Should switch to linux?

Well I have a 500gb hdd
4gbs of ram
vista 64x home premium
nvidia 9600m gt
hdx18t

 

Most of your hardware will work out of the box no problem, but you will need to install video drivers, and it's easy, automated.

 

Hey, I just finished installing Linux Mint. I'm on it right now. So I was wondering where I can download color settings, resolution settings, and for some reason my wireless button keeps switching on and off instantly. I mean I am connected but it keeps flashing blue and orange

 

Well first you need to search in the menu for 'Hardware Drivers' and install the latest nvidia driver. As for the wireless, that's odd, maybe it's just because there is network activity? my thinkpad has a light that flashes green when there is network activity.

 

well whenever I press a button or move my mouse it flashes.

Also when I dual boot, it has 2 linux options and 2 vista options. Which one do I choose?

 

What are the options? For linux, choose the first one.

 

I think I will try out linux for 1 more day and see if I like it. I don't like how I have to keep giving it more space.

 

What do you mean? The OS itself only takes up 4GB of space. And also, be sure you install all of those drivers. Take it for a test drive, you can do 95% of the things you do on Windows on Linux. And it's also faster and more customizable.

 

Right but I made a 20gb partion of my hdd for it and it says its 100% full

 

I highly doubt that unless you copied a lot of files to the partition.

 

I didnt copy anything. The top red bar says 19.8 gbs in use. I havent downloded anything.

 

What bar where?

Think of it this way, the CD image is only 700MB, highly unlikely it's taking up 20GB unless you did something.

 

Hold on, I will check it out later. But I went to disc space usage.

 

Oh wait never mind. It says 17.5 gbs available. But yeah, What do I download to get different resolutions? I want a 1280x768 resolution. and something to increase my digital vibrance and lower my gamma.

 

You need to install the GPU driver.

 

Install the Nvidia card driver...you should get a system tray pop up telling you to do this...if not, go to system>hardware I think it is...or install it via synaptic. Launch the driver control panel and you can set the resolution and do all that stuff

 

I dont know guys. I've been trying it out, and linux just doesnt seem right for me. I was just fine with vista. I will give it a few more days. But honestly I think I was happier with vista.

 

You haven't even got it setup yet.

You need to search the start menu(click "menu" in the lower left) for Hardware Drivers and install the latest driver from there, it's easy

 

Yeah but I'm more of a gamer on my pc and Linux cant run most of my games.

 

That's why you dual boot

You realy need to listen and install the graphics drivers if you want the correct resolution.

 

I am quoting my previous comment because I am not sure you read it.

Any way, as mentioned above, the advantage of dual booting is that you can always go back to Windows if you need to. It is very good to have Linux at your disposal for several reasons. One of the most important reasons for me is security. I don't know if you are aware of the situation in Windows right now, but it is basically wide open for hackers to attack unless you take some nasty measures.

.lnk vulnerability: Microsoft fix causes icon chaos - The H Security: News and Features

.lnk vulnerability in Windows: Attack wave approaches - The H Security: News and Features

In Linux you don't have to worry about such problems.

Besides, Linux and open source is the future. Already, for the last 20 years, the most important innovations in computing have come from the open source world. Windows is still behind Linux in several areas that make Linux a pleasure to work in, once you get settle down on it.

You have already done the hardest part, which is making some room on your hard drive. So you can go back to Windows whenever you feel that you can do something easier on it. But, keep your eye on Linux. It is improving by leaps and bounds every year. Keep trying different distros, both as live CDs and as fully installed OSs. You can just keep using the partitions you already have. Just for some background, here are the reasons why I use Linux:

Why do I use Linux An alien’s viewpoint

Have fun!

 

Thomas, Pushing linux down people's throats like a dealer on a school yard is lame. The guy is a gamer he doesn't need linux. The guy isn't happy with it.. he wasn't happy with the live CD experience and isn't happy with the installed version.

If you want to be useful, Show the guy how to get rid of grub and make windows fill the Hard drive again.

 

I agree. Why push Linux on someone who's only initially investigating it especially when they want to play Windows games.

That's crazy.

The OP should have been told to just try it out. Try to find an old computer or just use the live CD for a bit and then attempt a dual boot if they're still interested.

But, prescribing Linux to play Windoze games is nuts! Unless, the OP insisted, I'd say stay with Windows for that.

 

Well I will try it out for a few more days. I need to install those drivers because I like how fast it is. But if I don't like it I guess I will uninstall worst case scenario

 

It might ultimately be easier to leave it where it is and not use it. Unless you're in dire need of the spare space on the partition, it might be worth having a second OS installed in case Vista bites it for some reason (Every Vista install I've used has crashed hard at one point or another)

 

If they don't submit, you have to beat them into submission...that's what I always say.....

 

I think part of the problem was your laptop is a 18.4" screen with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080. your forcing it to 1280x768 so its easier to view, but causing it not to run at its native res is going to cause stuff to not look perfect (in both windows and linux) but you should be able to adjust screen res in the linux control panel and make it look how you want it.

Even if you do give up on linux I give you props for trying it out. Many people won't even do that as its a learning curve. I still encourage people who want to try linux to try it from a flash drive persistent install. (which can be done by livelinuxusb or UNetbootin. all you need is a 2 or 4gb flash drive, and you can try out as many linux distros as you want, all without making any changes to your computer / windows / etc. Running from the flash drive is much faster than a live cd and it even lets you make some changes and save files.

 

Dude, he's not even using KDE...lol

Well you know, I don't think an opinion formed when no drivers are installed, it's running from a CD drive, I don't think that is an actual good opinion.

He hasn't even installed the graphics drivers yet, when was the last time you used Windows without drivers, eh? Not fun.

I'm glad you're trying it, and yeah, Linux is very fast compared to Windows

If you need any extra help feel free to PM/IM me or just post in this thread, I'm checking it regularly.

 

True, but he did say he was going to try PCLinuxOS so I didn't want him to get discouraged before getting there.

 

Just so I know. How do I uninstall linux?

 

A quick answer because I got to go. Basically, you could delete the partition(s) you created for Linux and modify the Windows partition exactly as you did for shrinking it, but this time you expand it to take over the empty space. The most tricky part is restoring the Bootloader to the way it looked before installing Linux. An easier way to deal with that would be to edit the Boot options inside Linux, before removing it of course, so that only the Windows option is left. That is very easy to do. Just modify a text file. But, again, I think it would be a mistake to do that. At least you can use Linux to browse the Web securely.

 

I agree with rm2, except you need to restore the Windows bootloader using a recovery disc(an install disc is the same thing).

 

Uninstall Linux and remove GRUB (THE SUPER EASY WAY)
----------------------------------------
Since you're using vista,
Boot into windows and download 'Easy BCD'


In that program there is an option to "restore windows bootloader"

Click it

then in windows go to computer management--->disk management
Find the partition you have linux on and erase that partition.

then extend the C: into it, or

format the now unallocated (what used to the the linux) partition in NTSF label it and use it to store files or programs in windows.


DONE!

 

I download BCD, but I cant find the restore visat bootloader.

 

should be a button in there "write MBR" and above it there is a check box that says "install the vista bootloader"

it's under bootloader options

http://www.softpedia.com/screenshots/EasyBCD_8.png

EasyBCD Screenshots, screen capture - Softpedia

 

You could buy an old computer and after you install Linux, you could smash the laptop into pieces. Sometimes, there's apps in Linux that just don't work and have the most crude and ridiculous installers/install processes.

Google Earth and Video Drivers are two of the absolute worst. Some users might want to add wireless.

 

Last time I installed Google earth it was one click. Same with Video drivers...literally...and wireless works out of the box, and if not, one click too.....

 

I would smash the laptop first to save some time....

 

yep, I've installed GE a few times recently and its no problem at all.