I want to install linux mint 9 isadora

[ricardezra]

hello,I have linux mint 9 on my dell my girlfriend wants linux too.I did not install it on my comp i had someone to do it for me.but i see that it is easy to do.can i put linux on her toshiba satelite? what will hapen to all of the pictures and everything thats on her computer? and where do I get the download to do it with?

[xnostradamusx]

be careful when installing OS make sure you backup all your important files in case you format all disks by mistake. you can try linux mint without installing also just download the ISO file which flavor you want and just try it on live first and see if everythings working sounds/videocard etc. then if your happy with it you can install it side by side with your windows

[ricardezra]

ok im downloading the live on usb right now. If everything works I can just click install to install side by side? what does side by side mean? I will have windows and linux on my comp?

[sythe]

Yes, if you do side-by-side, you'll get Linux Mint and Windows on your computer.

[ricardezra]

ok i dont want windows on there at all can you do that?

[sythe]

Yes, you would install with the "overwrite" option in the installer.
Remember to backup all of your files first.

[ricardezra]

ok thanks I have it working im checking it out

[xnostradamusx]

ok i dont want windows on there at all can you do that?

during partition you will be asked if you want to install mint only. side by side or custom partition. usually side by side means you want to dual boot and choose between different OS when you first open your computer. another thing make sure everything works in your computer. sometimes you have to do some few fixing if for example your sounds, your video card has problems. so good luck

[bruisedme]

In case it is not too late already. Stop & think this over before you replace Windows on both of your PCs. I am a PC user going back to BEFORE Internet, before Windows. I've used mostly Linux O/S for several years now, especially on older PCs. Over the years, many people used me as their neighborhood computer guru. I am no expert, just computer literate and a specialized power user (have modified certain classic systems, repair my laptops, etc).

Here is what I have found about most people trying to switch over to JUST Linux. DON'T.

I have never been able and I know no one who has been able to use JUST LINUX. In the recent past, there were several reasons from printer driver problems & home networks, to external devices & specialized software problems.

I am a person who has one foot in the world of theory and ideas and one foot in the real world of practical affairs. My interests are broad and I have always seen computers as a neat tool. Like a wrench or any sophisticated tool such as a jet engine analyzer, practicality is critical in whether or not a tool is useful or whether it is used usefully. Time & work are the judges of usefullness. To me, a PC is like an automobile. I own and drive one, mostly to get from point A to point B. There are people who lose all prespective and extremely over focus on a single car & there are people who choose to make cars their hobby. Fine.

This is even more true for the Computing world. This is fine and good. Its just not for me and I am certainly not alone in this. There are guys (who are not computer professionals) who invest hours into figuring out the cause and solution to a particular Windows or Linux problem. If I do not figure out problem & solution in a few minutes, I prefer to save loads of time and just reinstall the OS from a mirror hard drive image.

I still maintain a working copy of Windows, though I hate it and I've hated Microsoft products since the beginning (MS-DOS). Why? Microsoft (MS) is huge. They are huge and they were huge first. Years of MS market domination has created a computing world where devices and software makers think Windows and Mac (This was less true for Mac owners until Bill Gates saved Apple from going under When the corporate executtives and nutt case cofounder Steven Jobs (an extremely unlikeable & offensive man) were going at it. End result was Gates got a good chunk of Apple for cheap. His Apple shares make him a powerful share holder.

You are a Linux newbie. You will regret it if you fail to keep at least one PC running Windows, expecially if you are a student or a professional. Critical technical software runs on Windows, often on Mac too. Never is there Linux support. Were I to totally go Linux, I would lost access to dozens of top educational programs (World of Animals, Medical resource DVDs, Encyclopedia Britannica, World Almanacs, Science DVDs, etc. Make sure your printer will run. If its a Hewlet Packer, you are probably safe, since HP
cooperates with Linux developers, making HP drivers available. MS has not been able to stop HP from doing this as HP has a huge presence in the global printer\scanner market.

I would also lose my easy method for backing up my movie DVDs & my family members Game system DVDs & CDs. Futhermore, family members would no longer be able to use their specialized devices such as a pen scanner.

If the Dell laptop is an older Dell or a Dell that was not very popular, I'd see about making the Toshiba dual boot, Linux-Windows. About half of the older Dells I've installed Linux in a dual boot setup failed and they failed quickly. The Linux boot installer isn't stable across PC systems. I reinstalled Windows because the owner(s) was a complete newbie to linux and barely computer literate to boot, which is about 90% of computer owners and users. How many people do we know who even fix their own flat tires or change a bad starter? Computer systems are more complex than basic auto maintenance. The issue it not intelligence but choice. Its about a person's values and how their choose to invest their time. After all, what is life but the time each person has in this life and how we manage it --those of us who bother to even think about such matters. Time is the great equaiizer. Castro with all his power is facing the same human expiration date as the biggest nobody in Cuba. For all her music talent and wealth, Cher is old and nearly forgotten like 99% of women her age & she now lives on Borrowed time, like anyone else her age.

[ricardezra]

This guy has jokes I have a toshiba dual core and a dell dual core linux works perfect no problems anywhere

[Elisa]

...

IMHO I cannot agree w. u that there could be 'a why' to use Windows also.
Really not except playing a game maybe...
If something doesn't work (yet) on Linux I'll rather spend all my honest time to find out a way how make/force a thing work in Linux than moving back to f...d Windows

[ricardezra]

I agree