Questions before I make a mistake

[Grafeit]

Hello, my name is Megan, and I am here because I don't want to lose anything on my computer or make a "bad" decision. Hopefully someone here can lend me a hand!

I have an old laptop, my only computer, and it is not running very well. What I have is:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2181

The only thing that is different is the RAM, my boyfriend upgraded it for me. It has 2GB now. My computer takes 5-7 minutes to boot up, it takes a while to connect to the internet, once it connects, it randomly disconnects and re connects (on all networks), sometimes it takes 3-4 minutes just to start up some programs. My boyfriend plays EQ2 and I can't play that with him for some reason. According to SoE's website I meet all of the minimum requirements (even go above and beyond a few).

My boyfriend is going to buy me a Macbook Pro 15" with 8GB of RAM in June (for my birthday) but that's a long ways away. I asked him if he could fix it and he was able to get it going a little bit faster, but it's still slow and annoying. Then he said I could always try Ubuntu and see if I like it.

I do like it (I tried it from a CD, it was just a little slow), but I don't want to lose all of my pictures or music. I don't have an external HDD (even though my boyfriend thinks I should get one) so I won't be able to back everything up. If I install Ubuntu will it wipe the HDD in my computer? Is there a way to just install the Ubuntu OS over Windows XP? (My boyfriend said probably not because they have different file systems or something, he said something about Unix).

Here is a small list of concerns:

1. Will I lose everything that is on my computer?

2. What are the minimum system requirements for Ubuntu?

3. Is it compatible with Windows Files? (.doc, .ppf)

4. Is there a pretty big list of software for Ubuntu that will do the basic needs? (Word processors, power point/keynote presentation software)

5. Is it a smart idea to install Ubuntu as the only OS on my computer?

Thank you in advance!

[snowpine]

You must back up your data; I cannot recommend skipping this step.

WUBI is an easy way to install Ubuntu "inside of" Windows: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/wubi

Minimum hardware requirements are here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Ubuntu includes the LibreOffice suite, which can open/edit most Microsoft Office files.

[Grafeit]

Ok, so I will back up my information.

As for the other stuff, I just don't want to feel crippled because I'm not using windows.

All of that being said, would it be safe to just switch over to Ubuntu?

Also, just because I am cheap and lazy...Is there a chance that I can install Ubuntu and keep my files? Just say "I'd like to keep them, but if something happens, then oh well." I have looked around at a few external HDD's and they usually cost between $50-$100 and I don't really want to buy one of those...

[Sylos]

I have to agree with the comment above - you really need to back up your files before you do anything to ensure you dont suffer loss.

If that really isnt possible for you then, if your HDD is big enough, you could try and install Ubuntu next to windows. Once you have done that you could then copy across your files. This involves he installer resizing the windows partition and then installing alongside it so COULD result in TOTAL LOSS OF ALL FILES IF IT GOES WRONG!!! But if the info isnt that critical to you then you could do it (I have done it in the past without backing up and without issue BUT wouldnt do it with info I couldnt afford to loose).

The best bet is to either get some kind of backup drive (usb hdd) or try and borrow one with enough free space from a friend.

Good luck

[cortman]

According to the link you provided (with stats on your computer) it appears you have a DVD drive. Get a handful of DVD-R's and backup your data to them (each one holds over 4 GB and you can get them for a little bit of nothing.

[Grafeit]

Ok, so assuming I get a backup drive, do I just copy over the files that I want to keep?

I'd assume if I used some sort of software that creates a backup for me (like time machine does for OS X) then I'd need an equivalent software to read the back up. Would it be best to just move everything manually to a backup drive and then after Ubuntu is installed just manually move my files back?

My boyfriend is in class all day today, I was hoping to figure something out for myself for once.

[Grafeit]

According to the link you provided (with stats on your computer) it appears you have a DVD drive. Get a handful of DVD-R's and backup your data to them (each one holds over 4 GB and you can get them for a little bit of nothing.

Ok, now since you brought this up, I do have an 8GB USB, and 5 DVD+RWs (4.75GB per disc) so in total I have about 31GB of storage space. I don't know that I have that much stuff on my computer...I would just manually move it all over and make data dvd's and fill the USB up and then move it all back over.

[kenthink]

You could always back up with a cheap USB disk as well.

[snowpine]

Or use Ubuntu One:

https://one.ubuntu.com/

[Dangertux]

Hello, my name is Megan, and I am here because I don't want to lose anything on my computer or make a "bad" decision. Hopefully someone here can lend me a hand!

I have an old laptop, my only computer, and it is not running very well. What I have is:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2181

The only thing that is different is the RAM, my boyfriend upgraded it for me. It has 2GB now. My computer takes 5-7 minutes to boot up, it takes a while to connect to the internet, once it connects, it randomly disconnects and re connects (on all networks), sometimes it takes 3-4 minutes just to start up some programs. My boyfriend plays EQ2 and I can't play that with him for some reason. According to SoE's website I meet all of the minimum requirements (even go above and beyond a few).

My boyfriend is going to buy me a Macbook Pro 15" with 8GB of RAM in June (for my birthday) but that's a long ways away. I asked him if he could fix it and he was able to get it going a little bit faster, but it's still slow and annoying. Then he said I could always try Ubuntu and see if I like it.

I do like it (I tried it from a CD, it was just a little slow), but I don't want to lose all of my pictures or music. I don't have an external HDD (even though my boyfriend thinks I should get one) so I won't be able to back everything up. If I install Ubuntu will it wipe the HDD in my computer? Is there a way to just install the Ubuntu OS over Windows XP? (My boyfriend said probably not because they have different file systems or something, he said something about Unix).

Here is a small list of concerns:

1. Will I lose everything that is on my computer?

2. What are the minimum system requirements for Ubuntu?

3. Is it compatible with Windows Files? (.doc, .ppf)

4. Is there a pretty big list of software for Ubuntu that will do the basic needs? (Word processors, power point/keynote presentation software)

5. Is it a smart idea to install Ubuntu as the only OS on my computer?

Thank you in advance!

To answer your original questions.

1 - There is a CHANCE you could, as others have stressed already do not do anything without backing up. I recommend a cheapo USB drive or worst case some DVDR's

2 - Your system meets them. However my wife had a similar model Toshiba for a while and it was a little difficult to get the 915 chipset working properly with graphical acceleration (I would recommend Ubuntu 10.04 for this system)

3 - Yes and No. The newer style .docx files work without problems, most MS Office files regardless of format will open in Open Office or LIbre Office , that being said older formats will display some errors with certain types of formatting.

4 - Again yes and no, most of these functions are handled in Open Office / Libre Office, and while there are alternatives I would stick with these. As far as other common tasks the Ubuntu Software Center is chock full of alternatives.

5 - This is a personal choice, it depends on if Linux can do what you want it to without going back to Windows. On my personal system I use only Linux, at work I use Linux and virtualize Windows because I need outlook and office communicator. I would recommend doing your research and determining if you need to keep Windows around , if you determine that you do, this is fine there is an option during install time to install side by side with Windows (though this requires enough free hard drive space.) Ultimately it comes down to your choice and whether or not Linux can do what you need it to.

Hope this helps.

[Quackers]

Another possibility is to dual-boot Windows with Ubuntu. In order to do this you will need to have some unallocated space on the hard drive (or to create some by shrinking your Windows C: drive).
You could then have Ubuntu running in a separate partition - with access to all your Windows files from there.

[cortman]

Ok, now since you brought this up, I do have an 8GB USB, and 5 DVD+RWs (4.75GB per disc) so in total I have about 31GB of storage space. I don't know that I have that much stuff on my computer...I would just manually move it all over and make data dvd's and fill the USB up and then move it all back over.

Right on.

[Grafeit]

To answer your original questions.

1 - There is a CHANCE you could, as others have stressed already do not do anything without backing up. I recommend a cheapo USB drive or worst case some DVDR's

2 - Your system meets them. However my wife had a similar model Toshiba for a while and it was a little difficult to get the 915 chipset working properly with graphical acceleration (I would recommend Ubuntu 10.04 for this system)

3 - Yes and No. The newer style .docx files work without problems, most MS Office files regardless of format will open in Open Office or LIbre Office , that being said older formats will display some errors with certain types of formatting.

4 - Again yes and no, most of these functions are handled in Open Office / Libre Office, and while there are alternatives I would stick with these. As far as other common tasks the Ubuntu Software Center is chock full of alternatives.

5 - This is a personal choice, it depends on if Linux can do what you want it to without going back to Windows. On my personal system I use only Linux, at work I use Linux and virtualize Windows because I need outlook and office communicator. I would recommend doing your research and determining if you need to keep Windows around , if you determine that you do, this is fine there is an option during install time to install side by side with Windows (though this requires enough free hard drive space.) Ultimately it comes down to your choice and whether or not Linux can do what you need it to.

Hope this helps.

Out of curiosity, is Ubuntu 10.04 much different than 11.10? I really liked 11.10, I think it looks great and felt just as great! Another question, should I be running x32 or x64? I downloaded the trial of 11.10 x34. (Maybe x64 will look better? A couple of the icons on the sidebar looked a tad pixelated).

[snowpine]

ps if you are going to keep Windows and dual boot, then you should repair/reinstall your Windows. :) It sounds like something is wrong (virus or something); the behavior you describe is not normal:


My computer takes 5-7 minutes to boot up, it takes a while to connect to the internet, once it connects, it randomly disconnects and re connects (on all networks), sometimes it takes 3-4 minutes just to start up some programs.

[snowpine]

Out of curiosity, is Ubuntu 10.04 much different than 11.10? I really liked 11.10, I think it looks great and felt just as great! Another question, should I be running x32 or x64? I downloaded the trial of 11.10 x34. (Maybe x64 will look better? A couple of the icons on the sidebar looked a tad pixelated).

10.04 and 11.10 are very different. I would recommend the current 11.10 release unless you have a specific reason to choose the older 10.04 release.

(and 12.04 is coming in April)

You should download 32-bit Ubuntu for your Pentium M computer.

[PhilGil]

Out of curiosity, is Ubuntu 10.04 much different than 11.10? I really liked 11.10, I think it looks great and felt just as great! Another question, should I be running x32 or x64? I downloaded the trial of 11.10 x34. (Maybe x64 will look better? A couple of the icons on the sidebar looked a tad pixelated).
The 10.04 desktop looks different than 11.10. For lack of a better description, 10.04 looks and feels more traditional. You can look at the photos in this review (http://arstechnica.com/open-source/reviews/2010/05/lucid-dream-ars-reviews-ubuntu-1004.ars) or try it for yourself as a live CD and see which version you prefer.

I would expect 10.04 to perform better than 11.10. Having 2GB of RAM will really help, but you'll still have to deal with an older processor and graphics.

However, you should use 11.10 if you like the look and feel are are satisfied with the performance. Motivation is going to be the deciding factor in a successful transition to Ubuntu, and you'll be less frustrated with the bumps along the way if you're using the version you like best.

[Grafeit]

The 10.04 desktop looks different than 11.10. For lack of a better description, 10.04 looks and feels more traditional. You can look at the photos in this review (http://arstechnica.com/open-source/reviews/2010/05/lucid-dream-ars-reviews-ubuntu-1004.ars) or try it for yourself as a live CD and see which version you prefer.

I would expect 10.04 to perform better than 11.10. Having 2GB of RAM will really help, but you'll still have to deal with an older processor and graphics.

However, you should use 11.10 if you like the look and feel are are satisfied with the performance. Motivation is going to be the deciding factor in a successful transition to Ubuntu, and you'll be less frustrated with the bumps along the way if you're using the version you like best.

Well, I have the 11.10 ISO on a botable DVD and I started up and clicked "Try Ubuntu". I REALLY liked how things worked and looked. Like I said before though, it was just a little bit laggy at times. (Not constantly)Is that because I was just trying it from a DVD, or will it run exactly like it did when I tried it?

As for "Traditional" appearance, from what I've seen, 10.04 looks like OS X without a dock. 11.10 looks like OS X with the dock on the side. I don't mind the differences to much considering I am comfortable on OS X.

(I have decided to go ahead and scrap windows, I am getting a Macbook Pro in a few months anyways.)

Also, my boyfriend put an anti virus software on my computer (AVG), and an anti-malware software (Malwarebytes) on it too. Both say my CPU is totally clean. When my boyfriend pulls up the dos prompt window (whatever the black window with all of the white font is called) and he types something about fdisk or something that repairs registries. It never finishes, it keeps failing. (He has tried twice)

*He recommended I reinstall windows XP first, I just don't feel like bothering with it. It has been slow for a long time.

[PhilGil]

@Grafeit
Ubuntu will perform significantly better when it's installed than it will from a DVD, regardless of which version you choose. I would start by installing 11.10 and see if the performance is acceptable to you. If it isn't you can always try 10.04 or even Xubuntu or Lubuntu (which are designed to work better on resource-limited computers).

Installs are quick, so don't be nervous about trying something different if your first choice doesn't work out.

[Grafeit]

@Grafeit
Ubuntu will perform significantly better when it's installed than it will from a DVD, regardless of which version you choose. I would start by installing 11.10 and see if the performance is acceptable to you. If it isn't you can always try 10.04 or even Xubuntu or Lubuntu (which are designed to work better on resource-limited computers).

Installs are quick, so don't be nervous about trying something different if your first choice doesn't work out.

Thanks Phil! I am going to install 11.10 first, if I don't like it, I just follow the same steps and install 10.04 right? (I certainly hope 11.10 works!)

[Dangertux]

I recommended ubuntu 10.04 for two reasons. One -- it is the current long term support version which generally means it's more mature and less buggy. It also means it's better supported. Which brings me to the second reason Ive used ubuntu on a laptop that is very similar and getting unity to perform right with the i915 chipset was something of a hassle. If youve tried 11.10 and it worked okay for you then by all means go ahead and use it. I had a better experiwigs with 10.04 on similar hardware.

Also as far as 64 bit vs 32 bit, you will want the latter. Ubuntu performs considerably better when installed as opposed to running off the DVD as IO is much faster. However 32 and 64 bit do not look different one is not 'prettier' than the other so to speak.

Hope this helps

[PhilGil]

Thanks Phil! I am going to install 11.10 first, if I don't like it, I just follow the same steps and install 10.04 right? (I certainly hope 11.10 works!)
Essentially, yes. There will be some minor differences in the installer (as 11.10 is two releases newer than 10.04). Also, I'll echo what many other posters have said - you must back up your photos, documents, music, etc. before installing.

Good Luck.

[Grafeit]

Essentially, yes. There will be some minor differences in the installer (as 11.10 is two releases newer than 10.04). Also, I'll echo what many other posters have said - you must back up your photos, documents, music, etc. before installing.

Good Luck.

Ok, finally, everything just now finished...16GB of data (4 DVDs worth of backups) and now I am going to install Unbuntu 11.10 and see how it runs. If it's slow or not so great, I will be putting 10.4 on there. (I have 2 ISO image DVDs for Ubuntu).

[Grafeit]

:(

Whelp, I went ahead with the installation...then popped in my back up DVD's and all four of them are corrupted?! I'm pretty sad now, I lost about 6 years worth of pictures and home videos! I'll live, but I am pretty upset...(partly the reason I absolutely hate Windows) I know I have an outdated computer and all of that jazz, but it 'should' be able to run just as good as it did when I bought it. Sure some newer software might not work because I don't meet the requirements, but the basic stuff should work just fine. I burned the data DVDs with the DVD burner that came on my computer (Sonic something) and it said complete, I took the DVD's out, put them back in and it showed the content was on there. I tried a few pictures and they worked. Then I install Ubuntu and it say's the DVD is corrupt. I had my boyfriend put it in his computer (Windows 7) and it say's "Unable to read disk, the disk may be corrupt"

I want to cry kind of, but I won't....WHY DOES WINDOWS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED?!?!

[PhilGil]

Four bad burns seems a bit bizarre to me, especially if your laptop could read the disks before you nuked XP. I wouldn't give up hope until I tried the disks in a few other computers.

Also, if you have access to the original burning software (and a computer to install it on), I would see if the disk can be read using that software. I've seen situations where the burning software leaves the disk "open" and it isn't readable on other devices until the disk is closed.

[Grafeit]

Four bad burns seems a bit bizarre to me, especially if your laptop could read the disks before you nuked XP. I wouldn't give up hope until I tried the disks in a few other computers.

Also, if you have access to the original burning software (and a computer to install it on), I would see if the disk can be read using that software. I've seen situations where the burning software leaves the disk "open" and it isn't readable on other devices until the disk is closed.

Thanks! That worked! I had tried the disk in a few other computers and had no luck, then I installed the burning software and closed the project and it worked! Thanks a ton Phil!!

[PhilGil]

Thanks a ton Phil!!You're welcome. So glad that worked.