New HP Laptop!

[big_teee]

I bought a new HP Laptop with a 750GB SATA HD.
I bought it for the hardware, it came with 8.1 WenDoz on it.
I had full intentions of not firing it up on windoz, but it had a new chipset that wouldn't cooperate.
If all goes well, I will have it wiped Clean and Sporting a new Penguin for a mascot by sometime tomorrow.
T

[big_teee]

I fired up Windows a few minutes, I forgot how invasive MS is.
It takes forever to do nothing.
Everything you do You have argue with the system about it.
I tried and finally downloaded Firefox.
What a goat roping that was.
T

[Mrsices]

i hear you man that's difficult adjust with linux to MS products

[big_teee]

Not that I have anything against Windows, if that is what one likes and likes to fight and buy Software.
After running different Linux Distros exclusively for the last 1-1/2 years, (No Windows) I had forgotten how slow everything runs and the Nannyness with windows.
I now have the hard drive wiped clean, repartitioned, and runnig a triboot system, all linux.
Life is good!
T

[Steve A.]

Not that I have anything against Windows, if that is what one likes and likes to fight and buy Software...

C'mon, Terry- you have said nothing but negative things about Windoze for some time now, which is cool- you like Linux. I get it.

I can see how Linux could be great for content consumers but I've always been more into creating content and AFAIK Linux is still a bit weak in that area. Just looking at my toolbar here are the Windows programs I use regularly:
Adobe Audition 3.0
Microsoft Word 2003
Adobe Acrobat Pro 7.0
Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
Nitro Pro 9 (another PDF creator)
TurboCAD 10 (CAD program for drawing up schematics)
Nero 8 (disc burner)
Sonar 7 (digital audio recorder/editor)
Guitar Rig 5 (lots of fun for guitarists!)

And here are some of the smaller programs and utilities I use:
FileSearchEX
RichCopy 4.0
SnagIt 5 (screen capture utility from- 2001)
ACD 3.1 (graphics viewer- from 2001)
Burrrn (CD burner for FLAC and MP3 files- from 2005)
Amazing Slow Downer 3.1.5 (slows music tracks- from 2007)
Mp3tag 2.49 (adds and edits tags for MP3 and FLAC files)
Playlist Creator 3.6.2 (creates playlists- from 2010)
ClickRepair 3.9.1 (cleans up vinyl rips 2005-2012)
Exact Audio Copy v1.0b3 (a very exact CD ripper from 2011)
Blackberry Desktop (for my 2007 Blackberry phone)

I would love to see those programs (or their equivalents) be ported over to Linux. Believe it or not I am rooting for Unix/Linux and with the operating systems for Apple and Android based loosely on _n_x I think that it will eventually replace Windows.

As far as content creation goes, Windows has been shifting its focus towards content consumption from Vista on up (or should I say down? ) Serious content creators are either sticking with WinXP (a 32/64 bit dual boot is ideal!) or switching over to Apple computers.

The whole idea of charging money for an operating system is what made Bill Gates rich but I don't think it's right. I think that the basic operating system should be free and if you want to pay a little bit for add-ons that is okay with me.

Remember that Microsoft used to sell Internet Explorer before it started bundling it with Windows in the late 90's.It was Mozilla offering their open source Netscape browser for free that made the idea of selling a browser obsolete. Even Apple has started making their OS upgrades free (they had been priced around $30 previously which was very reasonable compared to Microsoft.)

IMO Microsoft is sinking down to the level of tablet computers while Unix/Linux is picking up steam.

Steve

P.S. My list of software programs and their versions is not random. Most of the programs have newer versions available with more bells and whistles- and a dumbed down interface!- but there are older versions that work better for me.

I used to spend a lot of money upgrading programs but why bother if what you already have works for you? Just stay off the merry-go-round of upgrading your OS so you need to upgrade your programs.

[Brad1]

HP really doesn't like it when you try to do your own thing with "their" computers. Never again will I buy an HP product. I learned the hard way.

Brad1

[big_teee]

C'mon, Terry- you have said nothing but negative things about Windoze for some time now, which is cool- you like Linux. I get it.

I can see how Linux could be great for content consumers but I've always been more into creating content and AFAIK Linux is still a bit weak in that area. Just looking at my toolbar here are the Windows programs I use regularly:
Adobe Audition 3.0
Microsoft Word 2003
Adobe Acrobat Pro 7.0
Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
Nitro Pro 9 (another PDF creator)
TurboCAD 10 (CAD program for drawing up schematics)
Nero 8 (disc burner)
Sonar 7 (digital audio recorder/editor)
Guitar Rig 5 (lots of fun for guitarists!)

And here are some of the smaller programs and utilities I use:
FileSearchEX
RichCopy 4.0
SnagIt 5 (screen capture utility from- 2001)
ACD 3.1 (graphics viewer- from 2001)
Burrrn (CD burner for FLAC and MP3 files- from 2005)
Amazing Slow Downer 3.1.5 (slows music tracks- from 2007)
Mp3tag 2.49 (adds and edits tags for MP3 and FLAC files)
Playlist Creator 3.6.2 (creates playlists- from 2010)
ClickRepair 3.9.1 (cleans up vinyl rips 2005-2012)
Exact Audio Copy v1.0b3 (a very exact CD ripper from 2011)
Blackberry Desktop (for my 2007 Blackberry phone)

I would love to see those programs (or their equivalents) be ported over to Linux. Believe it or not I am rooting for Unix/Linux and with the operating systems for Apple and Android based loosely on _n_x I think that it will eventually replace Windows.

As far as content creation goes, Windows has been shifting its focus towards content consumption from Vista on up (or should I say down? ) Serious content creators are either sticking with WinXP (a 32/64 bit dual boot is ideal!) or switching over to Apple computers.

The whole idea of charging money for an operating system is what made Bill Gates rich but I don't think it's right. I think that the basic operating system should be free and if you want to pay a little bit for add-ons that is okay with me.

Remember that Microsoft used to sell Internet Explorer before it started bundling it with Windows in the late 90's.It was Mozilla offering their open source Netscape browser for free that made the idea of selling a browser obsolete. Even Apple has started making their OS upgrades free (they had been priced around $30 previously which was very reasonable compared to Microsoft.)

IMO Microsoft is sinking down to the level of tablet computers while Unix/Linux is picking up steam.

Steve

P.S. My list of software programs and their versions is not random. Most of the programs have newer versions available with more bells and whistles- and a dumbed down interface!- but there are older versions that work better for me.

I used to spend a lot of money upgrading programs but why bother if what you already have works for you? Just stay off the merry-go-round of upgrading your OS so you need to upgrade your programs.

You're right, I don't even know what most of your programs are!
In my own little world, this is the best fit for me.
I ran MS products since 90s,
For my running gunning web surfing, and speed, Linux is for me.
I would have a windoze box for certaing things, like your doing, but I would also have a dedicated ext4 FS Surfing Machine.
Win 8 would not be my MS choice.
Of all the others I used I liked MS 7 the best, but it still seemed pretty vulnerable, IMO win7 much more stable than XP.
Truce, have Fun.
T

[big_teee]

Toshiba C55-A5180

I Bought Cheap Laptop Number 2.
This one is a Toshiba C55-A5180, E/W 2.13 Ghz Intel Processor, 500gb Disk, and 4gb Ram.
It is on sale for $299.99 Through Saturday, and was right at $330 with tax.
Toshiba Satellite C55-A5180 15.6" Laptop | StaplesŪ
It was tricky to get it into Bios, so I could boot with a USB.
Win 8 didn't want to let me boot into bios.
I had to take the battery out, to totally kill it.
then It would boot into bios.
I moved USB boot up in the boot order.
I am Loading Kubuntu 14.04 as we speak.
It is formatting the whole disk so Win 8.1 is Gone, & History.
No Recovery Option Available!
T
**It loaded successfully, it is a nice well made basic laptop.
It will Reside on the BigT Guitar Room Desk!

[Steve A.]

I am Loading Kubuntu 14.04 as we speak.
It is formatting the whole disk so Win 8.1 is Gone, & History.
No Recovery Option Available!

Not to tell you what to do but I would have first made a disk image of the Win 8.1 install using a utility program like Acronis True Image just in case I decided later to pass the laptop on to someone (family or friend) who did not want to run Ubuntu. Yeah, better safe than sorry seems to be my basic rule in life...

I just got a 7 year old Dell Optiplex 755 midtower with Ubuntu installed on it (I would have had to pay extra for a Windows license.) My game plan is to set up a triple boot scenario with Win XP, Win XP 64 bit and Ubuntu. I would have made a disk image of the Ubuntu boot disk but I was using a new hard drive so I set the original hard drive aside in case I need it later.

It took about an hour each to install Win XP and Win XP/64 so once I set all of the basic options I made images of the two partitions. (Believe me it saves a LOT of time in case I screw something up or just want to start over.) It was a joy for me to work in Win XP again after a year and a half of running Windows 7 and cursing it every minute.

Steve

P.S. I did mess around with Ubuntu a little bit and I think that it should work well for browsing and email (I do not plan to connect the two Windows partitions to the internet except when absolutely necessary to install or update programs.)

[big_teee]

Not to tell you what to do but I would have first made a disk image of the Win 8.1 install using a utility program like Acronis True Image just in case I decided later to pass the laptop on to someone (family or friend) who did not want to run Ubuntu. Yeah, better safe than sorry seems to be my basic rule in life...

I just got a 7 year old Dell Optiplex 755 midtower with Ubuntu installed on it (I would have had to pay extra for a Windows license.) My game plan is to set up a triple boot scenario with Win XP, Win XP 64 bit and Ubuntu. I would have made a disk image of the Ubuntu boot disk but I was using a new hard drive so I set the original hard drive aside in case I need it later.

It took about an hour each to install Win XP and Win XP/64 so once I set all of the basic options I made images of the two partitions. (Believe me it saves a LOT of time in case I screw something up or just want to start over.) It was a joy for me to work in Win XP again after a year and a half of running Windows 7 and cursing it every minute.

Steve

P.S. I did mess around with Ubuntu a little bit and I think that it should work well for browsing and email (I do not plan to connect the two Windows partitions to the internet except when absolutely necessary to install or update programs.)

I hear what your saying but they are just $300 laptops.
I could have taken the hard drive out and put in one just for Linux.
I did that on my Lenovo, with win 7, but that gets expensive.
If you make all those backup disks, then you spend a full eve. Jacking with Win8 making disks.
I saw absolutely nothing to interest me with win8.
Besides I can tell you're a very cautious guy, I'm not.
I always make sure the Linux will load properly, before I wipe the drive.
Then damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead.
Before retirement I worked on AT&T digital switching systems since the 80s, that ran on Unix.
I have the old compaq here, that is also on mint.
I'm going to reload it with a clean fresh mint load, and give it to My daughter to write her poetry on.
She and my grandaughter can use it.
My grandaughter is 14 and she plays games on linux, and gets around fine.
There are 5 Ubuntus, that the Ubuntu team maintain, all with different desktops.
Ubuntu
Lubuntu
Kubuntu
xubuntu
Ubuntu Gnome
Of the 5 Ubuntu's, plain Ubuntu is probably the least popular, because of the Unity desktop.
I'm surprised they havent dropped the Unity for some other desktop.
Then a breakoff of Ubuntu is the Mint family, it is my favorite, but it won't currently run on these win 8 laptops with the secure boot uefi bios.
As soon as they come out with Mint 17 with a generic kernel of 3.12 or higher we will be off and running.
The Bios we are all used to has changed and it is getting harder and harder to bust in and get rid of win 8.
So if you are happy with windoze, stick with it, I'm not, and no win 8 backup disks for me.
As far as Passing them on to Family members, IMO they are much more valuable without the win8, than with!
T

[Steve A.]

It took me a full 5 minutes to create a disk image of my WinXP and WinXP64 partitions after installing them. I run the Acronis boot disk which has its own operating system so it will work on any PC. Swapping discs for a backup is a real drag. I've only replaced hard drives on desktop computers where you can connect the new drive to the SATA (or old IDE) bus and clone the old drive by pushing a button and waiting an hour or two. I guess that you could clone a laptop drive using the USB port...

With an Acronis boot disc you could make disk images of different Linux installs in case you decide later that you liked an older version better. You could reinstall it from the ISO file but with a disk image you can set up all of your programs and accounts first so that you don't have to go through all of that again. (Maybe its not a hassle with Linux- it sure is with Windows!)

Steve

[big_teee]

I never keep old linux, always looking for better, and moving forward.
I download linux iso files, and write them to USB Drives to load the laptops with.
Then when a new iso comes out, I erase the iso image and load a new one.
A real pet peeve of mine with windows, is how picky it is about being powered off.
I'm used to linux, If I'm in a hurry booting or working on a linux box, I do a hard power off.
When you turn the power back on linux, it just reboots back up.
On the HP, before I reloaded, I kept inpropperly powering off win 8, there once it said it would take an hour and a half for it to scan everything and get back stable.
So I pushed the power off button again! lol What Picky software.
Never heard of Acronis. I don't do backups per sae. I do keep several copies of my personal files.
Also with several machines, I can always go get a folder from another machine.
I'm doing daily loads of Ubuntu and reporting bug errors for the new up and coming 14.04 LTS, the LTS being Long Term Support issue.
The 14.04 will be supported for 5 years with driver, bug fixes, and security updates.
Still waiting for some official Distros for these two new laptops, at current having to run beta software on both machines.
There should be several new official distros by april.
T