Windows 10 Advice

**pjost** · 12-11-2015, 10:40 AM

Good advise Miked. That is exactly what I am doing (thanks to Matador). Like you I have a dual boot setup. I still need a Widows computer to run 3 programs. Stamps.com, Yahoo Sitebuilder and a CD/DVD duplication program.

How Microsoft could ever release such a POS as Vista is just beyond me. The only reason I have it is because my wife's work threw the whole computer in the garbage so I took it, and use it almost daily now.

Just the other day I told the wife I wanted a copy of Windows 7 off eBay for Christmas. She was like "but that's 3 (versions) behind what I have on my laptop!"

I just said "I know honey, but that's what I want." Figure I'll get a few more years out of that machine.

In a perfect world I would run all Apple products, but who has the money for that?

Sorry for the hijack Patriot.

Back on topic: I'm not computer expert, but if I were you Patriot76 I would get all your pictures, documents, bookmarks, and anything else you can't live without backed up to an external hard drive...then double check that you have everything you want to keep, then triple check it.

Then partition the laptop hard drive in half, then do a fresh install of Win 7 on one half, then Do a Ubuntu install on the other partition. Just what I would do.

But like I said, I'm not a computer guru like some of the other guys here. Just an average computer user.
Good luck.

**matador** · 12-11-2015, 12:01 PM

I can't afford Apple either

I'll spark a fire saying this, but the older versions of Mac OS X are very much Unix-based. They have a lot more in common with Linux than you'd think.

For an older laptop, going dual boot can be a great option. Linux is available in many different flavors (Called distributions). I'd strongly recommend a Ubuntu-based one- they'll have a lot more programs available than other choices.

That said, I wouldn't use Ubuntu itself. It desktop is called "Unity". Unity is very, very RAM intensive compared to some other options. I personally recommend Xubuntu- it's the same architecture as Ubuntu, but it uses the XFCE window manager, which uses a lot less RAM.

Going Linux is a bit of a leap, but I personally think that it's worthwhile.

< /Geek>

**Patriot76** · 12-11-2015, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by pjost

Good advise Miked. That is exactly what I am doing (thanks to Matador). Like you I have a dual boot setup. I still need a Widows computer to run 3 programs. Stamps.com, Yahoo Sitebuilder and a CD/DVD duplication program.

How Microsoft could ever release such a POS as Vista is just beyond me. The only reason I have it is because my wife's work threw the whole computer in the garbage so I took it, and use it almost daily now.

Just the other day I told the wife I wanted a copy of Windows 7 off eBay for Christmas. She was like "but that's 3 (versions) behind what I have on my laptop!"

I just said "I know honey, but that's what I want." Figure I'll get a few more years out of that machine.

In a perfect world I would run all Apple products, but who has the money for that?

Sorry for the hijack Patriot.

Back on topic: I'm not computer expert, but if I were you Patriot76 I would get all your pictures, documents, bookmarks, and anything else you can't live without backed up to an external hard drive...then double check that you have everything you want to keep, then triple check it.

Then partition the laptop hard drive in half, then do a fresh install of Win 7 on one half, then Do a Ubuntu install on the other partition. Just what I would do.

But like I said, I'm not a computer guru like some of the other guys here. Just an average computer user.
Good luck.

You did not hijack the thread, but instead added valuable information. Miked recommended that I check out Kim Komando and her recommendations. Thank you for that advice. I am very busy finishing Christmas presents and learning about this "digital world" I have not taken the time to respond to the great information members have provided.

As many know, my expertise involves things slightly larger than a computer. I have 25 desk tops sitting in the basement for an educational experience during the next blizzard. I will dive into these with the sledge hammer, torch, and anything else my destructive mind will conceive. With the help of previous posts and the knowledge of present members, the game plan is to learn about computers, ewaste, and maybe life in general. I do not believe I will focus on ewaste after the education, I have to much fun just breaking things, learning how they were built, and watching things fall apart. Thanks to all on the forum that have contributed.

It is time to get back to google to find our what programs are slowing this machine down. My machine problems are directly related to age, the computer problems are probably due to programs. As the wife says, "figure it out." Thanks.