Warning about HP Laptops - incompatibility with Win 10 Creators Update

[Straf]

Still trying to get my head around this...

Say I already have folders named "GIMP work", "Krita work", "CC3 maps" "Challenge Maps", "City Maps" etc all in the Windows side, I'll be able to open them, edit them and save them again right where they are while working in Mint, and then go back to Windows and Windows will be able to see and use them just like before?

Yes

Just thought about something else:

Will I need antivirus installed on the Mint side of things as well as the Windows side?

TL;DR version: No.

Explanation: There aren't all that many viruses kicking about for Linux. They do exist but they're rare. This is because to install things on Linux you have to have root access. You, as a user, do not have root access until you elevate yourself to 'superuser' status. Under the Ubuntu family of systems (it may even be the same for Debian I can't remember) you can temporarily elevate yourself using the 'sudo' command and then enter your password. Through the graphical interface, installing new software will pop up a window asking for your password.

Installing software on Ubuntu derivatives is largely done through repositories. These repositories (apart from the defaults) need to be set up before anything can be installed from them. You'll come already good to go with the main ones where all the software in there is checked and approved so is very unlikely to have malicious code. There are also partnered repositories for other software, and it's possible to add repositories for non-approved sources but you do so at your own risk. You then either use the graphical installer hoojar whose name I've forgotten, or you use the command line in the terminal to install.

You can download the .deb package and install manually, but you'd have to do this deliberately.

Another way to get software on your system is to download the source code, and compile it yourself. You'd have to do this very deliberately.

It's all about probabilities. The software in the repositories is hashed with an algorithm that is compared to the file that is downloaded to check its integrity. There is a chance that malicious code can have the same hash as the authentic code but ... probabilities dictate it's far too much effort to try to get access to the repository to upload malicious software that has the same hash as the authentic software, which is probably going to be overwritten every night anyway. So virus writers tend not to spend too much time writing for Linux systems.

[Straf]

Mint doesn't come with Krita already included. That's part of another version of Linux. I located the download point while I was booted on the stick I made, but decided the better of it because it was only a stick boot, and the download was coming from a different version of Linux.

When I've installed Mint properly on my hard drive in, say... a 20 GB section of its own, I presume I would just download the compatible Krita app from where I found it through the Mint menu, and install it right there - in the 20GB Mint partition? In effect I would have Krita installed twice on my hard drive. Is that how its done?

Yes you install it through the software centre thingy. You don't have it twice because what you have is two different version of the software in two different systems. Basically what you're doing is splitting your computer into two computers. Think of Windows and Linux as two computers that just happen to be sharing the same hardware. A bit like a flat share. They're never home at the same time. But Linux is the creepy one that can rummage through Windows' stuff. Windows doesn't even know Linux exists in the flat and can't see its stuff.

Linux sniffs Windows' undies while it's out at the shops

[Mouse]

ROFL!

Thanks for that image Straf!

Makes you wonder why Windows doesn't adopt a more LINUX style structure. Wouldn't be so difficult to protect it from the bad guys then.

Mind you, that would do all those multibillion dollar AV publishers out of a job, wouldn't it.

Hmmmm....

Think I've just seen those undies

[Falconius]

Yes you install it through the software centre thingy. You don't have it twice because what you have is two different version of the software in two different systems. Basically what you're doing is splitting your computer into two computers. Think of Windows and Linux as two computers that just happen to be sharing the same hardware. A bit like a flat share. They're never home at the same time. But Linux is the creepy one that can rummage through Windows' stuff. Windows doesn't even know Linux exists in the flat and can't see its stuff.

Linux sniffs Windows' undies while it's out at the shops

Lol

Good stuff.

[Mark Oliva]

Though I was always aware that the freedom of the user to meddle with the settings and personalise Windows was being gradually eroded down through the years, I simply didn't realise how much of it was gone until yesterday evening, and Mint.

It isn't really gone, but it's now damned hard to get at. Microsoft is very determined to protect us from ourselves. And those who don't know how to work with the Windows Registry really are left out in the cold. What's more, those who don't really know how to work with he Windows Registry would be well advised not to try. I've seen disasters created there that could make the current Southern California fires look like 4th of July sparklers in comparison.

I'm an administrator/data analyst by trade, so of course I have MS Office, and I need to stay in touch with new developments in business software and have some of it at least on my home PC - this laptop.

The extent to which that is a problem really depends upon the degree of formatting the files in question have. OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice.org (both available for LINUX and Windows and both freeware), can work with ordinary Word and Excel files with little or no problems. They can open and save in Office file formats. However, once heavy Office formatting is in place ... particularly embedded graphics ... Office files tend to blow apart in OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice.org.

We at the Vintyri Project create our RPG texts with Word 2016 and turn them into PDFs. However, we also make our texts available in fully editable form in the OpenOffice/LibreOffice.Writer format .odt, which Word also can process with no problems. If we tried to keep the original Word-formatting in our conversion, the result would be a disaster area.

[Mouse]

Windows is an overprotective parent. We forget (or if younger, never learn) how to adjust BIOS settings, and so on. I do agree, however, that messing with the registry is a no-no for me. BIOS adjustments done with expert guidance here in this thread is as far as I am prepared to go for now.

I'm going to install Mint in a small partition today using the instructions that ChickPea linked to earlier this morning for me, and see how it goes

I've used all different kinds of text editor in my time, but the main one that businesses in the UK use is Word. I can use all of them, but I still need to stay up to date with the MS Office apps so that I can just walk into an office, sit down and start work without wondering how to do a thing in the newest version

[ChickPea]

Mouse, about software installation... while you're getting started, just head for the software centre (or whatever Mint calls it) and install everything from there. There are other ways, as Straf mentions, but at the beginning, until you find your feet, it'd be simplest to stick with that. You'd search for (for ex) Krita, click install, type your password and it'll download and install it for you.

I've always used Synaptic for installation. Even though Ubuntu doesn't include it by default now, I can't get out of the habit of using it. I love that, in a new setup, I can select about 20 programs and they'll all install at once (unlike in Windows, where they have to be installed individually.... which takes forever!)

EDIT: good luck with the installation! Report back!!

[Mouse]

Thank you again, ChickPea

You've been incredibly helpful in the last couple of days.

Everyone has been so wonderfully patient with me and my dunce-level lack of understanding and skill!

And of course I'll let you know how it goes

[Straf]

I've just remembered when I used to use Wordperfect and Lotus 1-2-3 plus there was a presentation/drawing package I used to use as well (I can't think of its name), there were no menus as such, 'commands' were carried out using key combinations. In Lotus it was / and then you put in your formula or whatever it was. In WP there was a little card that you put over the keyboard with the various things on that. F8 to print, Shift-F6 for Bold (I'm just making these up because I've forgotten) that really needed to be remembered if you wanted to do anything with any sort of speed. Word and Excel used to have compatibility with WP and Lotus so you could use the key strokes or slash commands with it.

[Straf]

Mouse, about software installation... while you're getting started, just head for the software centre (or whatever Mint calls it) and install everything from there. There are other ways, as Straf mentions, but at the beginning, until you find your feet, it'd be simplest to stick with that. You'd search for (for ex) Krita, click install, type your password and it'll download and install it for you.

I've always used Synaptic for installation. Even though Ubuntu doesn't include it by default now, I can't get out of the habit of using it. I love that, in a new setup, I can select about 20 programs and they'll all install at once (unlike in Windows, where they have to be installed individually.... which takes forever!)

EDIT: good luck with the installation! Report back!!

With Windows you can use ninite.com to create an executable download and installer for a number of packages. You just select them and then click the button. You can keep this .exe to run if you reinstall your system instead of going off to find everything. It even deselects all the sneaky crap they try to dump on you such as sponsored toolbars and search engine hijacks. Also periodically running it checks for the latest software and if there's newer versions available it'll download and install them.