• TalesFromTheKitchen@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I tried. I finally wanted to switch away from Windows and installed mint. Spent about 3 hours trying to get my headphone jacks to work with some mildly obscure tools and commands but no dice. Then I managed to destroy one of my partitions by trying to Mount it but it gave me an obscure error. Searched the forums and found NTFS fix, well turns out I accidentally had turned the partition dynamic when moving it to a larger drive. NTFS fix didn’t like that and promptly destroyed the file table. I lost a buch of data. So back to the cruddy Windows then…I’m not tech savvy enough, which is sad.

    • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      If you’ve never, ever used Linux before and are not confident about its tools, it’s almost always better to use a fresh machine. NTFS and Linux really don’t mix well, for example.

      • TalesFromTheKitchen@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Haha, yeah, as I’ve learned. I’ll try again when I build a new machine. I really like the overall look and feel of Mint.

        • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          It’s been a few years since I used Mint, but I enjoyed it. Most of the Debian-based distros are very similar, actually. All are decent for beginners. If not Mint, Pop is another good option.

            • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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              1 year ago

              I installed Zorin on my wife’s (=no prior Linux experience) laptop something like 2 years ago. Considering the fact that she still uses it almost daily, I’d say you’re right.

              Personally, I dislike some of the custom stuff it has over the more standard desktop environments, but I do think it’s great for usability in that it feels Windows-adjacent.

        • pearsaltchocolatebar
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          1 year ago

          Just boot it off a thumb drive and take it for a test drive.

          Use Ventoy if you want to test multiple distros.

          • TalesFromTheKitchen@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            I did that prior and decided I like it, so I did a proper install. I just didn’t try the sound jacks and didn’t notice one of my drives not mounting.

      • TalesFromTheKitchen@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Yes, all the important stuff was backed up naturally. Still lost some, I’d say “nostalgic old files” It just happens when you have large drives you can’t just back it up without paying lots.