I just bought a laptop (an HP) and want to put Linux on it. It comes with Win8.1, but I don’t care about that. What’s the easiest way to install Linux?
Since you didn’t give many details about what you want, just google “Linux LiveCD” and pick one that suits you.
Edit: Here, this will help you choose.
OpenSUSE, my choice for the last decade has a number of installation methods, the simplest of which is DVD ( although network installation is possible ); one can choose which environment is best for one at installation, although one can choose more than one. KDE is best.
But it would be better to both read up on installation release issues for the chosen OS, and to google for other people’s experience on installing that OS to that model of computer and/or motherboard.
I can manage it, but that’s only because of empiric experience. Installing other OS’s such as Windows can also have snags for the unwary ( however generally one can say Linux has all the drivers already included ).
Find a version of Linux you like, burn the (ISO) image to DVD, put said DVD into your machine, boot to DVD (may require BIOS configuration to enable/force booting to DVD). Most decent distros have easy-to-follow setup routines, will partition the hard drive for you, etc.
If you build it and break it, just start over.
Good luck
OP’s question has been answered; may I ask a related question?
I’ve had trouble with laptops overheating. My present Toshiba Satellite has its internal fan, an external USB fan it sits on, and a table fan aimed at it barely a foot away. Despite all this I’m paranoid enough to avoid letting the machine go compute-bound for more than several minutes at a time. (I’ve had unfortunate incidents when I deviated from this. Am I crazy? Have I bought lemons? Is dust clogging my fans?)
Windows manages to keep the CPU cool when in the idle loop. This may be good enough, though further mjeasures (e.g. user-settable clock speed) may be desireable. Windows does have other mechanisms.
When I installed Linux on this laptop (I tried both Ubuntu and Fedora IIRC), I found that there was no way to force a reduction in CPU speed. (Earlier Fedora for a different laptop presented a menu for changing CPU speeds.)
But neither an automatic, nor user-driven clock-reducer appeared with Fedora Linux on the Toshiba. Googling, Linux message board, query to Toshiba were all no help. Perhaps I made a fool of myself with incompetent Googling.
Questions:
(1) Do SDMB experts agree that the lack of any speed throttling is almost a deal-breaker? (I’m not sure but I think the CPU remained hot to the touch even when idling. :smack: BTW, there were numerous other annoyances with both Ubuntu and Fedora.)
(2) Was this a cockpit error? Is there some clear option (e.g. the clock-speed menu earlier Fedora had) that I managed to miss?
(3) If not, do Linux users simply avoid some Toshiba products?
I solved my problem by simply running Cygwin. Several important csh scripts I needed ran properly with little or no change. The standard Unix utilities I love ran with no problem. Emulation of the Unix file system was much better than one might expect and quite adequate for my purpose. Cygwin runs under Windows 7 Ultimate which seems usable.
(4) Is my approach recommendable? What am I really missing by running Cygwin instead of Fedora Linux? (I suppose Linux may be less malware-prone, but is there more?)
Actually you might start with a number of such distributions. If the first one fails to install, try the next, if that fails try another one…until one installs properly. [Laptops in particular often need specialized drivers which not all distributions include].
Some distributions:
https://www.google.com/search?q=most+popular+linux
I’m personally an Ubuntu user. But if you’re agnostic about your package manager, there isn’t too much difference between the distros.
If I were you, I’d dual boot it. The live CD and the desktop installers are the same, so you can try it out first. Even though the Windows partition on this laptop has never booted, it’s still there if I need it to prove something to support.
I’m happy with Ubuntu on my laptop. All the hardware is supported, and I’ve been able to find all the software I need for it. plus Unity is a decent desktop environment unlike the bloated kitchen sink that is KDE.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I suppose I should have made it plain that I’m looking for the most installer-friendly, not the most user-friendly. I’ve used a variety of Unices in my time (including BSD 4.2), so user-friendliness is not an issue.
So I really want a version that has good instructions. The only time I’ve installed Linux before was from a CD I bought from a bookstore. (It’s an out-of-date version of Centos, so it’s not one I want to use now.) I’ve never burned a DVD (or CD for that matter) so I’d need good instructions on how to do that if that’s required. I don’t really care about saving the Windows system that’s already on it. I don’t plan on using it after I install Linux.
I hope this explains my needs better.
Ubuntu’s installer is easy enough that it doesn’t need instructions (though you’ll need to figure out how to get your computer to boot from CD). It prompts you with a few easy questions (language, timezone and whether you want to keep a separate windows partition) and than takes care of the rest.
I think in this case install- and user-friendliness are pretty hard to separate.
For example I recently installed CentOS 7 on a laptop. The actual installation was a breeze, but the wifi wouldn’t work. Fast-forward a few hours and I’ve disabled and enabled the right services, configured wicd just right and can connect to my office wireless. And I use linux (ubuntu) every day.
Next task is to install a movie player. Not looking forward to it.