On 2024-08-13, Jack Strangio <
jackstrangio@yahoo.com> wrote:
root <NoEMail@home.org> writes:
The model is Ideapad 1.15UL7 and comes with Win 11 installed.
I have been running linux on it using an external USB stick.
I would rather eliminate the USB if I can.
Thanks for suggestions.
Linux works well with Lenovo/IBM machinery. These days I only buy Lenovo.
I customise it when buying it to work very well with Linux.
The laptop I'm writing this on is a Lenovo T410. This is my second Lenovo;
I choose them for the professional-grade keyboard, but they also run Linux quite well.
I use Linux Mint. It's also a good distro for those moving across from Windows. My own preference is Mint Mate.
I'm running Debian (currently Bookworm) with Xfce, which is lightweight
and responsive - as opposed to, say, KDE, which may be pretty but was
quite a resource hog when last I tried it. But pick whatever makes you
happy - unlike Windows there are many choices of desktop environments.
<snip>
Use Windows disk tools or maybe gparted to reduce the size of Windows on
your boot disk bfore you start to install the Linux distro. I generally reduce my Windows partition(s) as much as possible to somewhere beween 50
and 100 gig. The rest of the space on my drives is allocated to Linux.
My laptop came with Windows 7, which I keep in a dual-boot configuration
just in case I needit. The last time I needed it was a couple of years
ago. I agree that you should reduce the size of the Windows partition
if you're going to dual-boot - but Windows tends to put a Master File
Table (MFT) smack in the middle of the partition, and it's not movable
by normal means. This means you can't shrink the Windows partition down
to less than half its size unless you resort to a third-party solution.
Try PerfectDisk from Raxco (www.raxco.com) - you can download a free
demo version which can move the MFT. It will take a few reboot cycles,
but you can shrink the Windows partition quite a bit. My Windows
partition is now 60GB on a 250GB hard drive.
I usually use a Windows 7 guest in VirtualBox when I have to use my HP scanner software, and that's not all that often.
I run XP in VirtualBox for Windows software development. Less is more -
I give it 30GB of disk space and 512MB of memory, which is enough for
my needs, so it's light on resources and still runs fast.
When you have Linux up and running, try to use it for everything. That's
the fastest way to learn the nitty-gritty stuff. Google what's beyond your own current capabilities. If still stuck, then boot Windows as a last
resort to fix that problem.
LibreOffice does just about anything MS Office will, unless you're
one of those Excel gurus who uses every little feature. VLC and
mpv do a good job of playing videos and sound files. The latest
versions of Firefox and Thunderbird are available to surf the Web
and process e-mail, and xscreensaver is a prettier screen saver
than anything you'll find under Windows. There are lots of Linux
utilities out there that will do just about anything you want, if
you can live with the fact that they might be a bit different from
their Windows counterparts. Most of these utilities come with a
standard Linux distro, and installation is a breeze.
Good luck.
You'll find a different way of life. :)
Indeed. No more forced upgrades, no more monthly rentals, no more
nagware. It'll take a bit of work, but there are lots of sources
of information you can search for on the Web. Use DuckDuckGo (
https://duckduckgo.com) and you're free from Google's surveillance.
And, of course, there's this newsgroup - post your questions here
and we'll try to to help.
--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | They don't understand Microsoft
\ / <
cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | has stolen their car and parked
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | a taxi in their driveway.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | -- Mayayana
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