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switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 11-08-2010
so its time for me to leave winblows and switch to linux.
i love(d) XP, still had it dual booted when I installed 7. Lucky me, malware got a grip on my computer. I can't be bothered going through the multi-day process of having it fixed online (it'll take specialized tools to do it and specific knowledge that I don't have, see: spywareinfo forums). Switching back to XP isn't a possibility as it got jacked as well and I can't load into it.
Quirks about my desktop, I only have a disc reader. No burner, no dvd reader. Just a plain old 52x speed cd reader.
XP is good, but inconvenient for a multitude of reasons, making it a last resort/option but nevertheless it'll be there as a boot option.
I'd go to mac but is it smart to run mac OS on a computer built for windows? My desktop is intel based not AMD.
Luckily I only paid 8$ for my Windows 7 license (thank you UOIT for volume licensing, i got microsoft office 2008 for 11$)
I know very little about Linux and how it works, what I do know though is that it's a better set up to run my desktop as the media server I've always wanted it to be.
One thing, Linux is FAT32 isn't it? Or at least, not NTFS?
either way, i need a geek.
RE: switching from windows to linux - moon111 - 11-08-2010
I have a harddrive switch from: http://www.industechnologies.com/
No dual boot for me. Flick the switch and choose which drive to boot from. Currently I have XP on one drive, Linux on the other.
Love it, except they're a little pricey. Great if you're in a situation where you want to keep things completely separate. You could erase, install, virus, hack, whatever on one drive and the other drive is complete removed from the equation. Yes the big drawback is they're very expensive, but they could be a lower cost option then having two separate computers in some situations. Work computer used by kids for example. Test system with XP/7/Linux etc on separate drives.
The first thing that impressed me with my install of Linux (Sabayon - http://www.sabayon.org/) was how many useful apps were included. After install I wasn't searching for much more. However the install didn't like my monitor resolution. To fix it, it was the equivalent to working with Windows 3.1 Not a big issue, but
not being familiar with the OS, it took time. Probably the biggest reason I don't use it. Non-user tasks are not intuitive. You have to get online and research how to do everything.
RE: switching from windows to linux - hardk0re - 11-08-2010
For me ANY risky browsing or trying of software etc, gets done in a VM. Malware got those a few times but then just restore back to the last snapshot and i'm set. Plus if something hits any of my main pc's i've got WHS to restore the last working backup.
Linux has its place, but replacing a mainstream pc isn't one of them right now for the average user. I consider myself an average user even tho I work in IT, I don't to a heck of allot with my home PC's.
RE: switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 11-08-2010
(11-08-2010, 07:41 AM)hardk0re Wrote: For me ANY risky browsing or trying of software etc, gets done in a VM. Malware got those a few times but then just restore back to the last snapshot and i'm set. Plus if something hits any of my main pc's i've got WHS to restore the last working backup.
Linux has its place, but replacing a mainstream pc isn't one of them right now for the average user. I consider myself an average user even tho I work in IT, I don't to a heck of allot with my home PC's.
VM isn't a bad idea, I would've NEVER even come close to thinking of that. I used to have Linux in a VM though.
I used to be a more than average computer user, I don't expect it to be terribly hard to get back into it. I'm not against having to relearn how to use an OS. Far as home PC's go... there's eventually going to be a lot going on in regards to a home network. A couple computers will be rigged for specific tasks rather than daily use so I'm going to need to re-learn things eventually anyway.
moon; hd switch sounds neat but unnecessary. My desktop has 3 drives in it already. A partition is more than separate enough for me but so is separate drives. I don't mean to be rude but it kinda seems that for no cost I get the same practicality that you do with your switch, instead mine is a boot menu unless it's worth it to you to make that other drive completely inaccessible when you're booted into the other one? I don't really see the advantage... (I'm sure preventing access to the other drive can be done on a software level)
For sabayon, screen resolution issues are a deal breaker for me. I surf on a 32inch LCD flat screen and my resolution is 1709x1006 (custom set, windows hates it lol).
RE: switching from windows to linux - darkpuppet - 11-08-2010
If you're going linux, either the latest Ubuntu or Fedora distros are probably your best bet. I'd probably vote for Ubuntu.
The problem with Linux is that regardless of which flavour you pick, you're going to end up finding that one app you really want is distributed as a binary for another linux distro than yours and building from source is a god aweful pain.
It's almost inevitable.
You can get MacOS running on intel nowadays -- search for some hackintosh forums to get you up and running. It's also a bloody pain, and you'll find that OSX updates will break your pristine install.
Don't get me wrong. I love what Linux stands for, but if you want an easy-to-use desktop, you should stick with windows. It works, and your'e better off learning how to avoid malware than learning how to compile drivers from source. Unless you're into that sort of thing.
RE: switching from windows to linux - NOS2Go4Me - 11-08-2010
Here's what you want to have in your box before going to Ubuntu 10.10 (which is wicked fast on the right hardware):
Current or 1/2 generations old dual-core processor or better.
2GB of RAM (or better)
Fairly-current Hard Drive. Even better: 2 Hard Drives.
A Nvidia video card (more on this below).
With this basic, basc configuration, you can install the current *stable* WinE Windows emulation environment and game fairly well with a LOT of current-release games. The Nvidia video card is the key, as their 3D-accelerated video drivers are FAR, FAR beyond the ATI/AMD offerings - yes, even the new 5xxx/6xxx series.
Two hard drives will allow you to use Rsync and a number of front-end apps, or maybe even a completely different app, to back up automatically the files that matter to you. You can rsync to any other Rsync "server" that you specify - be it network-attached storage, another laptop or computer running Linux, or maybe an Internet-based private Rsync destination. Another viable alternative for "cloud" storage is both Google Apps (unsure of current storage limits), and evilly you can use the Microsoft Live "SkyDrive" service (25GB per account).
I've used most major releases of Ubuntu since 5.04 and I even keep a VM at work for testing (from 6.10 on, now at 10.10) purposes.
Once I get another Nvidia video card for my current rig (4GB DDR3-1600, AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, WD Caviar Black 1TB), I'm moving to Ubuntu "permanently" if I can get VMWare Server's Linux distro to work in hardware-accelerated mode so I can play any other games there in a Windows XP or 7 VM.
RE: switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 11-11-2010
Ubuntu was the distro I was leaning towards using, next to Fedora it's the only one I've ever used and are moderately familiar with.
RE: switching from windows to linux - tetra - 11-11-2010
I would also recommend Ubuntu.
Partitions are not FAT32 or NTFS, they are EXT2 or EXT3.
RE: switching from windows to linux - moon111 - 11-11-2010
(11-08-2010, 08:30 AM)Mystake Wrote: moon; hd switch sounds neat but unnecessary. My desktop has 3 drives in it already. A partition is more than separate enough for me but so is separate drives. I don't mean to be rude but it kinda seems that for no cost I get the same practicality that you do with your switch, instead mine is a boot menu unless it's worth it to you to make that other drive completely inaccessible when you're booted into the other one? I don't really see the advantage... (I'm sure preventing access to the other drive can be done on a software level)I got the switch as a review item. So it didn't cost me anything. But I still like to bring attention to any product I've liked. Who knows maybe it's the solution for some school's IT person who's making a computer room for different classes which will have students saving their work on their own harddrive?
For sabayon, screen resolution issues are a deal breaker for me. I surf on a 32inch LCD flat screen and my resolution is 1709x1006 (custom set, windows hates it lol).
32"??? Let me guess, you have to stretch your wallpapers to fit? LOL.
RE: switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 11-11-2010
(11-11-2010, 10:27 AM)moon111 Wrote:(11-08-2010, 08:30 AM)Mystake Wrote: moon; hd switch sounds neat but unnecessary. My desktop has 3 drives in it already. A partition is more than separate enough for me but so is separate drives. I don't mean to be rude but it kinda seems that for no cost I get the same practicality that you do with your switch, instead mine is a boot menu unless it's worth it to you to make that other drive completely inaccessible when you're booted into the other one? I don't really see the advantage... (I'm sure preventing access to the other drive can be done on a software level)I got the switch as a review item. So it didn't cost me anything. But I still like to bring attention to any product I've liked. Who knows maybe it's the solution for some school's IT person who's making a computer room for different classes which will have students saving their work on their own harddrive?
For sabayon, screen resolution issues are a deal breaker for me. I surf on a 32inch LCD flat screen and my resolution is 1709x1006 (custom set, windows hates it lol).
32"??? Let me guess, you have to stretch your wallpapers to fit? LOL.
I gave up on using full screen wallpapers. Though when I do pick one I use the 1680x1050 res ones for minimal stretching.
also even neater is computers can be rigged to auto-refresh everytime the restart, bringing the installation back to a completely fresh one.
RE: switching from windows to linux - Benzin - 11-12-2010
my vote is for Linux Mint. it's basically 98% Ubuntu but it comes loaded with all the software required to watch online videos etc. Last time I used Ubuntu (ver 8.xx) I had to install a package that would allow me to have Flash Player and all that, things might be different now though.
RE: switching from windows to linux - darkpuppet - 11-12-2010
^-- yeah, ubuntu 8 was a loooong time ago... it's better now -- and besides all you really need is VLC
RE: switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 11-18-2010
so before I do the switch, how do I switch my files over so I can use them in ubuntu? I'm gunna be the only person I know who doesn't use windows so how will I be able to share files over a flashdrive or such?
as i was editing my post, to say that wow it's been a while since I've used Linux and that NTFS was supported, my windows 7 installation failed.
it all happened at once too, background changed, new icons in bottom right, even windows notifications got hijacked.
*sigh*
tried to get back into 7 and it auto-crashes once in windows, so I'm in safe mode for now.
and to add, the spyware is opening new tabs in firefox. Yay! While in safemode too, so it's clearly embedded itself into the browser...
RE: switching from windows to linux - NOS2Go4Me - 11-18-2010
(11-18-2010, 01:24 AM)Mystake Wrote: so before I do the switch, how do I switch my files over so I can use them in ubuntu? I'm gunna be the only person I know who doesn't use windows so how will I be able to share files over a flashdrive or such?
as i was editing my post, to say that wow it's been a while since I've used Linux and that NTFS was supported, my windows 7 installation failed.
it all happened at once too, background changed, new icons in bottom right, even windows notifications got hijacked.
*sigh*
tried to get back into 7 and it auto-crashes once in windows, so I'm in safe mode for now.
and to add, the spyware is opening new tabs in firefox. Yay! While in safemode too, so it's clearly embedded itself into the browser...
Yup, you can easily use a NTFS-formatted USB thumb drive to move stuff around. It also connects nicely to shared Windows folders if you just want to drop stuff somewhere for the non-Linux people.
RE: switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 11-18-2010
turns out in safe mode i can't navigate around folders, YAY. in other words, if it's in my start menu or on the desktop, I can get to it. Else, I'm SOL.
(its giving me more error msgs)
p.s. this thread has turned into a vent/rant.
RE: switching from windows to linux - NefCanuck - 11-19-2010
Not to stray too far off topic here but if whatever has grabbed a hold of your system has also imbedded itself into your data files, if you transfer them to another Windows based machine (even passing them through your new Linux box) you may just be spreading around whatever it is that has infected your system.
You may want to have your data files checked out before you anything with them...
NefCanuck
RE: switching from windows to linux - NOS2Go4Me - 11-19-2010
Either use the AVG bootable anti-virus CD, or pull the HDD and scan it as a removable drive in a drive enclosure on a machine that you trust to be virus-free.
RE: switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 11-19-2010
the only files coming with me are my media files. and old word docs and stuff. I only use my computer for watching/listening to media and surfing webpages.
RE: switching from windows to linux - NefCanuck - 11-20-2010
and those are prime hiding places for virii and malware (esp. the Word files)
Scan that data before it goes anywhere.
NefCanuck
RE: switching from windows to linux - Mystake - 12-20-2010
Dan you got me there, I'll do a full system scan.
Last night, fdone exams, no homework rush or anything, finally got around to installing Ubuntu.
I could've hackintoshed it but from a rather quick glance, the 680i sli mobo I have wasn't ideal.
This is the part where I may need someone over MSN for some Live(hah... pun...) help. Seems that the whole multiple partitions and multiple hard drives situation is causing some issues...
From what I gather the mapping isn't right... grub and linux are showing different... information about my hard drive order.
for ex, i installed Linux to what grub says is hd(1,0), the partition on it being hd(1,4).
when i installed linux, i picked /dev/sda
pretty sure /sda is now being shown as hd(0) but I set Linux to install Grub to the same partition it was installing itself to.
Found this all out using SuperGrubDisk
Also, can`t boot the LiveCD as it goes to a green screen.
Anyway, anyone think they can help? my forum username@gmail.com is my MSN...