Is There Anybody Out There ....?

Just so you know ...... when I refer to other machine I mean HP if it is working.
No point in buying something unnecessarily.

Do keep running that Linux Live USB so you become familiar with it.

If you get the chance please do boot Win in the Acer and then reboot into the liveUSB to see if the internet then works in Linux.
I am interested in that result.
Thanks.

Stigura wrote: »

John! I'm back ~ On Linux!!! :eek:

Sorry I took so long. Spent the afternoon breaking my bits with 3 and my brain over this trap I'm trying to engineer.

Did what ye asked, look. Been sitting here, all day, on doze. Never realised, I must have fired up this morning, trying straight for Linux. (Had I been doing that all along?! Doubt it. But, dunno!)

Anyway, yeah; Rebooted from doze. Chose the Traveler stick I have linux on. Boosh! Here I am

So, there's ye question answered ~ seemingly?

Yes, answered indeed. Thanks.

For the present use that to get connected in the LiveUSB until something better is sorted.

Boot Win ..... reboot choose USB .... boot into Linux and you should be connected.

I was not intending to advise against committing to Linux, but was advising caution and doing so at a slower pace than you indicated was your intention.

Now that you are down to one machine, choices are somewhat different.

1.
Depending on drive capacity in that machine and how much space Win requires at minimum, it should be possible to install Linux on the same drive, and dual boot ....... select which to use immediately after powering on.
This can be a little confusing to do for a first timer, so I generally advise a different method where possible.

2.
A second option for one machine use is to use two drives. If it is possible to put the second drive into the machine, this would be the preferred option. Win on one and Linux on the other, and choose which to boot as above.

3.
A third option would be an external drive .... attached to the USB socket (preferably USB 3 for speed reasons). Linux can be installed on that and booted in similar manner to how you boot the Live USB stick.
This could be completely independent of the internal drive, or space on the internal drive recovered from Win could be used for storing files etc.

Any of the above would be a 'half-way house' in your move ....... have a Linux space without burning your Win pad.

4.
If you get on with Linux in the long term, not needing Win for anything, then would be the time to wipe Win and install Linux all on its own.
That might be the ultimate aim, but I see no reason that the first option would not suit better in the long term.
I will leave Win on a laptop for instance, in case I might wish to sell it with Windows working - providing the HDD has sufficient space for both Win and Lin.

Maybe your buddy would do the necessary for you to limit the space used by Win on the Acer? He would also need to ensure that it did not hibernate by default (or is that Win 10 only?).
Once that space is available, and Win boots quite happily afterwards, then installing from the USB stick is a simple matter.

So .... control Windows and reduce space. Install Linux into that space.
All done.

Stigura wrote: »

Three!!! Why didn't I see that?!

Right; Now I'm loathe to say another word on the subject. Because External's aren't the subject of this Board, let alone this thread!

Off about my business ~ let my head clear, for now. I'll return, presently. Find where we discuss Hardware and shall dig about on there for some inside track on Externals

If you don't have a suitable external drive there are many options ..... the best of which is an SSD with adapter cable or housing to connect to the USB socket.

There is another option I have no experience of ...... using a micro SD card in a USB adapter. These can be very cost effective, but I have no experience of their durability.
I might try this in the next week or so to see if it works well or not.

Stigura wrote: »

What ye reckon, Johnboy; Should we kick this to " PC Building & Upgrading" now

Either way, I have a couple of hours getting my hands dirty coming up.

I say leave as is to keep it all together.
There is a lot of history in this thread

So, what is your intention?

You have an external drive to try for 3. above?

How large are the USB sticks?

I have just completed an install of PCLinuxOS KDE5 on a 64 GB micro SD card in a USB adapter.
Tiny things, so easily lost I guess (or swallowed)

Whatever you decide on, try to get the fastest READ speed you can.

64 GB SSDs range from about €20 upwards ..... and you get the quality you pay for.

Because you have 'storage space' on the Win drive you do not need a large capacity SSD .... but do get the one with the fastest read speed you can afford.

The biggest danger when doing an install is damaging the working installation of Windows.
You can avoid that by disconnecting the Windows HDD before installing Linux.

The whole installation procedure will be alien to you, but it quite simple once you know what you need.
As with all things Linux it puts the power in the users hands and so you need to make the decisions.

As you might have gathered, I am doing my best to steer you away from actions which, by an incorrect decision or inattention, could wipe out your working Win install.

So if your mate has a spare HDD (wiped clean) that you could borrow for a while, you could put that in the Acer, disconnect the Windows drive and boot from the LiveUSB, and install Linux to the borrowed HDD.

After the install and reboot to check all is working OK, you can power down and reconnect the Win drive.
You can, within Linux, run an application which will see the presence of the Win drive and offer it as a boot option on the first screen.
Alternatively you can choose which drive to boot from by using a key press during the first stage of the boot process ..... often F8 or F9 or one of those keys. The Acer manual will have the info or it might even come up on screen before you get to the selection screen of Linux.

That would suffice while you decide on what to buy, and would also give you some idea how this all works when installed.
You could also do several different installations just for practice.
Any HDD that will connect to your motherboard will suffice.

IMO the main thing is to get some experience of doing installation so you are comfortable when doing one to be kept long term.

Is it possible that your mate has such a drive he could donate or loan?

If you feel that strongly about it you can force yourself to make 'accommodations' while you learn what Linux applications suit you best for what you want to do, simply by wiping Win and doing a linux install.

It is not exactly what I would recommend, but it would be a final decision.

Stigura wrote: »

Yeah. I'm Seriously Absolutely sold on Linux, Johnboy. It's Literally just this one (Vid Editing) thing that's left in my way now.

Suffice it to say; Between this and our last posts? I've reached the score to become a Made Man on that site! I'm just waiting for the Admin to spot it and shower me with the goodies!

I'm Not about to wake up, tomorrow then, find a Great clip ~ and not have a clue how to dress it for my next presentation! :eek:

Dunno. Maybe I should start messing around with the Linux editing suite; Familiarise myself with that before jumping?

Do I still need an external

The internal should suffice to hold files until you get sorted.

Regarding the Video work ..... post in the forum and explain exactly what you do to the source video to get the result you want.
Ask what application might be best suited to that kind of work.

I would expect you will get some responses from those with a little or maybe a lot of experience in doing similar.
You can then try what is suggested when running live ..... by installing the app you want to test.

G'night

oscarBravo wrote: »

I've been able to use OpenShot to do basic video editing - it's pretty capable, but the learning curve isn't too steep.

There are so many different video centric applications it is difficult to know which one might best suit some purpose without some advice or testing.
Most of them are very capable at what their target function is.

I still resort to Avidemux for simple video splitting .... taking out a short clip from a long video ..... or even deleting adverts from a recording.
Old habits die hard