Lifetime windows user very interested in learning Linux mint

[vyper1126]

Hey everyone as you can see I am new here. I am a lifetime windows user (started with 3.1). I'm getting tired of how windows is being with my laptop. I did some research into Linux and Ubuntu and Linux Mint kept getting thrown around. Well I Youtubed both and saw that I liked both, even did a live test via a usb flash drive. I like how familiar Mint is to windows. My problem is I literally have no Idea where to begin I saw on YouTube there is Linux mint tutorials but there specially aimed at 19 not 20. When I do some research in to linux mint books on amazon I keep getting books aimed at Linux.

Could someone please point me in the right direction. I want to buy a beginners book or guide to help me learn. Could someone please point me in the right direction, make a recommendation into which books I should buy (I saw linux bible looks good but IDK). I am very interested. I just bought 16GB memory cards and a brand new MX500 1TB SSD for my laptop (I'm trying to save up for a new laptop, so I decided to upgrade my current one until I can get something better.Link to HP site with my laptop info (remember I changed to 1tb ssd and 16 GB). https://support.hp.com/lv-en/document/c04465935

I am currently running Windows 10 Home 64 Bit OS. I would like to dual boot. Have windows 10 be the default and when I want linux just reboot into linux.
Please any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

[Kester]

Hi vyper1126,

In some respects your Windows experience mirrors my own except I stopped at Windows 7. Like you,I dabbled with live Linux media (CDs, DVDs and memory sticks) and that is probably a good way to introduce yourself to Linux.

I think your idea of setting up a dual boot arrangement is also a good idea and is something I have done initially with Puppy Linux and Windows XP, then Lubuntu 18.04 with Windows 7 and now Mint 20 with Windows 7. Mint is a good choice for you to consider for your dual boot - I use LM20 XFCE. The XFCE is the desktop manager which I opted for as it is less resource hungry than Cinnamon - there are also others including Mate so you may wish to explore these in live media before final commitment.

When you do get to the point of setting up your dual boot arrangement, back up your current system (perhaps using Macrium Reflect which I have found to be very reliable) - I doubt that anything would go seriously wrong but it's best to be safe. There are a number of websites offering advice on setting up a dual boot arrangement so it's worth looking at some of these - I've listed a couple but there are plenty of others.
https://www.linuxtechi.com/dual-boot-li ... indows-10/
https://www.tecmint.com/install-linux-m ... uefi-mode/

Regarding help guides for running Mint, well the beauty of Mint is that you can learn as you go along trying out a few new things at a time to build up your confidence. You have already made a first major step by joining this forum which, as I have found, has many expert members very willing to share their expertise and knowledge. They will respond to your requests for assistance but also have included a tutorial section within the forum to deal with common key issues.

Good luck, join the club.

[Hoser Rob]

There aren't a whole lot of books on Mint, Linux has a very small user base and Mint isn't the biggest distro. Most distro specific books are about Ubuntu. If you're using UBuntu based Mint Ubuntu books aren't useless.

[Moem]

This sounds like it might be up your alley: https://www.bookdepository.com/Linux-ea ... 1840788082
But most people just learn by doing and by asking questions. Mint isn't that hard.

[derrick1120]

Here's a very good reference guide .

I would suggest you read before attempting to install Linux Mint on a W10 machine - as there are a few common pitfalls.

The guide is written by one of Linux Mints Senior members - https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html

[vyper1126]

Hey guys sorry for the late response. I was watching linux mint videos on youtube to familiarize myself with the OS ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KztTkoO ... arnLinuxTV ) Thats where I am currently at. Few things, first of all thank you for the kind words and advice and pointers. I looked into the links posted above and I have a couple of questions.

First things 1st little back history. Every time I want to boot from the USB. From my desktop (windows 10, I still haven't done anything yet) I plug in my usb bootable that I made and to make the boot easier for myself. I go into advanced startup options under settings and then I tell it to boot from usb. Is it OK? That I boot like that. Reason I boot like that I just find it easier for me.

Second upon reading the official documents for 20 mint it tells me to verify ISO. Is that really necessary? I mean I'm getting it from there direct website and off one of the provided links. I apologize If I sound rude. Not my intention but I get confused when you start talking variables I don't want to screw up the install.

Third I saw in the links provided above for UEFI boot install. My question is why do I have to do that specific way. Reason I ask I found on YouTube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzVnTSk ... arnLinuxTV ) This video this guy dual boots linux mint and windows 10. I found I could use grub customizer to change the boot order and even change the wallpaper (windows vs linux).

Is this possible doing the install that way using the graphical interface (slide bar for hard drive, i have SSD 1TB) Reason I want to use the slide bar instead is because again I am not very good when it comes to bytes and conversion. So I rather have a visual aid to help. Is this possible or I absolutely need to do like the guys above posted. Again thank you very much. I look forward to your response.

[RIH]

Is it OK? That I boot like that. Reason I boot like that I just find it easier for me.

Perfectly fine. Installing Mint on a completely different drive to Windows is often the best way to go, Windows updates can screw with grub anyway.

Second upon reading the official documents for 20 mint it tells me to verify ISO. Is that really necessary?

I never have
To be honest, I usually download via a torrent rather than directly as I think that minimises the risk that you have a bad download..

I found I could use grub customizer to change the boot order and even change the wallpaper (windows vs linux).

People on this site with a great deal more knowledge than I, suggest that grub customizer is NOT a tool that should be used.
If it goes wrong it can be next to impossible to fix.
Almost everything that you can do with grub customizer can be done by other mean.
The highly recommended for a read easylinuxtips has a section on how to do that.

My personal recommendation would be to go to
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html
& just follow that through & I think you will have a good system & learn a great deal about Mint at the same time..

[vyper1126]

Is it OK? That I boot like that. Reason I boot like that I just find it easier for me.

Perfectly fine. Installing Mint on a completely different drive to Windows is often the best way to go, Windows updates can screw with grub anyway.

Im not installing Mint on a different drive tho. I only have a 1TB SSD that is my current and main that I am running windows 10 right now. I would end up setting up the dual boot for linux mint in the graphical setup during the install setup. That shouldn't be a problem right. By the way Ill read that link you posted. Thank you

[vyper1126]

Here is a pic of my system info showing that my bios is already in UEFI mode.

[totally lost]

I recently switched over to linux myself. It is a hard slap in the face of a change but after playing with it i am slightly getting it. I got that hole fear of missing windows bluh bluh. My answer to that was 2nd computer and or since i run a desktop that is easy to get into i have a windows hard drive and a linux hard drive. Simple to switch. Just shut down unplug 1 hard drive and plug in the other and power it up. There is a couple rarely used things that is windows only i still need windows for as well. I tried the playing around in virtual machines dual boots and i would say the dual boot was a waist of time and to many issues. My advice would be swap a hard drive jump right in with everything already backed up on a external drive and just play around. When you crash it just reinstall. Once you start getting it then start the full dive into it. There is nothing like having linux as the only operating system. More things work properly. As things arise you can always ask for help. This forum has a great bunch that help as best they can. Good luck my friend!

[vyper1126]

I recently switched over to linux myself. It is a hard slap in the face of a change but after playing with it i am slightly getting it. I got that hole fear of missing windows bluh bluh. My answer to that was 2nd computer and or since i run a desktop that is easy to get into i have a windows hard drive and a linux hard drive. Simple to switch. Just shut down unplug 1 hard drive and plug in the other and power it up. There is a couple rarely used things that is windows only i still need windows for as well. I tried the playing around in virtual machines dual boots and i would say the dual boot was a waist of time and to many issues. My advice would be swap a hard drive jump right in with everything already backed up on a external drive and just play around. When you crash it just reinstall. Once you start getting it then start the full dive into it. There is nothing like having linux as the only operating system. More things work properly. As things arise you can always ask for help. This forum has a great bunch that help as best they can. Good luck my friend!

I kinda was considering that. But I literally just bought a 1TB MX500 SSD. I already have windows 10 installed on it as my main OS. Since I have so much space left on my SSD i was thinking about having linux with ballpark 450-500GB (see pic). Since I have so much space left untapped. I mind as well. Plus reason Its so empty clean install of windows to freshen up old issues on old hard drive. Plus I dont have the extra available funds atm to buy another SSD external drive. That is the only reason why I would like to do dual boot.

[totally lost]

I kinda was considering that. But I literally just bought a 1TB MX500 SSD. I already have windows 10 installed on it as my main OS. Since I have so much space left on my SSD i was thinking about having linux with ballpark 450-500GB (see pic). Since I have so much space left untapped. I mind as well. Plus reason Its so empty clean install of windows to freshen up old issues on old hard drive. Plus I dont have the extra available funds atm to buy another SSD external drive. That is the only reason why I would like to do dual boot.

I hear you. I tried dual boot on my main PC once years ago and it gave me so many fits i gave up on linux not knowing the real issue was windows. I do have a few laptops my kids use with a dual boot setup but it is windows 7 with updates turned off and no internet connection ever. I have had less issues with that setup. But non the less issues still pop up now and then trying to get back into windows. So if you do dual boot expect issues and have a way to get on this forum to ask for help as the dual boot computer may not let you in either operating system. Now i think about it the 1 kids laptop is a windows 10 which i never gave it the WIFI password and tried some online things that claims to kill windows 10 updates by deleting the update files themselves. Dang thing still updated and locked me out of linux. Windows 10 is a evil snake man. I have tried many ways to stop windows 10 from updating and non have worked yet. So be prepared!

Another idea i would do in your situation (not that i know anything i am a newbie all around) but install linux on the main drive and run windows as a virtual machine. Then windows can't mess with linux that i know of. But that requires learning virtual machines. I see windows 10 as a rattle snake that is missing its rattles.

[bob466]

Don't waste your money on books...you'll learn by doing things yourself. Linux Mint is easy to use and if you have questions or problems...that's what this Forum is for.

[slackerdad]

Don't waste your money on books...you'll learn by doing things yourself. Linux Mint is easy to use and if you have questions or problems...that's what this Forum is for.

I just started with LM a week ago. Granted, I'm trying to run a home server (on really old hardware) using only the command line, I think the strategy is the same: read guides, watch videos, and just dive in and don't be afraid to mess up.

I'd avoid the dual boot. I read/watched a lot of tutorials saying that setting up dual boot effectively was more of an intermediate skill. Once you find a drive to install linux on, just dive in. Don't get hung up on decisions because you'll probably wind up reinstalling in a few days anyway. You'll learn from your mistakes and gradually realize why things are done the way they are in linux.

Frankly, I have yet to see a huge advantage of using linux unless you are willing to learn how to use terminal. The terminal is so powerful and efficient but I acknowledge (at least for me) it's very slow learning before you can do anything of value with it (I did see the value when I needed to change ownership of a bunch of mp3s and edit their ID3 tags). For just browsing and playing games, I'd probably stick with Windows 10. Linux will offer a little more stability and allow some older hardware to remain useful. However, if you are just going to use it for browsing and videos, take a look at ChromeOS.

[motoryzen]

Hey everyone as you can see I am new here. I am a lifetime windows user (started with 3.1). I'm getting tired of how windows is being with my laptop. I did some research into Linux and Ubuntu and Linux Mint kept getting thrown around. Well I Youtubed both and saw that I liked both, even did a live test via a usb flash drive. I like how familiar Mint is to windows. My problem is I literally have no Idea where to begin I saw on YouTube there is Linux mint tutorials but there specially aimed at 19 not 20. When I do some research in to linux mint books on amazon I keep getting books aimed at Linux.

Could someone please point me in the right direction. I want to buy a beginners book or guide to help me learn. Could someone please point me in the right direction, make a recommendation into which books I should buy (I saw linux bible looks good but IDK). I am very interested. I just bought 16GB memory cards and a brand new MX500 1TB SSD for my laptop (I'm trying to save up for a new laptop, so I decided to upgrade my current one until I can get something better.Link to HP site with my laptop info (remember I changed to 1tb ssd and 16 GB). https://support.hp.com/lv-en/document/c04465935

I am currently running Windows 10 Home 64 Bit OS. I would like to dual boot. Have windows 10 be the default and when I want linux just reboot into linux.
Please any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

-- Don't sweat wasting your money on a "mint for dummies" or other coherent beginner's guide. Sincerely, it's not like learning a harder/advanced distro like Arch. It's mostly about learning where things are, understanding a few key differences in Linux vs Windows, and practice..practice..practice.

First real thing is...I don't recommend dual booting. Another forum member here gave a valid enough point about Windows updates messing with grub. Also one boot manager can auto replace another and it's hard to know which is which in the end. I know you have a laptop and changing internal boot drives can be a hassle, but Windows mbr and Linux grub don't play nicely together still.

Now an exception to this is a drive already formatted to exFat that you wish to connect ( internal or external..It doesn't matter) back and forth from linux and windows world's as exFat storage is basically plug n play between windows and Linux. I've never had a problem here and didn't have to do anything special to make it work ( worst case the drive doesn't auto pop up a File explorer window and you have to left click on it in the lefthand side of Nemo's window to "mount" it and then you can use it just like you would in windows. copy paste...etc. Of course there's a very simple way to make it auto mount, but we'll get to that another time on another comment.

You can always, if applicable here, download all of your game installer files ( such as gog.com games like I did) to that exFat drive, then plug it in, boot into Mint, make those files executable , then after you've installed Wine ( I recommend from winehq following those instructions) and Lutris being from it's official site's instructions, you can either right click on the installation.exe file and select to open with " Wine Windows Program Loader" or depending on the game you may have to change some settings about how the game installs and/or works. Wine version, and all kinds of settings are available there. Yes It can be daunting at first, but I can walk you through it if needed. no prob.

Learn Timeshift, make a snapshot ( which is basically how it works..system image backups of the Mint-installed drive primarily) of your Mint drive before installing anything..and make a few here and there periodically with " everything just works" after confirming exactly that. It's just as easy to use as Windows system image backup tool built into it since the Vista days imo.

A. Hate how slowly the mouse scroll wheel works in Mint cinnamon within web browsers ( possibly in xfce and mate too )?

https://io.bikegremlin.com/11541/linux- ... oll-speed/ Follow those instructions. It matters not how you install imwheel ( software manager or terminal command), what does matter is correctly creating that folder and file within that folder, pasting that long command starting with the first # and ending with "kill" without quotes and nothing more, then making it executable. You may be able to do that just right clicking the that file mouse.sh, properties, then permissions tab. If that doesn't work. Do it via the terminal command

So If you named your pc "taco" without quotes. You would end up making the folder and file at without quotes "/home/taco/Utils", ctrl L ( lower case is obviously fine here for the keyboard hot key combo) to see your full path where you are within Nemo) and you can use whatever text editor you want. I prefer gedit, but any of them basically work. I don't recommend VIM or Nano yet for beginners. so in terminal by default..You're usually at your home directory aka folder which would be /home/taco . So replace the exact instructions part of " relja" with " taco" on this page in how to make that file executable.

Thus cd /home/taco/Utils ( remember the single space between cd and /home) , hit enter
chmod +x mouse.sh hit enter
./mouse.sh hit enter ( ./whateverfilename.sh and hitting enter is the same as double left clicking to run that item)

Now you'll see the pop up gui slider adjuster window. I recommend between 4 and 7. 5 is my favorite. When you're done experimenting with that, you can x out of that window, but you need to add imwheel as an autostart item in your Startup Applications menu. It's an easy start button search..just like if you searched for Startup applications in Windows..only you'll actually find in Mint cinnamon that exact name. Select the + sign at bottom. Then Custom command, then put in the command field imwheel exactly like that..no spaces..no quotes..all lower case. Name it whatever you want and ensure the start up Delay is set to zero. Now...you can use your mouse wheel as you were normally used to in Windows with ways to adjust the scroll wheel speed in any internet browser

B. Want a good reasonable replacement for Windows's "night light" blue light filter? redshift is your friend, install it via software manager,but don't run it just yet. It's not the end of the world if you do, but just ensure you end it if you do to ensure this next part works correctly from now on. It's a light bulb on righthand side of your panel ( aka taskbar)..right click and end or exit it.

viewtopic.php?t=265618 . Thanks to trytip for this

1st enable the ability to see hidden files in Nemo. Open up your home folder, then press ctrl h after left clicking into any empty area of it, Now you should see a .config folder. Right click on it and select to open it via root or as admin. type the password you created when you first installed Mint in that installation wizard. enter, now right click in any empty area of that newly opened Nemo window and create new document. Name it without quotes" redshift.conf" Now open it with any text editor and paste without quotes
[redshift]
temp-day=3700
temp-night=3700
gamma=1.0
adjustment-method=randr

Now save this newly created document. Now when you run redshift. You'll DEFINITELY notice a redder/more orange ..change in the screen especially if viewing a normal webpage without a hardcore dark theme within the web browser of your choice. You'll need to experiment with the temp-day and temp-night numbers to see what works best for your eyes. 3700 is great for me at night, but I prefer 3900 during the day. Remember each day you adjust these numbers...save it again. exit redshift like I explained earlier than launch it again.

Remember to add redshift as an auto start item in your Startup Applications menu/deal too. but the correct command is redshift-gtk no spaces nothing else. I have a one second delay set so I can see it working but I don't think it matters what the delay is. Experiment to see what works best for you

C. There's this odd thing in Mint 20 cinnamon where when you want to create new keyboard shortcuts they don't want to work. So superkey then "keyboard", select short cuts tab, custom shortcuts selection to the bottom left, then add custom shortcut selection. Let say you were used to using ctrl shift esc for Task Manager in windows and want the same thing..basically here.

Let's use the default System Monitor application for the example. It's exact command is gnome-system-monitor , after entering that in the command field, name it whatever you want , click Update. Then under the keyboard bindings part, left click the top option that should say " unassigned" and it should change to " Pick an accelerator" now do the exact same keyboard hot keys combo ctrl shift esc. It should update to that.

Here's the kicker/bug part. You might find it doesn't do anything yet. I had to log out of cinnamon or reboot my PC ( both log you out of cinnamon session regardless) and log back into cinnamon. NOw it should work. It worked for me this exact troubleshooting way every time. Now, oddly, when you create other custom shortcuts, you don't have to log out and log back in to get them working.

Pretty much the rest of the info and links I have depend on if you do certain things or use certain applications. Hit me up if you need more tips. This comment was probably long winded enough as it is. xD

Cheers.

[rickNS]

Dang thing still updated and locked me out of linux. Windows 10 is a evil snake man. I have tried many ways to stop windows 10 from updating and non have worked yet. So be prepared!

This is not true if you have the pro edition anyway. I agree windows is a snake (or more precisely it's creator(s)) I don't use windows for those reasons, but I do have it on one drive just to test things. I know you can control it with the "group policy editor".

How to Disable Automatic Updates in Win 10 pro, (enterprise too I think)

1) Press the Windows logo key + R then type gpedit.msc and click OK.
2) Go to "Computer Configuration" > "Administrative Templates" > "Windows Components" > "Windows Update".
3) Double-click "Configure Automatic Updates".
4) Select "Disabled" in Configured Automatic Updates on the left, and click Apply and "OK" to disable the Windows automatic update feature.

[bob466]

Don't waste your money on books...you'll learn by doing things yourself. Linux Mint is easy to use and if you have questions or problems...that's what this Forum is for.

I just started with LM a week ago. Granted, I'm trying to run a home server (on really old hardware) using only the command line, I think the strategy is the same: read guides, watch videos, and just dive in and don't be afraid to mess up.

I'd avoid the dual boot. I read/watched a lot of tutorials saying that setting up dual boot effectively was more of an intermediate skill. Once you find a drive to install linux on, just dive in. Don't get hung up on decisions because you'll probably wind up reinstalling in a few days anyway. You'll learn from your mistakes and gradually realize why things are done the way they are in linux.

Frankly, I have yet to see a huge advantage of using linux unless you are willing to learn how to use terminal. The terminal is so powerful and efficient but I acknowledge (at least for me) it's very slow learning before you can do anything of value with it (I did see the value when I needed to change ownership of a bunch of mp3s and edit their ID3 tags). For just browsing and playing games, I'd probably stick with Windows 10. Linux will offer a little more stability and allow some older hardware to remain useful. However, if you are just going to use it for browsing and videos, take a look at ChromeOS.

Everyone has to start somewhere but it's the correct advice you get that makes all the difference. The biggest problem with Linux Newbies is...they've never installed an Operating System before and only know how to play games and surf the Web.

So when they try Linux...Installing the OS and configuring it (which is very easy) they cry..."It's too hard" and run back to Windows.

I don't Dual Boot...I have a Win 7 Virtual Machine for some Software. If you've used CMD in Windows...then you can use the Terminal as it has many advantages that you never had in Windows....you don't need to use the Terminal much as everything these days is point and click. Linux has many advantages over Windows...it's easy to Install and use...Doesn't Brake...No Spyware...No Malware...No Blue screen of Death...No Updates that screw you System...Freedom to do what you like and no Microsoft.

Different people have different ideas on how to Install Mint...when I Install Mint Cinnamon...I always choose...Erase Disk and Install Linux. This gives me on a 500GB SSD one Partition...the Operating System (Root) and never get warnings about the Drive running out of space which we see many times on the Forum. I don't have a Swap Partition either as I have 16GB of Ram installed...so the Swap File that comes with Linux Mint is fine.

It's a good idea once you get Mint Installed and configured the way you like...set up Timeshift and take a Snapshot...then create an Image of the Drive with either or both Macrium...viewtopic.php?p=1434480#p1434480 or Foxclone...so if anything should happen...you don't have to Re-install the OS again... last thing remember Linux isn't Windows...it's better. hope this helps.

[AndyMH]

I am currently running Windows 10 Home 64 Bit OS. I would like to dual boot. Have windows 10 be the default and when I want linux just reboot into linux.

OS independent - before you make any major change do a backup.

A 1TB drive is plenty of space for both win and mint. Use win's disk management tools to shrink the size of the C: partition. How much is up to you, but if win is going to be your primary OS, I'd go 750GB win, 250GB linux. Leave the space unallocated. Boot your mint usb stick, run the installer and select the 'install alongside' option. Most of the time, it is as simple as that.

Dual boot - linux can read your win partitions, so any files on win you can access. win can't read linux partitions (which is good!).

On books - I wouldn't bother. I did when I started, bought a book on linux mint, wasn't cheap. It rapidly became outdated as new versions were released. Just had a look on amazon - couldn't see anything I would buy. There are lots of resources on the web and there is this forum - there are no stupid questions, we were all newbies once.

Applications - there are linux alternatives to most win applications (just ask). They may/will work slightly differently. For those that you can't do without you can continue to dual boot, or (what I do now), run win in a VM (virtual machine).

Learning any new OS is a steep learning curve, but it is worth it.

[totally lost]

Dang thing still updated and locked me out of linux. Windows 10 is a evil snake man. I have tried many ways to stop windows 10 from updating and non have worked yet. So be prepared!

This is not true if you have the pro edition anyway. I agree windows is a snake (or more precisely it's creator(s)) I don't use windows for those reasons, but I do have it on one drive just to test things. I know you can control it with the "group policy editor".

How to Disable Automatic Updates in Win 10 pro, (enterprise too I think)

1) Press the Windows logo key + R then type gpedit.msc and click OK.
2) Go to "Computer Configuration" > "Administrative Templates" > "Windows Components" > "Windows Update".
3) Double-click "Configure Automatic Updates".
4) Select "Disabled" in Configured Automatic Updates on the left, and click Apply and "OK" to disable the Windows automatic update feature.

This does not work in any way shape or form! If only it was that easy! You can go as far as deleting the hole update files and it will still repair itself and start updating again eventually. It may take a year to do but it will as i have a laptop i tried it on.

[AndyMH]

Google, there are lots of sites with answers, this is just one (giving you four alternatives):
https://www.easeus.com/todo-backup-reso ... pdate.html
Works with win10 pro, are you running the home edition?