Using Linux?

[nChrist]

I tried to set up a dual boot between Windows and Linux Ubuntu recently and made a mistake. I no longer have windows. I'm pleasantly surprised that Ubuntu is great.

I chose Opera over Firefox for my browser, and I use Thunderbird for my email. They work great. I use Kate for a text editor and find it full-featured. I use digiKam for my pictures and am very happy with it. I use Krusader for a file manager and am happy with it.

There are tons of games for Linux, and I've installed a few. If you use Linux, please tell me what your favorite games are.

There's a lot of things that I don't miss at all from Windows: crashes, lock-ups, problems with updates, and more. I haven't had a single problem with Linux yet.

 

[GreenWizard]

Can you still access your Windows partition from Ubuntu? If you can, then the bootloader doesn't know about the Windows boot partition.

From a terminal you can try:
sudo update-grub
Then reboot and see if it's now listed.

 

[Wookiee]

Yeah, it's possible GRUB just doesn't realise Windows is there. But if during the install you told it to erase the disk and install Ubuntu, it's gone.

I use a couple of flavours for different things: Proxmox (for virtual machines), Debian (for a few servers I have setup in Proxmox) and Ubuntu. Linux being free and lightweight is great, but I still primarily use Windows 10 on everything.

 

[nChrist]

Can you still access your Windows partition from Ubuntu? If you can, then the bootloader doesn't know about the Windows boot partition.

From a terminal you can try:
sudo update-grub
Then reboot and see if it's now listed.

No, I see nothing resembling Windows inside my Ubuntu file manager. I tried the sudo command and had nothing but Ubuntu. I'm really not disappointed that I don't have Windows anymore. I was really getting tired of all the problems. Linux is easy to learn, fast, simple to update with a single keystroke, and error-free as far as I can see. I might try Windows again some years from now, but I've had it with Windows for now. Thanks for trying to help me.

 

[Radagast]

No, I see nothing resembling Windows inside my Ubuntu file manager.

If you interrupt the boot process, and enter the BIOS, do you see Windows there?

 

[nChrist]

If you interrupt the boot process, and enter the BIOS, do you see Windows there?

No, I've tried that also. Windows appears to be gone completely. I'm really not that sad about this. I had good backups of my pictures and other things I can still use in Linux (i.e. bookmarks, email addresses, etc.).

 

[paul1149]

I've been on Linux for almost three years now, and enjoy it immensely. To borrow a certain phrase, "it just works". Your biggest problem now will be deciding which distro to use. I tried many, started out with LinuxLite, and now have settled in with MX Linux, which is a real performer yet user-friendly. Being Debian-based, there are many .deb packages for easy installation.

Just on general principles, you can open up gparted or gnome disks and see if that windows partition still exists. If it does, it's just a matter of getting grub to see it. Which Windows did you switch from?

I've currently been converting several older Windows machines to Win10. I have to admit it's a pretty slick interface, but the update problems, and the MS control of the machine, are very problematic.

 

[nChrist]

I've been on Linux for almost three years now, and enjoy it immensely. To borrow a certain phrase, "it just works". Your biggest problem now will be deciding which distro to use. I tried many, started out with LinuxLite, and now have settled in with MX Linux, which is a real performer yet user-friendly. Being Debian-based, there are many .deb packages for easy installation.

Just on general principles, you can open up gparted or gnome disks and see if that windows partition still exists. If it does, it's just a matter of getting grub to see it. Which Windows did you switch from?

I've currently been converting several older Windows machines to Win10. I have to admit it's a pretty slick interface, but the update problems, and the MS control of the machine, are very problematic.

I was running Windows 7. I'm positive now that it's gone. I'm really not upset about it. I can do everything I did before without the problems. Microsoft updates were getting harder and harder to do without big problems. I did quite a bit of checking and decided on Ubuntu. The learning curve isn't nearly as hard as I was anticipating. I'm already doing everything I want to do without any problems. Thanks for all the help.

 

[High Fidelity]

Chances are your Linux partition is set to a higher boot priority than Windows. You can check in the BIOS

 

[nChrist]

Chances are your Linux partition is set to a higher boot priority than Windows. You can check in the BIOS

I've already done that. I saw nothing about Windows.

 

[LaSorcia]

I tried to set up a dual boot between Windows and Linux Ubuntu

That's what I have.

I chose Opera over Firefox for my browser,

Why? I haven't tried it. I haven't been happy with Mozilla's trend toward eliminating words in favour of symbols. They also used to have a lot of privacy options that are just gone now.

If you use Linux, please tell me what your favorite games are.

Battle for Wesnoth is a well-made, turn-based strategy game. FreeDroid, to me, is the best ever game made for a Linux OS.

There's a lot of things that I don't miss at all from Windows: crashes, lock-ups, problems with updates, and more. I haven't had a single problem with Linux yet.

My Windows XP partition has had no problems at all for over 10 years. I recently had to reinstall Ubuntu though, sadly. It messed up my virtual box and caused me a lot of hassle.

 

[nChrist]

Why? I haven't tried it. I haven't been happy with Mozilla's trend toward eliminating words in favour of symbols. They also used to have a lot of privacy options that are just gone now.

I tried Firefox first because it's what I'm used to, but I noticed problems in rendering text and graphics on some pages. So, I decided to try Opera. Opera fixed most of the problems, and it's very fast. I must add that Opera is very easy to setup and use. Maybe Opera likes my graphics drivers better than Firefox.

Thanks for all of the information. I'm learning as I go. I don't think that I'm ready to learn about partitions or advanced things like what it takes to run some games. I tried a couple that involved compiling, and I didn't get it done right. I also haven't tried things like Steam and special network connections. I'm learning a little bit every day. Thanks again.

 

[LaSorcia]

I also haven't tried things like Steam and special network connections.

I don't like steam. Frankly, I despise the concept of software as a service. I like to use programs the old-fashioned way: via tangible media and offline with no one tracking what I'm using and when.
Many of the games available on steam are available elsewhere without paying a subscription or being tracked.

 

[FIRESTORM314]

I've been using Linux for quite a few years now. The nice thing about it is that it's free !
I've tried a few different versions - particularly like Linux Mint.

Mr Edward Snowdon uses Tails, I believe , for privacy reasons.

 

[nChrist]

I chose Ubuntu because I've heard that name so many times. I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.1 with 5 years of support and updates. It works and I like it, and updates don't mess anything up. That was one thing I dreaded about Windows.

 

[Wookiee]

I chose Ubuntu because I've heard that name so many times. I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.1 with 5 years of support and updates. It works and I like it, and updates don't mess anything up. That was one thing I dreaded about Windows.

Welllllllllllllll... yes and no. The occasional Ubuntu update will break, and in major updates occasionally they'll adjust, remove or introduce something that majorly changes or breaks functionality in certain setups - much like new versions of Windows. For instance, they replaced ifconfig not that long ago and I still haven't gotten it into my head to use ip instead (it also doesn't help that I usually give up and default to installing the net-tools package anyway).

That said, it's generally fairly safe to directly upgrade to each major release of Ubuntu (18.10, 19.04, etc.), you don't have to stick with the LTS (18.04) versions. They're primarily aimed at situations where upgrading may be disruptive or break something important (i.e. for servers running Ubuntu).

 

[paul1149]

I haven't had a single problem with Linux yet.

Awesome that you're enjoying Linux, and ubuntu is a good place to start.

I will add, though, that linux is not always trouble-free. There still is a need to keep data backed up, and if your setup is important to you, a backup image of the whole system. Ubuntu might have tools to do that on board, but if not, Back in Time is a good user file backup prog, and I also periodically use Clonezilla to back up the whole system. It requires booting to a live cd or usb session, but doing so is a breeze once you get used to it.

 

[nChrist]

If I have a problem with Ubuntu, I won't have a clue what to do. I ran Linux many years ago, but I forgot everything I learned. I'm still exploring settings. Thanks for the idea about Back In Time. Whatever I do, it will have to be easy for now.

 

[Wookiee]

The Ubuntu forums are a fairly helpful place to start if anything goes wrong.

 

[paul1149]

Another backup option, and very easy to use, is AOMEI's Backupper. It's Windows-only, but you can burn a boot disk from a windows [virtual] machine and then use it on any machine. It does both user files and system images. One major caveat though, which doesn't apply to your case - it doesn't replicate factory recovery partitions accurately. It's a weird failing, and I discovered it the hard way.

Clonezilla comes with two caveats - it's probably the most convoluted interactive experience one can imagine, and it does not restore a disk image to a smaller drive than that which it was taken from. There are workarounds to that, though, and as for the weird navigation, you get used to it and just ignore it. Good walk-throughs help, such as https://www.raymond.cc/blog/guide-for-making-full-windows-backup-to-network-share-using-clonezilla/. You would select "local drive" rather than "network" if your target is a drive attached to the machine.