Tutorial : How to try Linux Mint

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https://www.ghacks.net/2023/04/07/how-to-try-linux-mint-on-pc/

Linux Mint is a well-known Linux distribution that offers users the chance to try it before they install it. In this guide, we will explain how to try Linux Mint and, if you like it, how to replace Windows with it…

First, you need to download a copy of Linux Mint from the link here. There are three different desktop options:

MATE
Xfce
Cinnamon
If you have a 2012 or newer PC, go with Cinnamon. If you have an older machine, try Mate, and if your PC is really old or doesn’t have computing power, use Xfce…

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wdburt1, SueW, DrBonzo

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That’s a good basic tutorial. I’ve installed Mint many times. The only thing I’d add is that after the installation from the usb stick is finished, you’ll be prompted to reboot/restart your computer. Do that if you’re sure you want Mint on your hard drive. You may be prompted to remove the usb stick, which you should. After the reboot you’ll get a Welcome Screen that will have a Let’s GO button on it. If you’re new to Linux and/or Mint you should click that button and you’ll be led through a basic set up procedure where you can choose some colors, set up the panel, and more importantly, check to see if there are other drivers, multimedia codecs, etc. available. You’ll also be prompted to set up Timeshift and turn on the Firewall (which is Off by default!)

Checking for drivers, multimedia codecs, etc. may require an internet connection. Either connect with an ethernet cable or wirelessly pretty much as you would in Windows.

The advice about hardware age and desktop choice (Mate, Cinnamon, Xfce) is probably good, although FWIW I have Mint Cinnamon running on hardware dating from 2009 through 2016 and it runs acceptably on all of it, even a laptop with 1GB RAM, 250 GB HDD and an Intel Atom processor. No speed demon, the latter, but it gets the job done. Of course as they say YMMV.

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bassmanzam, SueW, Alex5723

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I think the best tutorial (and source) for how to install Linux Mint is their own installation guide (link below). It also includes information where to find help if needed.

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

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SueW

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It’s a matter of time for me . . . and I’ve been collecting helpful links and other relevant info in anticipation. Thank you all!

Win 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit; Office 2010; Group B (SaS); Former 'Tech Weenie'

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A few days ago I installed Mint 21.1 on a 2009 HP pavilion laptop with 4GB RAM and 300GB HDD. I used the procedure given in the ghacks link above in @Alex5723 original post. If you run into trouble or just want more details about the installation @Mothy’s link above will be useful. I’ve installed Mint somewhere between 10 to 15 times and they all went according to the ghacks link.

To give you an idea of how much time will be required, it took about 20 minutes to download the iso file (about 4.5 GB, IIRC), and another 10 to burn that iso to a usb stick. I have used Etcher in the past but this time I used the USB Image Writer utility that comes with Mint and was on my Mint 20.3 daily driver.

It took about 40 minutes from the initial boot from the usb stick to having a functional Mint 21.1 Cinnamon computer; that included setting up the firewall, checking for drivers, codecs, etc – all the things you get when clicking on the Let’s GO button on the Welcome Screen.

At this point, though, you will still need to install a bunch of patches/updates. In my case there were 109 of them!. But those only took about 8 minutes to download and another 40 minutes to install.

So about 2 hours, start to finish. Yours will probably go faster if you have a better computer, but slower if it’s your first time doing this.

The procedure in the ghacks link is for a straight installation – no dual boots, etc. If you want to dual boot with Windows, it may take a bit more time because it will repartition the hard drive. I’ve done that and I’ve always just let the installation take care of partitioning as opposed to me doing it manually.

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SueW, Alex5723, bassmanzam

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I should add that I had previously changed the boot order in the BIOS so the computer would boot first from a usb drive. If you don’t have Etcher and want to use it, you’ll need to download and install it. Both of these might add 15 minutes or so to the total time.

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SueW

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Many thanks for the extra details, DrBonzo! It helps to know how long the process may take for a straight installation.

I do plan on dual booting with Windows initially, so I’ll let the installation take care of repartitioning my hard drive.

Before I proceed, though, I need to migrate Outlook 2010 to Thunderbird.

Win 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit; Office 2010; Group B (SaS); Former 'Tech Weenie'

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DrBonzo

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I am puzzled by this.  I installed a new SSD in an HP desktop running Win7, and left Win 7 in place on the HDD.  I thought I wanted to create a partition on the SSD for Mint and have the remainder of the drive be in a separate, unused partition.  The first thing I found was that Mint installation wiped the entire SSD in order to format it to .EXT4.

Researching it further, I found a fair amount of forum comment that Windows does not play nice when another OS is installed on the same drive, and so I figured it might be best to accept the situation.  I can alternate between Win7 and Mint at the boot stage, but I don’t want or need to run both at the same time.

The Mint installation required about half the time it required to clean up the Win7 install to be mothballed.  This is an HP business-class desktop ordered in late 2016, just before they withdrew the option to “downgrade” from Win10 to Win7.  It was stored on life support until recently.  Until I tackled the project I did not realize (but should have) that this late-2016 computer came pre-loaded with much of the Microsoft malware that caused an uproar on AskWoody back then.  I had to uninstall nine updates before it settled down.

I retained Win7 only because a handful of necessary apps needed it, but at least one of them (dBpoweramp) needs to go online to consult a crowd-sourced database.  IE11 is obviously the wrong browser; so much so that some web sites now reject it.  Reluctantly I concluded that I had to install a modern browser and AV program, just to protect Win7 from itself.

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I am puzzled by this.  I installed a new SSD in an HP desktop running Win7, and left Win 7 in place on the HDD.  I thought I wanted to create a partition on the SSD for Mint and have the remainder of the drive be in a separate, unused partition.  The first thing I found was that Mint installation wiped the entire SSD in order to format it to .EXT4.

Researching it further, I found a fair amount of forum comment that Windows does not play nice when another OS is installed on the same drive, and so I figured it might be best to accept the situation.  I can alternate between Win7 and Mint at the boot stage, but I don’t want or need to run both at the same time.

The Mint installation required about half the time it required to clean up the Win7 install to be mothballed.  This is an HP business-class desktop ordered in late 2016, just before they withdrew the option to “downgrade” from Win10 to Win7.  It was stored on life support until recently.  Until I tackled the project I did not realize (but should have) that this late-2016 computer came pre-loaded with much of the Microsoft malware that caused an uproar on AskWoody back then.  I had to uninstall nine updates before it settled down.

I retained Win7 only because a handful of necessary apps needed it, but at least one of them (dBpoweramp) needs to go online to consult a crowd-sourced database.  IE11 is obviously the wrong browser; so much so that some web sites now reject it.  Reluctantly I concluded that I had to install a modern browser and AV program, just to protect Win7 from itself.

I’ve never had any trouble installing Mint alongside Windows 7 on the SAME drive. They coexist just fine, and the Grub Menu lets me boot into either operating system. It sounds like you have 2 drives, an HDD with W7 on it and an SSD onto which you want Mint. I’ve never tried that. Do you want an unused partition on the SSD so that W7 can access it? If not, then just let Mint do it’s own partitioning of the SSD. I always let Mint do any required partitioning – it knows a lot more about that than I do!

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SueW, wdburt1, bassmanzam

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Yes, two drives.  Works great.  The computer is used for internet access so there’s not a need for separate “boot” and “storage” drives.

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