Linux Mint Forums

Hello everyone,
After putting up with Windows XP for years after support from MS ended, and support falling all the time, I decided to try Linux which I hesitated for a while. Then I was told about Mint and found it was what I needed, as it made everything easy for someone used to Windows. Although a long time ago I used to be a hobbyist, my knowledge decayed or simply became out of date so I needed all the help I could get. The people who created Mint even added many Windows visual effects, though sadly I have to turn them off for my Core 2 Duo Dimension E520 (hand me down from workplace, probably ordered in 2009). What's more Mint can address all 4GB of my RAM compared to 3GB of main memory (plus a little for the onboard video) that XP can use. For free software, this is impressive and I'd like to give many thanks to everyone who contributed to Mint and also those of you who answered my questions in the Newbie support forum.
I'm going to start another project to fully use the power of Mint, and upgrade my RAM to 8GB which is the maximum that I can use. I just completed the slightly dangerous task of updating the BIOS in preparation (Dell officially only rated the maximum for the E520 at 4GB, as the earlier versions used a Pentium, but the later Core 2 Duo versions are able to use 8GB). I will be able to use my old PC for several more years, thanks to Mint.

Well done,
Tenzan (Seb)

Welcome to the community and happy Minting!

Hello tenzan

Welcome to Linux Mint and the Linux Mint forum

Welcome, and good luck with your project!

I think the best part is how much work you've done to make it easy for users with limited technical knowledge. The plug and play implementation is good (especially considering unix-like operating systems didn't have this kind of function as a priority) and it detected all of my hardware right away with zero work needed. My equipment is nearly 10 years old so at least there was plenty of time to port drivers! Hopefully all that's needed to finish the project is buying more RAM and adding it, if there's no complications from here on...

Tenzan

Welcome aboard, tenzan!

A few weeks later and I completed my RAM upgrade, going all to plan. Now I don't get anymore lag from stuff from memory going back and forth to swap file. I won't necessarily say that I'd never use Windows again. But I'd certainly never pay to use Windows again, ever.

Tenzan

Yay

tenzan wrote:A few weeks later and I completed my RAM upgrade, going all to plan. Now I don't get anymore lag from stuff from memory going back and forth to swap file. I won't necessarily say that I'd never use Windows again. But I'd certainly never pay to use Windows again, ever.

Tenzan

You consider adding replacing the HDD in your system with an SSD, as you will get even better performance and increase the useful life as well.