash drive? Does such an unEVEN thing (pun intended) exist? They typically come in multiples of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256. . . .

 

[aeiou]

Look for a small switch on the device. Switch it to the other position.

I've never seen any sort of mechanical switch on a USB Flash Drive, but I have received Write Protected notification, which turned out to be volume partition or file system issues on the flash drive. One would have to repair the file structure on the Flash Drive, or just mount and reformat the entire flash drive, not using NTFS or Mac File System or EXT4. . . just plain old FAT. When installing a fresh Distro, I typically use 16GB Flash Drive for the iso.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

... a file system compatibility issue.

You know I hadn't thought about this...

Earlier this year I got a message that MS was no longer supporting Win 8.1 and from that day on there would not be anymore security updates. I think there was limited time special offer to upgrade to 11.

HELL NO!

Months later, I was still getting "Updates" and ORDERED to upgrade to Win 11. They were soon followed by problems in my system. I confirmed for myself that Microshit has been messing with PC's to force people to upgrade to Win 11. I uninstalled the "Updates" and my problems went away. I turned off Windows Update. My VPN blocks it from contacting the mother ship. (Another good reason for VPN's)

I guess malicious updates are working out better than the hijacking they did when they forced fed Win 10 to the masses. So much more subtle and sneaky. Stealthy. Most people will just buy a new system. I bet there was an uptick in sales of PC's that happened to coordinate with the release of Win 11.

I formatted a USB last night using Win 10. No problems. But that laptop hasn't been connected to the internet for 3 years or updated. It was before Win 11 was released.

I think I'll try formatting that other USB drive with Win 10 and see what happens.

Does such an unEVEN thing (pun intended) exist? They typically come in multiples of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256. . . .

It's an OLD drive! So old that it was top the line when it was new, you couldn't get more GB on a pen drive.

 

[aeiou]

You know I hadn't thought about this...

Earlier this year I got a message that MS was no longer supporting Win 8.1 and from that day on there would not be anymore security updates. I think there was limited time special offer to upgrade to 11.

HELL NO!

Months later, I was still getting "Updates" and ORDERED to upgrade to Win 11. They were soon followed by problems in my system. I confirmed for myself that Microshit has been messing with PC's to force people to upgrade to Win 11. I uninstalled the "Updates" and my problems went away. I turned off Windows Update. My VPN blocks it from contacting the mother ship. (Another good reason for VPN's)

I guess malicious updates are working out better than the hijacking they did when they forced fed Win 10 to the masses. So much more subtle and sneaky. Stealthy. Most people will just buy a new system. I bet there was an uptick in sales of PC's that happened to coordinate with the release of Win 11.

I formatted a USB last night using Win 10. No problems. But that laptop hasn't been connected to the internet for 3 years or updated. It was before Win 11 was released.

I think I'll try formatting that other USB drive with Win 10 and see what happens.



It's an OLD drive! So old that it was top the line when it was new, you couldn't get more GB on a pen drive.

I've used CHKDSK in Windows 10/11 to repair volumes, partitions, and file structures on USB FLASH DRIVES, because it is easy to use. Still using Windows 8.1? Huh? Really? When you download an iso, first look to see how large the download is, then get and use a Flash Drive that is of sufficient size, but not 128GB.

 

[KGIII]

I've never seen any sort of mechanical switch on a USB Flash Drive,

They're not all that uncommon. This was the first result on Google's Shopping.

 

[aeiou]

You know I hadn't thought about this...

Earlier this year I got a message that MS was no longer supporting Win 8.1 and from that day on there would not be anymore security updates. I think there was limited time special offer to upgrade to 11.

HELL NO!

Months later, I was still getting "Updates" and ORDERED to upgrade to Win 11. They were soon followed by problems in my system. I confirmed for myself that Microshit has been messing with PC's to force people to upgrade to Win 11. I uninstalled the "Updates" and my problems went away. I turned off Windows Update. My VPN blocks it from contacting the mother ship. (Another good reason for VPN's)

I guess malicious updates are working out better than the hijacking they did when they forced fed Win 10 to the masses. So much more subtle and sneaky. Stealthy. Most people will just buy a new system. I bet there was an uptick in sales of PC's that happened to coordinate with the release of Win 11.

I formatted a USB last night using Win 10. No problems. But that laptop hasn't been connected to the internet for 3 years or updated. It was before Win 11 was released.

I think I'll try formatting that other USB drive with Win 10 and see what happens.



It's an OLD drive! So old that it was top the line when it was new, you couldn't get more GB on a pen drive.

Micro$oft wants everyone to be using the same version, it makes things easier for them, plus they've gone to great lengths to make Windows more secure. The only reason to be running an older version of Windows, is if one has expired outdated applications that will only run on those older versions of Windows. I've actually contemplated building up a really old PC, something like a 486, with floppy disk, just so I could run some very old DOS apps. Silly.

 

[Brickwizard]

something like a 486, with floppy disk, just so I could run some very old DOS apps.

to do that you may do better looking for a 286 [8 bit] or 386 [16 bit] machine for really old dos programs

 

[Aristarchus]

.. get Qubes. It requires a bit more experience but it is way safer than dualbooting or type II hypervisor. Not to mention that some software will not run well in VM environment. Qubes is secure hypervisor type I. You can always read why is better in the case of running windows (alongside linux).
The only drawback (aside steeper learning curve) is RAM requirement. Of course to get all what's Qubes promises you would need specific hardware configuration. Still at least check it out. Some Qubes praise: Qubes worth
Best of luck in your Windows free journey.

 

[Condobloke]

i think the original idea of th switch (an actual physical switch) was to turn the usb to read only.....which in turn made it impossibl for Malware to write itself to the stick.

Whatever....moving on

unpack it or send it back

If you decide to send it back, contact Amazon support first...Do not open it
Play dumb and say it is unusable.....it says read only on the packaging etc
Wait for advice from them about that particular usb stick.
If they cannot tell you what you need to hear, they will ask you to return it.

 

[Condobloke]

I will take a minor bet that there is an actual 'switch' on the side/bottom of the drive

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

I've used CHKDSK in Windows 10/11 to repair volumes, partitions, and file structures on USB FLASH DRIVES, because it is easy to use. Still using Windows 8.1? Huh? Really? When you download an iso, first look to see how large the download is, then get and use a Flash Drive that is of sufficient size, but not 128GB.

I already got something smaller.

I didn't like Win 10.

If I had my way, I'd still be using Windows 7, or something like it, maybe. I know a lot more now about the games MS plays with people.

It was the hijacking of computers and then the hoops I had to jump through to get Windows 7 on another Hard Disc. It took a lot internet searches to figure out how to get into Legacy Bios to install, but then there were all the other issues.

I finally got serious a couple of years ago about moving to Linux, then there was the divorce! Before it was final I totaled my car. That wasn't long after I changed the CV axles and then promptly broke my hand. He played games with the insurance settlement and the marital estate. I had to represent myself in court against the attorney he used our money to pay for before squirreling away everything else. I couldn't work for several months, I had multiple plumbing issues. Water was all over my house. Now the roof is leaking. Last week I lost job and #4 screwed me. He got all the marital property.

So last night I downloaded the latest Linux Mint distro <==== Would you look at that! I'm picking up the lingo!

I've got a lot of other things going on right now but I'm not going to put this off any longer. Even if it's just a few steps every night, it's better than waiting. I may never have several uninterrupted days to cut my teeth on a new OS.

Meanwhile, MS is lurking at the front door waiting for me to slip, sneak in a "Security Update" and permanently take my computer hostage.

 

[Condobloke]

<==== Would you look at that! I'm picking up the lingo!

So you have that going for you....and we have your back. Couldn't wish for more !!

The pc you are going to put Linux on....tell us about it,
laptop/tower?
hdd/sdd?
ram?
Is there anything installed on it at all.? Any data, pics, music, that you might wish to keep? ...<<<most important

You are going to simply run Linux Mint 21.2 on its own.....Yes ?

The usb stick ......the one you already have..... how big is it?...more than 4 gb ?

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

plus they've gone to great lengths to make Windows more secure.

I would argue that what they've done is make things easier for them to spy on us. That's exactly what they're doing and that's exactly why I don't want it.

The only reason to be running an older version of Windows...

I have a personal preference. It wasn't all that long ago that they finally got people to move on from XP. Vista was a disaster!

The bottom line is that I don't want to Microshit anymore. The only reason I'm using Win 8.1 is because it came installed when I got this tower and Win 7 was a pain to install. I had an installation disc for XP and an upgrade disc for Win 7. When that didn't work out, I decided to go to Linux.

I'm not an idiot concerning the guts of a Microsoft OS. There's always a way around things, but it's exhausting. I'd rather spend my time learning something that lets me do a lot more WITHOUT Big Brother hovering over me in the privacy of my own home.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

So you have that going for you....and we have your back. Couldn't wish for more !!

The pc you are going to put Linux on....tell us about it,
laptop/tower?

Initially I'm going to put it on a laptop. If I need help I want to be able to reach out easily using the OS I'm already familiar with while having Linux in front of me. It's just the way I learn things. All the PC and software knowledge I have came primarily from reading books. I like to have both in front of me instead of switching between screens. But I do have a couple of old monitors...Hmm.

Without jumping through a lot more hoops because of crap that Microshit made inaccessible on my version of Windows, I can't run Linux in a VM. The last thing I want to do is reboot my tower every time I get stuck. It takes too long, not just the OS, but other software and getting connected to the internet. About 6 months ago, Windows started having trouble "recognizing" networks.

I'm not sure about the specs on the laptop. It was my ex-father-in-law's. It's a Leveno with Windows 10. I plan to install Linux straight onto the hard drive. Later on when I have more time I'm going to expunge Win 10 with a DOD wipe.

As soon as I feel comfortable enough navigating and using Linux, it's going on my tower. I've never been a laptop person, but they are nice to have.

My tower is an Asus I'm going to attach a picture of the specs. I have an Invidia card, but I accidentally broke one of those thingies I can't remember the name of. I haven't gotten around to soldering it back on, getting a new one.

It's basically a gaming computer. I don't play games but I need the same performance for design software. CAD, 3D, photo...

...

hdd/sdd?
ram?
Is there anything installed on it at all.? Any data, pics, music, that you might wish to keep? ...<<<most important

Everything is backed up in more than one place! You never know!

You are going to simply run Linux Mint 21.2 on its own.....Yes ?

On it's own?
Are you referring to the prepackaged apps that can downloaded when you install Mint? That question might be a little over my head at the moment!

The usb stick ......the one you already have..... how big is it?...more than 4 gb ?

64 GB. I can partition it.

 

[KGIII]

It's basically a gaming computer. I don't play games but I need the same performance for design software. CAD, 3D, photo...

That's plenty fast for running any Linux distro out there.

I'm not sure if you'll get 'blazing fast performance' with that amount of RAM and a mobile GPU (perhaps even an onboard GPU), but you should be able to patiently run a variety of compute-heavy applications.

You're not going to be rendering 500 GB of 4k video in just a half hour, or anything like that.

Odds are good that you can't do that with your desktop, unless it's pretty beefy.

But, those are fine specs for running Linux. You can run any major distro you'd like, with relative ease and with resources to spare. I might look at upgrading the RAM. Is it 16 GB of RAM with 4 GB reserved for video?

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

Is it 16 GB of RAM with 4 GB reserved for video?

The Nvidia card has it's own RAM. I don't have it connected right now because I broke that thingy. I'm not sure how much RAM it has. It has it's own processor.

 

[Condobloke]

Are you referring to the prepackaged apps that can downloaded when you install Mint? That question might be a little over my head at the moment!

I mean, are you going to put JUST linux mint on the hard drive...all on its lonesome.
OR
Will it accompany windows ....so you would then have TWO OS"s on the hard drive

If there is another OS on any hard drive (or SSD) there is no need to wipe it via DOD
The Linux Installer will take care of it.

Just a thought....nothing immediate about this....I assume the ASUS has a standard HDD in it ?

Another way to 'smarten it up" speed wise....is to install a SSD (solid state drive)...There are so many available now, their price has dropped dramatically over the last few years.

But first....the Laptop

Tell us about it...as much as you know
Lenovo...already has win 10....so it will run Linux with ease.

Do you wish to wipe Windows 10 NOW..?, (off the laptop)

 

[Condobloke]

oh...forgot....the usb stick....heaps big enough.....smaller would actually be better, but no biggie.....no need to partition

Just burn the LM21.2 .iso file to that usb stick using Balena Etcher

The only reason I say a smaller usb may be better, is because they are cheap, and you can put LM21.2 on there and just keep it safe for a rainy day when you might just need it.....A small (8gb) stick with LM on it can really come in handy down the track.

for now, the 64 gb will do the job. You cn always use it for other things later

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

I mean, are you going to put JUST linux mint on the hard drive...all on its lonesome.
OR
Will it accompany windows ....so you would then have TWO OS"s on the hard drive

My logical self says to keep it... on a very short leash...
Right now I'm just sick of dealing with MS.
I assumed that I might eventually being trying out other distros.

I assume the ASUS has a standard HDD in it ?

Another way to 'smarten it up" speed wise....is to install a SSD (solid state drive)

I was literally discussing this last night with a tech geek. So yes, I definitely see myself upgrading to an SSD in the near future

But first....the Laptop

Tell us about it...as much as you know
Lenovo...already has win 10....so it will run Linux with ease.

Actually...

I just opened it up. It's not 10. It's 8.1
There's a 2nd Leveno somewhere around here that has 10 on it.

• Processor:
  • Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4210U CPU @ 1.70GHz 2.40 GHz
• RAM 6 GB (5.89 GB usable)
• 64 bit something or other operating system, x64-based processor
• My

Do you wish to wipe Windows 10 NOW..?, (off the laptop)

I'm not sure. I might need it one day, maybe.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

There's a 2nd Leveno somewhere around here that has 10 on it.

Lenovo.
Gee! Where did I get Leveno??? I literally just now realize I've been using the wrong name all this time.