New (to me) laptop

[sgosnell]

To change the resolution, click System/Preferences/Display.

http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/

[raymondh]

One more question. Where is the best place to get tutorials so that I may learn how to make this work for me?

Try Ubuntu pocket guide. Download the PDF file and read away

http://www.ubuntupocketguide.com/index_main.html

PS. I'm from the mainland and I'm freezing too

[Olav]

I think windows is now toast.

It pleases me to hear that. One step further to the solution of Bug #1 8)

[SteveHillier]

Just want to let everyone know that I am using my new system right now for this post

Glad we have been of some help.
Just want to make a couple of comment from the various contributions.
fluffman86, I have installed UNR on a 15.4 WS laptop and don't have any problems.
Hawiianlizard, I always make sure to burn at about half the maximum speed of the drive. Seems to avoid errors.
Hope to see you back again sometime

[fluffman86]

fluffman86, I have installed UNR on a 15.4 WS laptop and don't have any problems.

Oh, sure, I mean it works fine. I'm just saying that I like the way gnome-terminal and tomboy and such are maximized on a 1024x600 display, but would have hated that on my 1440x1050 laptop which had enough room to have several notes and a terminal open at once.

Just a matter of opinion, I suppose.

[jeb800e]

How can no one have the password? What about the people that gave you the laptop in the first place?
First, I would check with the original owner of the laptop and files. Also, it may be against some type of rule in the Windows XP EULA, or possibly against the licenses in something, etc. (yet I do not know exactly). You may want to first make sure you won't be violating any licenses, just to make sure.

[fluffman86]

He got the laptop from a business or university. Sure, *someone* there may have the password to that laptop, assuming they are still there. But *why* would they give him the password anyway? More likely they would just give him a disc to reinstall Windows with...which the OP doesn't want to do anyway, especially since he's already wiped the hard drive entirely and installed ubuntu. And even if he *did* want to crack or erase the password, there are a thousand tools online to do that.

[sgosnell]

I've seen people who forgot the password to their own computer. It's not all that rare, actually, and we had someone with a company computer who didn't have the password. The previous user was no longer employed with the company, and not available to give the password.

[SteveHillier]

I've seen people who forgot the password to their own computer. It's not all that rare, actually, and we had someone with a company computer who didn't have the password. The previous user was no longer employed with the company, and not available to give the password.

Lost passwords, all too frequent among my clients. We now have a policy that once we obtain a password we take a note of it and add it to the client files back at the office. We often get calls from clients asking for their password.
Worst of course is when the system stores the password so that the user doesn't have to type it in. Think emails etc. They then change the machine and need to reset user accounts - they don't have a clue.
What then happens of course is people write them down, make them too simple or use the same password for everything - all of course against good password practice.
I could go on but.....

[sgosnell]

The use of passwords is fine in theory, but doesn't work so well in practice. Lots of things can, and do, go wrong.