Tech Help Needed

[Ad Orientem]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. It took forever but I have figured out how to unlock the files. It is a pain in the @$$ and has to be done for each of the hundreds of effected files, but it can be done.

Everything should be fixed by Labor Day.

[I Shrugged]

nerds.

[dualstow]

What an interesting thread! I missed it while travelling.

- I bought an hp stream laptop for $200 with the idea of putting linux on it. It's been a problem, but this is more due to hp than anything else. So I have a Windows 10 machine to play with until I get back to that project.

- Article on Win10 spyware - http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly ... 3d6cae7aa9

- How to turn off "the most egregious" spying in Win10 - http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... .html  Very useful.

- I agree with WiseOne on the handiness of Mac minis. I'm on my second one, but the one I bought in 2009 still works fine. And yes, they are very portable!

- Desert linked to a mini at BHPhoto. Great store! I got a new TV from them (online) just a few weeks ago. (I did see a negative article about how they treat their employees  )

- I think Linux makes a fine second-computer OS for most of us who aren't superusers. I can no longer recommend ZaReason (dedicated Linux machines), and certainly not hp. Dell is pretty Linux-friendly if you're looking to buy a Windows PC that you can put Linux on.

[whatchamacallit]

@Austen
I love my chromebook and never use my Windows desktop except to print on my older USB printer.

Two things not so obvious.

You need a Google print capable printer to print.

4 GB over 2 GB will be much better.

[Mountaineer]

I'm so tired of my crappy windows computers at home.  At work it's ok, because we have a staff of IT people working furiously around the clock to keep the crappy things working.  But I'm getting very close to dropping some cash on a couple Apple machines for home use. 

Dualstow, thanks for the thumbs up on Bhphoto.  I might end up purchasing from that site.

Another possibility for anyone connected to education:  Apple offers an education discount if you meet certain criteria.  When I bought my 2009 MacBook Pro I was enrolled in a college class.  The Apple price ended up being about the same as BHPhoto, plus I could purchase Apple Care if I wanted.  I don't know what the current rules are but it might be worth checking out if there are any perks to buying from Apple vs. a third party.

http://www.apple.com/education/pricelists/

... M

[WiseOne]

Good thought about having my mother use a non-admin account for everyday tasks.  The problem with W10, though, is that it constantly wants admin privileges for said everyday tasks.  It's part of what I dislike about Windows, especially since W7.

Mac is definitely a step up, but I would be happier yet for my mother to buy a keyboard for her iPad, pay the money for iCloud sync, and use that for all her computing needs.  Unfortunately, she uses Quickbooks to manage a small business (rental property).  I've tried to talk her into Quickbooks online, but she doesn't like how much it costs.  The math may work out better once this computer bites the dust.

[dualstow]

I love my chromebook and never use my Windows desktop except to print on my older USB printer.
...
You need a Google print capable printer to print.

Another potential privacy concern: to use google print means to put everything you want to print out there on the cloud, even stuff you never emailed or uploaded.
Of course for those of you with a separate computer and usb printer, you can use that for those private printouts you want to fax to your lawyer.

Another possibility for anyone connected to education:  Apple offers an education discount if you meet certain criteria. 

I bought my 2009 mini through a friend who was a university lecturer at the time. 

[MachineGhost]

I love GWX Control Panel!!!  Windows 10 doesn't exist in my reality and never will.  Buy a Windows 7 COA off of eBay if you must.  There's just no point in using 8 or 10 unless you have a touchscreen monitor or tablet.

http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/

[dualstow]

I enjoyed reading through this old thread.

I don’t suppose anyone has tried Project Trident? BSD had a more graphical version — version is the wrong word — called PC-BSD, then TrueOS.

TrueOS is now server-oriented, while desktop os endeavors have forked off (pun intended) to become Trident.

[dualstow]

On second thought, they are savaged in the distrowatch reviews. I think I’ll focus on Zorin OS.

[shekels]

On second thought, they are savaged in the distrowatch reviews. I think I’ll focus on Zorin OS.

I went from Ubuntu to Mint to Linux Lite on a desktop , also I am using Knoppix from a pen drive now that i like after going thru multiple distro . I may check out Zorin. Thanks

[dualstow]

Yeah, give it a shot. Zorin was very smooth even years ago, and that’s coming from a beginner.

I’m hoping to get my folks into it for their secondary computers.

[shekels]

Yeah, give it a shot. Zorin was very smooth even years ago, and that’s coming from a beginner.

I’m hoping to get my folks into it for their secondary computers.

Tried out Zorin on a Pen Drive, Looks nice. The only difficulty I had was the computer froze, and the mouse would move but would not click to go anywhere.

[Mountaineer]

I tried Zorin. Had some "update" related issues and reverted to Mint on a USB stick.

[dualstow]

Darn. The two posts above illustrate while I’ll never have a linux or bsd box as my primary computer. A tinkerer can. A mechanic can have a British car at home. I can do neither.

[Mountaineer]

Darn. The two posts above illustrate while I’ll never have a linux or bsd box as my primary computer. A tinkerer can. A mechanic can have a British car at home. I can do neither.

That made me laugh ... and fondly remember driving a 1958 MGA - when I was a young tinkerer, way before Linux.

I only play around with Linux on a 10 year old PC and always with the Linux OS on a USB stick.

[shekels]

Darn. The two posts above illustrate while I’ll never have a linux or bsd box as my primary computer. A tinkerer can. A mechanic can have a British car at home. I can do neither.

That made me laugh ... and fondly remember driving a 1958 MGA - when I was a young tinkerer, way before Linux.

I only play around with Linux on a 10 year old PC and always with the Linux OS on a USB stick.

I left Windows at the XP version for the most part, I still have a windows machine for a few things but went to Linux on another Desktop for the Majority of the time. If i am surfing the net or Purchase anything on line including Brokerage Account I will use Linux on a USB drive for security.

[dualstow]

I always see big news like the French government is switching to Ubuntu, Vicenza is going to use Zorin, blah blah, and then they give up and quietly crawl back to Windows so they can use their printers again.

Tiger head, snake tail, as the Chinese say.

[shekels]

That made me laugh ... and fondly remember driving a 1958 MGA - when I was a young tinkerer, way before Linux.

I only play around with Linux on a 10 year old PC and always with the Linux OS on a USB stick.

I left Windows at the XP version for the most part, I still have a windows machine for a few things but went to Linux on another Desktop for the Majority of the time. If i am surfing the net or Purchase anything on line including Brokerage Account I will use Linux on a USB drive for security.

I don't know how you can go Linux only.

1. sudo idon'tknowhowtodothat it's easier in Windows
2. too many programs are Windows only, like Quicken and my dental practice management software.

The easiest way in my opinion to use Linux is to download a ISO of your Linux choosing,
https://www.ubuntupit.com/best-linux-di ... xperience/

Then write it to a thumb drive. for windows machine try Rufus https://rufus.ie/
Also Pendrive Linux https://www.pendrivelinux.com/category/ ... tutorials/
There is also Etcher https://www.techspot.com/downloads/6931-etcher.html

Then just boot from any Desktop/laptop and try it. Run the Live Linux version you choose to see if you Like it.

This is just a jumping off point. It can get more in depth with dual booting or virtual drive which should not involve Sudo anything // -s -idk
This is how I got started using Linux without all the Windows issues.
The management software would take a virtual drive to run so I would not mess with it but there are alternative to Quicken that run in Linux I believe if you get to using Linux.

[shekels]

I always see big news like the French government is switching to Ubuntu, Vicenza is going to use Zorin, blah blah, and then they give up and quietly crawl back to Windows so they can use their printers again.

Tiger head, snake tail, as the Chinese say.

Printers were a big stumbling block a few years ago but it has gotten a lot better.
Of course we were all trying to use Printers that we were using with Windows and expecting them to work with Linux

[dualstow]

+1 on shekels’ suggestion of the Rufus tool. It made things really simple for me when I was trying out distros on a Windows pc.

Added: re: Printers: Shekels, I should mention that I don’t blame Linux for the hardware problems. If anything, my experience has been that hardware makers can be “unfriendly” to Linux drivers.

Example: I bought an HP notebook with Windows, followed all the right instructions, and could not get wifi. Got an expert to help me...no go. One could say it was human error on the expert’s part, but I have read elsewhere about this. Hope I’m not rambling here. Zorin is currently looking for someone to manufacture pc’s to natively run Zorin OS.