Old PC. Decided to Keep and update / HELP. Running 2 OS on seperate SSDs?

mksysb

If you only have a low budget, just upgrade your current one. Get a new ssd hard drive and install linux and it'll probably be better than any laptop you could get for £200.

Cisco001

Saw this listed at CEX. Seem decent price for the spec. But that probably not what you after…

This likely to be 4 years old using standard size part which would be easy to upgrade if required.

PC Specialist Vortex G30/i3-12100F/8GB DDR4/512GB SSD/GTX 1650/W11/B £165

Those intel core i 8th gen cpu was released back in 2017. Those PC probably 8 years old…

pfpf

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028519#Comment_82028519

ok, i think this is the way to go. tbh, i think all i need to update is the OS. i'm embarrassed to say i'm on W7 on this machine. my SSD still has lots of space. changing/upgrading the OS terrifies me because i'm frightened to lose anything iv'e forgotten to back up - been there, done that.

the PC runs beautifully, all iv'e had to replace in the years iv'e had it is the CPU fan a couple of times. the CPU is an Intel i5-3570k.

Linux. is Ubuntu still the way to go for a novice? i was told 15 years ago to ditch Windows. i think i can handle an OS change now as i use the PC for so little compared to back then.

on the occasions i have swapped my PC iv'e always had a cross-over period so i can get new one sorted while still having the old one with all my stuff on it. this was my thinking about a new one now.

edit: if i were to backup my entire SSD on to an external HDD could it be done so if need be i could boot from the external drive and run the PC as usual while getting to grips with a new OS?

pfpf

after an afternoon of research i think…

external HDD

Macrium Reflect to clone my SDD to HDD

HDD will then be bootable as if booting PC as usual. this makes sure i have all my files.

would i now format the SDD?

install Linux Mint on to the SDD

away i go.

would the motherboard need "driver software"? i don't have anything like printers etc that would require drivers.

any advice/suggestions on this process?

thank you.

Vitor

Linux installs will typically partition and format the SSD to the requirements of their own filesystem, ext4.

Linux distros contain drivers for common chips, but it's never guaranteed that oddball sound/video cards etc. will work.

OPs best bet is to 'live boot' a Linux distro off USB to see if it's suitable before blowing away Windows

mksysb

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028976#Comment_82028976

Sounds like a good plan, but remember to unplug the HDD before installing Linux so you don't accidently put Linux on there by mistake.

Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop is a good choice for a beginner. Ubuntu should be avoided as they are using snaps to package apps. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu but they have removed all the bad stuff.

Installing MInt will format the hard drive and create the partitions, so don't do anything to the SSD first.

Linux tends to only have problems with drivers on new machines. Old machines should already have support built into the kernel, but as Vitor says, it is a good idea to live boot the distro to make sure everything is working.

pfpf

i'm nervous but i think i'm just about ready.

my clone is on an external USB HDD but iv'e discovered W7 can't boot from USB.

main thing i'm worried about is after a Linux install making sure my thunderbird client will be as was, lots of email address and actual emails filed in seperate folders. i have saved Thunderbird_profile_backup as per mozilla instructions.

the other option that sprung to mind was to leave the internal SSD in the PC as is, install another SSD that i would then install linux to - so two different boot options on 2 seperate SSD's. cost would be just the price of a new SSD. once i'm happy i have everything i need from the old setup i can discard the contents.

thoughts?

Vitor

+iv'e discovered W7 can't boot from USB.+ That's more likely a BIOS setting which controls the boot sequence.

kaMelo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82030348#Comment_82030348

This is your best solution, unplug the old SSD, install another and then install whatever flavour of Linux you choose. Once your comfortable with what you've got then you can plug your old drive in to draw any documents/files etc.

If you're never comfortable then you can just plug the old drive back in and away you go.

Just a suggestion, I came across this company by accident a while ago and their SSD's are pretty reasonably priced.

https://veno-scorp.co.uk/products/512gb-ssd?variant=55579993506168

pfpf

ok. i have hit an issue.

i have the linux.iso and a USB drive ready.

i have a new SSD but….as i'm on Windows 7 i can't get any software to work.

iv'e DL'd balenaEtcher and rufus, neither of which will even run. iv'e DL'd ventoy which is in zip form so iv'e DL'd winzip which wont work on W7. so how do i get the ISO on to the USB as bootable OS?