<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">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">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">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">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">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">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">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">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">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>
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