This is about replacing a Windows operating system with Linux, specifically Ubuntu, on a family computer which had been crippled by Windows and was going to be thrown out.
The setup
- i3-3220 series Intel processor
- Dell Inspiron 660s smallish form factor box
- 8gb of DDR3 ram installed
- 1000gb hard drive
The computer was basically unusable, Windows was doing so much rubbish trying to sell the owners stuff and show them weather forecasts it was taking 5-6 minutes to boot and shut down and would take over a minute to open a 20kb PDF file.
The owner of the computer was really only using the browser and Openoffice (which they had found their way to them selves a few years go) so no Windows only apps needed.
The solution
- Purchased a 500gb Samsung EVO SSD
- Copied over all the user files to an external drive
- Swapped out the old HD for the SSD
- Installed the latest build of Ubuntu (had to make a few small changes in Bios)
- Installed Vivaldi as the main browser and Libreoffice
The computer now boots in around 30 seconds and resumes from sleep much faster. It has a radically simpler interface than all the Windows cruft and document opening etc is almost instant.
Possible future problems
- OS updates confuse the owner, I live close so I will help out. I have to check what level of auto updates it is on
- The user gets confused, hates the new OS and never tells me. I hate it when this happens, I will check with them
