Linux on a stick is pretty goo but it needs a partition on your hard drive and sharing Win files can get a little tricky - IF you have a problem with corruption. Wine *used to ) messup the win format and crash the files. Only real problem with Linux - uses a different file format.
Any computer gurus here?
- Thread starter Bret4207
- Start date
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I have Linux Mint on a cd, I've tried to install it many times, won't go in this laptop, but went on my wifes like grease through a goose. I'd really rathr get another laptop and have it dedicated to Linux and learn to use it. I was fine Win 7 and XP was perfect as far as I was concerned. 10 simply sucks.
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
Linux is generally not for the non-computer saavy folks, IME. Lots of different "flavors"
which are pretty different, and lots of key pieces missing, too. Need a particular printer
driver that isn't included?....the advice you will usually get online is 'Hey, just write one,
they aren't that hard."........Nope. I have programmed since 1968, off and on, mostly off these
days,but do not want to get into that biz.
We tried to run our technical services desktop machines at work with Linux for two years with
lots of pro PC guru back up telling us how wonderful it would be, and was. After two years of continuous
PITA stuff, we went back to Win7 and problems went away.
I have successfully avoided Win 8, 8.1 and 10 so far, installed 8 and 8.1 and have used them on
family members computers. I despise them, will do everything I can to keep Win 7 "forever".
Keep your Microsoft Software Essentials up to date and run it regularly, has worked perfectly for
me for at least 3-4 years. IMO, Norton Antivirus IS a virus, essentially impossible to remove from your
computer without the special Norton remover software. Kaspersky software is absolutely forbidden on
all US govt and contractor computers....because the FSB has backdoor connections into your computer
via their "antivirus software". Beware.
Bill
which are pretty different, and lots of key pieces missing, too. Need a particular printer
driver that isn't included?....the advice you will usually get online is 'Hey, just write one,
they aren't that hard."........Nope. I have programmed since 1968, off and on, mostly off these
days,but do not want to get into that biz.
We tried to run our technical services desktop machines at work with Linux for two years with
lots of pro PC guru back up telling us how wonderful it would be, and was. After two years of continuous
PITA stuff, we went back to Win7 and problems went away.
I have successfully avoided Win 8, 8.1 and 10 so far, installed 8 and 8.1 and have used them on
family members computers. I despise them, will do everything I can to keep Win 7 "forever".
Keep your Microsoft Software Essentials up to date and run it regularly, has worked perfectly for
me for at least 3-4 years. IMO, Norton Antivirus IS a virus, essentially impossible to remove from your
computer without the special Norton remover software. Kaspersky software is absolutely forbidden on
all US govt and contractor computers....because the FSB has backdoor connections into your computer
via their "antivirus software". Beware.
Bill
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smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
We have a total of five laptops. Three have Win 7, one has Win 8.1 (which is just a touchscreen capable version of Win 7). Only the newest one; College Boy's new HP with lots of horsepower, memory and solid state drive, has Win 10 Pro on it.
Bret, another thing you might try is to boot into "Safe Mode", then go to "System Restore" and go back to the Registry settings and file structure that "System Restore" saved a month or more ago.
I would go back to a "Restore Point" date at least one month before your problems started.
Bret, another thing you might try is to boot into "Safe Mode", then go to "System Restore" and go back to the Registry settings and file structure that "System Restore" saved a month or more ago.
I would go back to a "Restore Point" date at least one month before your problems started.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
That's correct Bill. Nothing yet and many people are telling me that's all there is to it. We'll see I guess.
I was fine with Win 7 and XP. The week MS stopped supporting XP my PC started downhill. It died shortly thereafter. Same for my Win 7 PC's, 2 of them. My first laptop with 7 had issues with the keyboard dying, but it was great other than that. I got this thing because no Win 7 machine at Wally World. I run Avast anti virus, got rid of Norton the first day. I actually prefer AVG anti virus but it wouldn't load on this laptop. I've gotten rid of a lot of programs, or disabled them. 10 is not for old farts IMO. I was told by my pastor/geek that Linux Mint was pretty much like a Windows system to use. If he's wrong, and he's been wrong before, then I don't know where to go.
I was fine with Win 7 and XP. The week MS stopped supporting XP my PC started downhill. It died shortly thereafter. Same for my Win 7 PC's, 2 of them. My first laptop with 7 had issues with the keyboard dying, but it was great other than that. I got this thing because no Win 7 machine at Wally World. I run Avast anti virus, got rid of Norton the first day. I actually prefer AVG anti virus but it wouldn't load on this laptop. I've gotten rid of a lot of programs, or disabled them. 10 is not for old farts IMO. I was told by my pastor/geek that Linux Mint was pretty much like a Windows system to use. If he's wrong, and he's been wrong before, then I don't know where to go.
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
Bret,
They can put all sorts of front end GUI layers onto Linux, and if it is done right, it can make
the experience much better. Too many dozens of variations of GUIs on Linux to even say
that they are "Linux" from a user standpoint. The user likely never, ever uses actual Linux
commands (basically the same as Unix commands, and fairly similar to old DOS command
line commands) but probably the user only lives in the GUI, (Graphical User Interface) so effectively
every GUI layered onto Linux makes it, for the average user, an entirely different OS, even though
Linux is what is powering it behind the scenes. Windows was a GUI layered onto DOS, then later
they changed the underlying OS, left the GUI pretty similar, which is what most users saw.
So, any comment about "Linux" is probably fairly invalid if not commenting on the EXACT
GUI version, since that is what the user will see and interact with on a daily basis. If the GUI
is well written and actually stable, it could be great. If not, it could be bad. And the underlying
Linux could be identical in both cases.
We were running SUSE Linux and had various tools, like the WIndows Explorer file manager,
since were using it in a nearly raw form, mostly typing command line inputs for what we did,
rarely using the GUI. If you will "live" inside the GUI, not on the command line, the key is
how good is the GUI. All are separate things even though people call them all "Linux".
Bill
They can put all sorts of front end GUI layers onto Linux, and if it is done right, it can make
the experience much better. Too many dozens of variations of GUIs on Linux to even say
that they are "Linux" from a user standpoint. The user likely never, ever uses actual Linux
commands (basically the same as Unix commands, and fairly similar to old DOS command
line commands) but probably the user only lives in the GUI, (Graphical User Interface) so effectively
every GUI layered onto Linux makes it, for the average user, an entirely different OS, even though
Linux is what is powering it behind the scenes. Windows was a GUI layered onto DOS, then later
they changed the underlying OS, left the GUI pretty similar, which is what most users saw.
So, any comment about "Linux" is probably fairly invalid if not commenting on the EXACT
GUI version, since that is what the user will see and interact with on a daily basis. If the GUI
is well written and actually stable, it could be great. If not, it could be bad. And the underlying
Linux could be identical in both cases.
We were running SUSE Linux and had various tools, like the WIndows Explorer file manager,
since were using it in a nearly raw form, mostly typing command line inputs for what we did,
rarely using the GUI. If you will "live" inside the GUI, not on the command line, the key is
how good is the GUI. All are separate things even though people call them all "Linux".
Bill
Tom
Well-Known Member
A few years ago, I got some kind of virus that replaced my desktop with an image that looked just like it, but you couldn't click on anything. It also disabled the keyboard. I had to use a windows install disc to get it back to working. A few weeks later and I got the same problem again. I used Derek's boot and nuke to completely wipe the drive after formatting and reinstalled windows again. Thankfully, the only work I do on the computer is my book keeping and I had that saved to a thumb drive.
I tried linux ubuntu and mint, but couldn't get quickload to work, so I'm stuck with windows.
I tried linux ubuntu and mint, but couldn't get quickload to work, so I'm stuck with windows.
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462
California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Our Windows lap top solution was a pair of Apple MacBook Pros, and my wife is thinking of an Apple to replace the HP desk top.
Many years ago, our computer geek installed the free versions of Malwarebytes and SpyBot, on the desk top, and they have worked splendidly since.
Many years ago, our computer geek installed the free versions of Malwarebytes and SpyBot, on the desk top, and they have worked splendidly since.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Ok Bill, so I'm pretty computer illiterate and this is what I think you said, "Bret, (whole bunch of stuff I didn't understand at all) Bill." So obviously, I'm hopeless. I take it that if I'm going to try Linux, it should be the "Linux for idiots" version? Thanks for trying, but it's like trying to explain a color to a blind man. I though Linux was like Windows, only not MS so not so many people trying to screw with Gates and co.
Linux Mint has several desktop environments, they all look different but the Cinnamon desktop is VERY Windows 7 Ultimate like. Holding the mouse cursor over or clicking on the menu button opens the programs menu and it is very very windows intuitive in the directory structure and layout. Your pictures go in Pictures, documents go in Documents, downloads go in Downloads, you open your Firefox web browser and well, it's the same Firefox as you would have in windows so once you get the browser open you are back to where you were in windows, surfing the web, reading email, facebook, youtube, forums, doesn't matter which OS you are running, Firefox is still Firefox it is OS independent.
Where linux shines is in the security, there are no viruses written for it afaik, about the only way you are vulnerable is if you go to malicious sites and someone drops a root kit on your machine but even these are easy enough to detect, and now linux has Timeshift which is like system restore in that it takes an image and saves it, you can go back across several images saved to recover.
You have to input your password a LOT in linux, it's much more secure than windows will ever be, you have permissions on every file in linux, in windows you can only have permissions on a directory, not individual files within that directory. Basically, unless someone sits there and boots your machine while they are right there at it and use a boot disk or usb to boot from, this is the only way a hacker will gain any resources in an even mildly secured modern linux box let alone a well hardened box.
The REAL reason I went to linux? M$ is systematically dropping support for classes of devices across the board, they are basically mothballing chipsets and removing support from windows 10, so that the old hardware doesn't run as windows 10 progresses, they are forcing YOU as a consumer to buy newer faster hardware just to run windows with. This keeps the hardware makers and driver writers in business, two things that M$ MUST HAVE to continue to make money hand over fist. They are in a conspiracy within the industry in their actions. Linux runs on the SAME older hardware that Windows choked on after the last Windows "Update."
Where linux shines is in the security, there are no viruses written for it afaik, about the only way you are vulnerable is if you go to malicious sites and someone drops a root kit on your machine but even these are easy enough to detect, and now linux has Timeshift which is like system restore in that it takes an image and saves it, you can go back across several images saved to recover.
You have to input your password a LOT in linux, it's much more secure than windows will ever be, you have permissions on every file in linux, in windows you can only have permissions on a directory, not individual files within that directory. Basically, unless someone sits there and boots your machine while they are right there at it and use a boot disk or usb to boot from, this is the only way a hacker will gain any resources in an even mildly secured modern linux box let alone a well hardened box.
The REAL reason I went to linux? M$ is systematically dropping support for classes of devices across the board, they are basically mothballing chipsets and removing support from windows 10, so that the old hardware doesn't run as windows 10 progresses, they are forcing YOU as a consumer to buy newer faster hardware just to run windows with. This keeps the hardware makers and driver writers in business, two things that M$ MUST HAVE to continue to make money hand over fist. They are in a conspiracy within the industry in their actions. Linux runs on the SAME older hardware that Windows choked on after the last Windows "Update."
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Pistolero
Well-Known Member
Bret -
Simple version. The part you see and click on in the "normal Windows" is the graphical user interface (GUI).
It lets your mouse clicks tell the software you don't directly interface with what to actually do. The real
computer operating system "guts" for Windows was DOS years ago, with the GUI as what you actually
saw.
Linux is the same thing, but there are many different GUIs (User Interfaces) out there written by different companies. So
saying "Linux" is NOT like saying "Windows", since Windows IS the GUI that you use, but Linux is in the
background and you usually would not use it directly. So the "Type/Brand" of Linux defines the GUI (or what
it will look and act like to you). So two different company's "Linux" could be pretty different, and have very
different levels of automation for installation, and very different reliability of their various tools that you will
use, like a photo viewer, a file explorer, and an internet browser. Some may use a browser you are familiar with
if you do not use the default Windows browser, Internet Explorer. maybe Chrome or Firefox internet browsers may
work, or they may have their own browser.
So - even simpler: One "Linux" will not look or work just like another "Linux" because the parts you will use
to do normal stuff will NOT be Linux, they will be whatever the Brand Name in front of Linux is. Some may
be really easy to install and use, another may not be. All Linux operating systems are NOT the same. Not like all
Windows 8.1 are identical.
Find someone you trust who has used one of them, if you can, test drive the system a bit, get on the internet,
look at some news or pictures or whatever you use it for. See if you like the way it works. If not, try a different
brand, it will be somewhat similar, but different. Most copy Windows user interface concepts to some degree.
In mechanical terms, suppose you could get a Ford tractor but with the entire driver layout set up exactly like
a Allis-Chalmers. literally looked and funcioned exaclty like a A-C If you are an A-C fan, this would be perfect.
But maybe you could get that same Ford setup with the controls from a Massey-Ferguson....if you are a Massey fan.
The tractor that is doing the work would still be a Ford, but all the controls are like something else.
The controls are the User Interface. On a computer today, with a mouse, the Graphical User Interface - the part
you interact with, but not the part that actually does stuff. The controls could be made to look like one thing, even
if the underlying tractor was something else.
Different brands of Linux are like different brands of a Ford tractor. You can get the A-C Ford or the Massey Ford,
or the John Deere Ford. All Fords underneath (for good or bad) but they will look and operate differently to the
operator.
Bill
Simple version. The part you see and click on in the "normal Windows" is the graphical user interface (GUI).
It lets your mouse clicks tell the software you don't directly interface with what to actually do. The real
computer operating system "guts" for Windows was DOS years ago, with the GUI as what you actually
saw.
Linux is the same thing, but there are many different GUIs (User Interfaces) out there written by different companies. So
saying "Linux" is NOT like saying "Windows", since Windows IS the GUI that you use, but Linux is in the
background and you usually would not use it directly. So the "Type/Brand" of Linux defines the GUI (or what
it will look and act like to you). So two different company's "Linux" could be pretty different, and have very
different levels of automation for installation, and very different reliability of their various tools that you will
use, like a photo viewer, a file explorer, and an internet browser. Some may use a browser you are familiar with
if you do not use the default Windows browser, Internet Explorer. maybe Chrome or Firefox internet browsers may
work, or they may have their own browser.
So - even simpler: One "Linux" will not look or work just like another "Linux" because the parts you will use
to do normal stuff will NOT be Linux, they will be whatever the Brand Name in front of Linux is. Some may
be really easy to install and use, another may not be. All Linux operating systems are NOT the same. Not like all
Windows 8.1 are identical.
Find someone you trust who has used one of them, if you can, test drive the system a bit, get on the internet,
look at some news or pictures or whatever you use it for. See if you like the way it works. If not, try a different
brand, it will be somewhat similar, but different. Most copy Windows user interface concepts to some degree.
In mechanical terms, suppose you could get a Ford tractor but with the entire driver layout set up exactly like
a Allis-Chalmers. literally looked and funcioned exaclty like a A-C If you are an A-C fan, this would be perfect.
But maybe you could get that same Ford setup with the controls from a Massey-Ferguson....if you are a Massey fan.
The tractor that is doing the work would still be a Ford, but all the controls are like something else.
The controls are the User Interface. On a computer today, with a mouse, the Graphical User Interface - the part
you interact with, but not the part that actually does stuff. The controls could be made to look like one thing, even
if the underlying tractor was something else.
Different brands of Linux are like different brands of a Ford tractor. You can get the A-C Ford or the Massey Ford,
or the John Deere Ford. All Fords underneath (for good or bad) but they will look and operate differently to the
operator.
Bill
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No more than we talk about this and I get another one, I get 2 maybe 3 of this same thing every year. Pure scam, nothing more than something to get a chuckle from. In the first paragraph is the first clue, having someone's email address does not give them access to any account.
Hello!
As you may have noticed, I sent you an email from your account.
This means that I have full access to your account.
I've been watching you for a few months now.
The fact is that you were infected with malware through an adult site that you visited.
If you are not familiar with this, I will explain.
Trojan Virus gives me full access and control over a computer or other device.
This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it.
I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence.
Why your antivirus did not detect malware?
Answer: My malware uses the driver, I update its signatures every 4 hours so that your antivirus is silent.
I made a video showing how you satisfy yourself in the left half of the screen, and in the right half you see the video that you watched.
With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks.
I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use.
If you want to prevent this,
transfer the amount of $785 to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: "Buy Bitcoin").
My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 11wQFVQ65DdfzWXqup3JdY7prFazMbXjc
After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again.
I give you 48 hours to pay.
I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter.
Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address.
I do not make any mistakes.
If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed.
Best regards!
Hello!
As you may have noticed, I sent you an email from your account.
This means that I have full access to your account.
I've been watching you for a few months now.
The fact is that you were infected with malware through an adult site that you visited.
If you are not familiar with this, I will explain.
Trojan Virus gives me full access and control over a computer or other device.
This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it.
I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence.
Why your antivirus did not detect malware?
Answer: My malware uses the driver, I update its signatures every 4 hours so that your antivirus is silent.
I made a video showing how you satisfy yourself in the left half of the screen, and in the right half you see the video that you watched.
With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks.
I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use.
If you want to prevent this,
transfer the amount of $785 to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: "Buy Bitcoin").
My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 11wQFVQ65DdfzWXqup3JdY7prFazMbXjc
After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again.
I give you 48 hours to pay.
I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter.
Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address.
I do not make any mistakes.
If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed.
Best regards!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Doug and Bill- Thank you muchly! Now I think I'm starting to get it. Sounds like Cinnamon is about what I want. I' can figure out the basic Windows layout. Anything mote "techie" than getting rid of cookies or deleting a file or program and I'm pretty lost. The constant updates, "NEW!!! IMPROVED!!!" crap and the fact every 13 year old hacker in the world wants to show Bill Gates they are 10x smarter is why I wanted something other than Windows. Apple was another option, (thanks Chris!), but that means relearning everything. I just want simple and reliable, the 44 Special of the computer world. Nothing new and improved beyond XP or maybe Win 7, just something that works without all the pain. I appreciate the effort you've gone to, all of you, trying to help me with this garbage.
FWIW- I don't use many of the MS programs. I run Firefox for a browser, Thunderbird for email, Start Page for a search engine and avoid Google as much as I can. Not to sound totally weird, but this stuff has a control over our lives that causes me more than a little concern. The societal effects are all around us, yet many parents had their 6 year old a smart phone and never look back. Pretty sure this will all end up biting us in the backside in a big way at some point.
Rick- that is almost exactly what I got! It's been over the 48 hours, I think, since his "deadline" so I guess it was just "scareware". If nothing else I learned a lot!
FWIW- I don't use many of the MS programs. I run Firefox for a browser, Thunderbird for email, Start Page for a search engine and avoid Google as much as I can. Not to sound totally weird, but this stuff has a control over our lives that causes me more than a little concern. The societal effects are all around us, yet many parents had their 6 year old a smart phone and never look back. Pretty sure this will all end up biting us in the backside in a big way at some point.
Rick- that is almost exactly what I got! It's been over the 48 hours, I think, since his "deadline" so I guess it was just "scareware". If nothing else I learned a lot!
Funny how the market works. FINALLY, something computer-related the market wanted, instead of what's being force-fed by the manufacturers telling you that you want, my newest computer at work has a little MECHANICAL sliding lens cover over the camera on the monitor. The masses have spoken.
