Repurposing an old Window 7 to Linux

Factual Questions
21

My road to Linux first seriously started by installing Ubuntu through Windows Subsystem for Linux (some time ago Windows decided to integrate Linux right into Windows, thus with a few clicks every windows user has access to popular Linux distributions that will be embedded into their Terminal/Powershell/CMD interface).

After getting a basic grasp of Linux terminal commands through the Command-Line Interface I decided to try various distributions emulated in a Virtual Machine (mostly Debian based distros, but also others). Mostly because I wanted to test them out fully (with full Graphical interfaces and desktop environments) and not have any Windows imposed restrictions (WSfL restricts a lot of elevated use-cases),

Next came the need to run a private server (I wanted a dedicated computer that was always on AND connected to a large number of drives to serve as a local cloud storage). I installed Proxmox as a Hypervisor (a Debian based distribution that is highly specialized to function as a server) on an old laptop which was connected to a USB Hard drive as storage.

Proxmox was excellent at managing multiple Virtual Machines, Containers, Shared storage, etc. With this hypervisor always on and running, I was able to spin up and destroy hundreds of visualized programs and Operating Systems with just a single-click or two in seconds. Everything could be automated (backups, certain time-sensitive actions, responsive measures), It removed the danger/time-cost in experimentation because all testing became impermanent and all fucks-up were disposable and reset with a few clicks/seconds.

With a quickening understanding of the day-to-day operations of Linux sysadmin suddenly managing Linux as a regular user became not scary. I started to hop through soooo many Linux distributions (Debian, Ubutntu, NixOs, Arch, Fedora) and I found out that I just enjoyed plain Debian the most. So that is what I installed on my daily use laptop.

I installed Debian unstable (an upstream, rolling release of Debian) which added access to newer applications, I also heavily used Flatpaks to get full packages right from their maintainers/source. If I wanted access to the functions of other distributions I would supplement with distrobox to embed whole linux distros right into Debian and access their package manager/etc. through that virtualization.

I also set up a github repository of my system, outlined as an Ansible configuration. Every 15minutes my computer would poll this repo and update itself if the configuration has changed this way the repo was a full documentation AND implementation of my system. Any change could be declared there and it would propagate to all of my systems safely. Any new machine could poll the repo and be EXACTLY provisioned in applications and settings as my personal system. Made any setups a breeze.

Skipping forward a few years, the most recent stop on my journey has been Microsoft’s invasive spyware (Recall). See their services have been going steadily downhill, their office applications are become more and more cloud based (like One-drive) and this move is 5 steps too far for me (personally). I’ve decided to remove Windows from all my machines and only run a copy of Win11 on a Virtual machine (just in case I ever need Microsoft-in-a-bottle). I have moved on from Debian now to NixOS. I love Debian based systems, and I love Ansible declarative provisioning but NixOS has both combined into one distro (plus a large package repository like Arch, plus the rollback capabilities of btrfs, plus the service managing ability of Proxmox, and so much more). However it has a massively steep learning curve. Not for those who do not want to learn the Nix domain-specific language.

22

tl;dr. Yay Linux. Luv it.

23

As a user of Linux for over 20 years (and back in the day, a trained and certified Linux admin), I sort of felt silly choosing Linux Mint for my last migration - just because it seemed too easy; I felt like maybe people would scoff and assume that I had no experience of Linux, because of that choice.

Ultimately though, I decided I don’t care; using Linux Mint is a quite lovely experience compared to Windows 11 - where the most recent set of updates tried to force Copilot into everything and although there is ostensibly a way to tell Windows to turn that off, I don’t completely trust that it is inactive but at the same time I don’t want to try to remove that bit of bloatware by running unsupported scripts and risking breaking important security stuff.

Linux does what I ask it and want it to do, without also trying to push unnecessary nonsense on me. I find myself thinking less about the OS when I am using Linux than in Windows, and that allows me to think more about the task at hand (the work - in whatever application I am using).

24

Right on. If your system (Windows7/8/XP, MacOS, FreeBSD, that crazy Christian one, etc) does want you need and want it to do… You’re the winner here.

No brand loyalty folks. You are the admin of your system. It serves you.

25

However, I should note that there are serious security concerns with running outdated OS’s (for Win, Linux, TempleOS, or whatever). Please be a responsible Admin and protect yourself and your data.

26

Do you have specific questions?

If the laptop “runs fine”, then it should run Linux fine, too. With Linux you need to pick a distribution— the “Microsoft Windows”, let’s say in both good and bad ways, of Linux is something like Ubuntu. It comes with a bunch of drivers and has an automated installer.

If your USB stick is not booting: first of all, make sure that USB boot is enabled in the BIOS and that you are trying to boot from it— there should be a hot-key to press during boot to manually select the boot device, just to be sure. Second, with some ISO files it may be worth first installing Ventoy on the stick, copying the ISO file to the partition the Ventoy installer will create, then booting in either UEFI or non-UEFI mode as you desire.

27

In general, good advice that I won’t argue with. But … if necessary to run an outdated OS, the security risks can be mitigated. On a micro scale, I’ve described some of the ways I do it with Windows 7. On a large scale, I know of a major bank with more than a thousand branches that is still running Windows 2000 everywhere in customer-facing settings. In that environment, though, those systems are connected only to the bank’s intranet and have no direct internet connection, and are supported by Microsoft under a rather extravagant special support contract.

Anyway, you’re not wrong in the general case, but I’m tired of self-appointed experts saying things like “never, never, never allow a system with Windows 7 to connect to the internet”. That kind of extreme hyperbole isn’t helpful, either.

28

If the OP installed Linux (or whatever) right now, it would not be outdated/unmaintained. On the contrary, it would be fresh.

29

I dunno. If someone doesn’t know about the extended support from Microsoft and the ins and outs of network segmentation and layered firewalls and such, the pertinent advice for that person probably is the ‘never’ thing.

It’s OK to have exceptions to rules that might be stated so as to seem like absolutes.

30

I’ve made a couple of videos about my Linux setup and even though I was literally demonstrating my journey away from Windows, I was harrassed by Linux users for not hating Microsoft enough.
I was also similarly attacked by Windows users for some imaginary slight against that OS too.
Frankly, I have better things to do with my time than join in the impotent rage.

31

BalenaEtcher is a very easy to use bootable usb maker.
F11 often brings up a boot order menu when trying to install.

32

I am in the midst of setting up a Proxmox server. To run Home assistant and Frigate. Got Home assistant running, Just integrating Frigate.

The great and bad thing about open source software is the variety of options and methods. Some times there are so many ways to do it. It causes confusion.

Linux really opens up the world of open source software. Please donate to the folks making it if you can.

33

Ol’ Gurdy just booted up, and yes, she’s a 64-bit system. Checkbox checked!

Both of your posts are good advice, that’s ringing in my ears. I"m feeling adventurous, so I’m listening to you, yet am going to take this calculated risk. I’m hip to experiment with Linux, part for funsies, part for ‘upcycling’ Ol’ Gurdy, and part to see what all the hulabaloo on Linux is about.

Since 2016 (w/the new desktop), I’ve been giving my hardware nicknames of SciFi starships. Should this be successful, Ol’ Gurdy will be re-christened the Reliant.

If Mint works today, would it be a similar process to convert over to either Ubuntu flavor?

Tripler
Should Santa Fe be suddenly terraformed by lunchtime, something worked didn’t go well.

34

BIOS appeared not to have a ‘boot from USB option’, but I’ll double check. A DVD is burned, but I can transfer things to a USU easily.

Copy all–transferring the ISO to “The Genesis Device” now!

It had been air gapped for quite some time due to the obsolescence of Win 7. It’s been a mothballed laptop since '16 due to the software, and the fact I"d gotten a newer, high-end machine for work/games at the home office (aka, the ‘Bridge’). If Gurdy/Reliant can safely ome back to ‘the Fleet’ for service, I’ll be thrilled.

Okay , , , The Genesis DEvice is armed and ready. Deploying!

Tripler
Plug yer ears and close your eyes, everyone!

35

Yeah, I think this is part of the reason why it doesn’t gain a greater market share for desktop - Linux is moving in many directions all at once - all of them represent ‘forward’ relative to their own past, but they aren’t all the same direction.

The other major factor is a vicious cycle with proprietary software; Adobe won’t bother producing a Linux version of their creative suite, even though they probably could do that quite easily; users who are committed to a choice of using Adobe software (or obligated by the pressure to remain compatible with others in their industry) aren’t going to switch to Linux.

36

The install process for Ubuntu is functionally identical to that of Mint (or indeed many desktop Linux distros), but it would be a case of reinstalling Ubuntu over the top of Mint, if that’s what you wanted to do. There isn’t much reason to do that though, as they are incredibly similar.

37

You should have a backup of your home directory in any case, so it should not be much trouble to copy that over. Next, on Debian-based systems you can dump a list of all your installed packages, making it relatively easy to re-install them.

Some Windows versions of some Adobe software run OK on Linux. It’s not like no professional users of that software have wanted/needed to do that. Certainly much more of a PITA than if an official Linux version were released.

If the USB does not boot, I again recommend setting it up using Ventoy/Balena/Rufus.

38

I think very few people using stuff like Premiere, After Effects etc for anything important or work related, are going to be tempted to try using it under Wine or similar in Linux - I think Wine is fantastic BTW and I have a couple of bits of non-critical Windows software that run better under Wine/Linux than they ever did in Windows, but I would not dream of running anything mission-critical that way.

39

First go-around w/TGD didn’t work. . . came up with a "No bootable partition…’ so I had to go back and use Balena to flash my USB.

Restarting, and it took me to the Linux Mint page for installation . . . it’s still ‘thinking’. More to follow . . .

Tripler
Ooooh, this is kinda exiting!

40

So, something goofed up, and now Windows is repairing itself. I’m going to let this thing sit for the next hour or so to iron itself out before I try something again.

I may have to go back to square one next weekend.

Tripler
Disappointing, but not unexpected.