Up and running (or so I thought)

[elchucko]

I've recently installed Mint 12 and have been getting acquainted with it. Yesterday when attempting to boot and then select eject on a logical drive the system froze. Repeated attempts resulted in the same failure? Ideas? Thank you

[bigj231]

Why aren't you running Mint 13 or 14? Do you have anything mounted on the logical drive such as your /home folder?

[elchucko]

How do I upgrade to a newer release? Do I have to do a complete install or just upgrade Mint 12? What files should I save if doing an updae? Which is better 13 or 14? Thank you

[bigj231]

The best way to upgrade is to install a clean system. If you setup a separate "/home" partition, then just don't format it when you reinstall. If you didn't, make one when you reinstall. It will save you lots of headaches. Just backup everything that you don't want to lose (documents, pictures, etc.) and reinstall from a clean system. You might also make a list of all the programs you use.

As for which is better, it's all personal preference. I am using Mint 13 with backports enabled, mostly because I haven't had the time or inclination to install 14. One advantage to Mint 13 is that it's a LTS release, so it is supported for several years. If you like to tinker with your system, you won't keep it installed long enough for that to be a factor. Mint 13 is also supposed to be more stable since it is a LTS. You do get newer, more up to date packages with 14.

[elchucko]

What's the best version of Mint 14 64 bit for general use?

[cwsnyder]

If you are coming from a Windows background, either LM14 KDE or LM14 Cinnamon would probably be your best bet. The flagship is Mint Cinnamon or MATE, but a lot of former Windows people like KDE.