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Thanks Steve and cgs, I'm going to try it. <br>
<br>
Mike M<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/18/2020 2:34 PM, Stephen Offiler
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAP6upcit8LQeOBDgGW87bf6M20oYMBbBs2CHxQvEf7_RVAebSg@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div dir="ltr">The one I had laying around is a 4GB, and I seem to
recall the file I downloaded was 1.9GB. Here's what I did:
<div><br>
</div>
<div>1. Google brought me to this download site: <a
href="https://linuxmint.com/download.php"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://linuxmint.com/download.php</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>2. Choose 32 or 64 bit (mine is 32) and choose one of the
GUI's aka "desktop". Mate was recommended, so I took that
one.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>3. Save the download to the hard drive of the machine
that's doing the downloading (in my case, it's my Win 10
machine at work... NOT the laptop in question)</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>4. Next, download and install Etcher on the machine that's
doing the downloading: <a
href="https://www.balena.io/etcher/" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.balena.io/etcher/</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>5. Etcher is extremely simple. You point it to the Linux
file, then you point it to the thumb drive, then hit Flash!</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>6. When done, you now have a Linux bootable thumb drive. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>As others have pointed out, some older machines can't boot
from USB; some can, but you have to hit F12 on power-up; some
will go automatically to the USB if it has a bootable OS. The
latter is how mine worked. Stick the thumb drive into the
laptop, turn it on, and a mere few seconds later, you are
running Linux.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Feb 18, 2020 at 2:21
PM Mike M <<a href="mailto:meulenms@gmx.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">meulenms@gmx.com</a>> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Steve, unless I missed it, what size
thumb drive did you need?<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Mike M<br>
<br>
<div>On 2/18/2020 9:09 AM, Stephen Offiler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">And... it worked! Just about as simple as
it sounded. Laptop just boots straight off USB,
automatically, no fuss, no F12 or anything else needed.
And fast!
<div><br>
</div>
<div>One detail, the "USB Image Writer" runs under
Linux. The equivalent that runs under Windows is
"Etcher"<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Feb 18, 2020
at 7:20 AM Stephen Offiler <<a
href="mailto:soffiler@gmail.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">soffiler@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px
0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">THANKS! Will check that out!
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Feb 18,
2020 at 6:58 AM cgs <<a
href="mailto:oxygenfarm@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">oxygenfarm@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px
0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div> <font size="+1">Linux Mint has an accessory
named 'USB Image Writer' which will put the
downloaded image of your new operating system
onto your USB. A good instruction for Mint is
at <u><a
href="https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation/user-guide/Cinnamon/english_18.0.pdf"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation/user-guide/Cinnamon/english_18.0.pdf</a></u><br>
I use its Mate version whose latest is 19.3 on
older computers.<br>
</font><br>
<div>On 2/18/20 5:13 AM, Stephen Offiler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">Yes, I have one SATA
connector on the old laptop. I am hearing
several votes in favor of Mint/Mate.
Since I don't have a ton of free time,
hoping maybe someone can provide a decent
overview of the process. I'd like to
ignore the hard drive on the laptop and
try to boot off a thumb drive as we've
been discussing. Basically treat the
laptop as if it were already dead. I have
a fully modern, fully functional desktop
workstation running Win 10 for downloads
and manipulations of the thumb drive. So
what are the basic steps? Download to the
workstation and then send files over to
the thumb, or download straight to the
thumb? In either case, how do I make the
thumb bootable?</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks in advance...</div>
<div>SO</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon,
Feb 17, 2020 at 9:53 AM cgs <<a
href="mailto:oxygenfarm@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">oxygenfarm@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div> <font size="+1">Most versions of
Linux are free and legal to
download; some charge for a prepared
thumb drive and/or a phone help
service.<br>
I have several computers that age
which will run the lighter Linux
versions. A new solid state drive
(120 GB) can be found online or at
MicroCenter for $25 (be sure your
old iron has SATA connectors!)<br>
</font><br>
<div>On 2/17/20 5:20 AM, Stephen
Offiler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">Hi Phil:
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I've got a Dell from about
2009 or so, perhaps a
3000-series (?), running XP.
At the time it was a
workstation-class laptop,
capable of running 3D CAD
software. I don't use it much
anymore, but it definitely
comes in handy sometimes.
Nothing important is stored on
it. Hard drive has given me a
few scares over the last
several years, but it comes
back every time (on it's own;
I have not done anything
heroic). This bootable thumb
drive thing is intriguing
because you don't need any
hard drive at all with it.
In your scenario, with the
hidden partition, you still
need a functional hard drive.
Plus, there's been enough
discussion of Linux here on
ATIS (and elsewhere) that I'm
curious.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>On Mon, Feb 17, 2020 at
5:08 AM Phil Auten <<a
href="mailto:pga2@basicisp.net"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">pga2@basicisp.net</a>>
wrote:</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Hi, Stephen,</p>
<p>I don't remember what
brand of PC you have, but
several manufacturers
provide a "hidden
partition" on the hard
drive that can be used to
restore the PC back to
factory settings. On both
of my Acer laptops the
<Alt-F10> keys are
pressed together during
boot. This enables the
restore function. That
would, however, wipe out
your files. But if there
is no other alternative it
would be worth a try. The
laptop I am using to type
this suffered a hard drive
crash a couple of years
ago. The hard drive was no
longer recognized. Using
the Acer part number, I
was able to find the exact
same hard drive on eBay. I
had to completely rebuild
my setup, but still much
less expensive than a new
laptop.</p>
<p>If that $35 thumb drive
is bootable, that would
still be a good option for
me.</p>
<p>My 2¢</p>
<p>Phil in TX<br>
</p>
<br>
<div>On 2/16/2020 5:44 AM,
Stephen Offiler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Hi farmer:
When you say no reason
to buy anything, I
assume you refer to that
$35 thumb drive device I
mentioned. As I
understand it, the thumb
drive is bootable,
circumventing the hard
drive and whatever OS is
on the machine. The
sales pitch is that it
will take a machine
that's bricked and bring
it back to life. Do you
have a way to accomplish
that for free?
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr"
class="gmail_attr">On
Sat, Feb 15, 2020 at
10:39 PM Indiana
Robinson <<a
href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">robinson46176@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px
0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px
solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>No reason to
buy anything, Most
distributions of
Linux will read
Windows files. You
can copy, paste
move etc. and you
can download
anything for free.
I don't putter
with old stuff as
much as I used to
but I've used
Knoppix for such
things for many
years. I don't
know if Windows 10
can read Linux
files yet or not
but I once read
that it was soon
to be an option.
If you install
Linux as a dual
boot with Windows
you can just
access your
Windows files
without having to
reboot back into
Windows to find
them or work with
them.</div>
<div>Half of the
Linux learning
curve is
terminology... If
you have become
comfortable using
Android you are
half way there.
Android is just a
mobile (and
tablet) version of
Linux. Android is
built on and
running the Linux
Kernel but your
desktop box won't
run Android.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>.<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div
class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr"
class="gmail_attr">On
Sat, Feb 15, 2020
at 9:33 AM cgs
<<a
href="mailto:oxygenfarm@gmail.com"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">oxygenfarm@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px
0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px
solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div> <font
size="+1">Look
at <u><a
href="http://www.linuxandubuntu.com/home/5-best-data-recovery-tools-for-linux-to-recover-data-or-deleted-partitions"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.linuxandubuntu.com/home/5-best-data-recovery-tools-for-linux-to-recover-data-or-deleted-partitions</a></u></font><br>
<br>
<div>On 2/15/20
7:12 AM,
Stephen
Offiler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Good
to hear it's
all set. I've
been seeing
ad's for a
device called
"XtraPC"
which, it
turns out, is
some flavor of
Linux burned
onto a thumb
drive for
something like
$35. You can
bring back
most
troublesome
old machines
from the grave
(assuming the
problem is
hard
drive/boot
software, not
some hardware
failure of
course). What
I do not know
is whether you
can access
your Windows
files under
Linux.
Curious about
that.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre cols="72">--
Charlie</pre>
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<br>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>-- <br>
<br>
Francis Robinson<br>
aka "farmer"<br>
Central Indiana
USA<br>
<a
href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>
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