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    <font size="+1">4 GB would be plenty.</font><br>
    <br>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/18/20 2:20 PM, Mike M wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
      cite="mid:03ee8dd2-078e-9832-4aa1-b1833d6cdab2@gmx.com">
      <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
      Steve, unless I missed it, what size thumb drive did you need?<br>
      <br>
      Thanks,<br>
      Mike M<br>
      <br>
      <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/18/2020 9:09 AM, Stephen Offiler
        wrote:<br>
      </div>
      <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAP6upcg5PBYDLjjeb_ru=CJB9gj6ozpk2rYHLuWokOme=CvdXg@mail.gmail.com">
        <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
          charset=UTF-8">
        <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"
              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>
                                                </div>
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                                            <br clear="all">
                                            <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>
                                                  <br>
                                                  <br>
                                                  <br>
                                                  <br>
                                                  <br>
                                                  <br>
                                                  <br>
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                            <br>
                            <pre cols="72">--
Charlie</pre>
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                  <br>
                  <pre cols="72">--
Charlie</pre>
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      <pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:AT@lists.antique-tractor.com">AT@lists.antique-tractor.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com">http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com</a>
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    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">-- 
Charlie</pre>
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