Linux... another convert!

[Groundy]

Not as good as I thought, I downloaded freespire no problems, but the section CNRdidnt download, that is the section that controls downloads, pictures, music. Etc, so now I can't go into it to remove it and it won't let me replace it with another disc, and a download for say ,mint, can't be done because of the missing CNR section, I will probably take it to the little computer shop in town,
I can get the internet but can't download....

Alex

[Lurker]

Not as good as I thought, I downloaded freespire no problems, but the section CNRdidnt download, that is the section that controls downloads, pictures, music. Etc, so now I can't go into it to remove it and it won't let me replace it with another disc, and a download for say ,mint, can't be done because of the missing CNR section, I will probably take it to the little computer shop in town,
I can get the internet but can't download....

Alex

Are you loading the system from a disc?  Do you have another computer?  If both are true, you can try using an old Windows install disc to remove the partition.  This will totally crash the hard drive and allow a clean install.  You would have to have a new system disc created on the other computer.  I used to keep an old windows install disc around just for this purpose.

This probably won't help at all, but I thought I'd take a shot.

[Groundy]

Cheers Lurker, I did try the old Windows disc, I still have the disc from when I got it, it must be about 15 years old,
But no luck, I do have another laptop but it's away getting repaired after dropping it, that's one of the reasons I started to try and improve my old one..lol
Thanks again, take care........

Alex

[64Guitars]

Not as good as I thought, I downloaded freespire no problems, but the section CNRdidnt download, that is the section that controls downloads, pictures, music. Etc, so now I can't go into it to remove it and it won't let me replace it with another disc, and a download for say ,mint, can't be done because of the missing CNR section, I will probably take it to the little computer shop in town,
I can get the internet but can't download....

Does this laptop have a DVD drive, or is it only a CD drive?

If it's a DVD, can you not get a friend to download the latest Mint or Ubuntu to their computer and burn a DVD for you?

If you can get someone to make the DVD for you, then you should be able to boot the laptop directly from the DVD and install Mint/Ubuntu, regardless of what's currently on the hard drive. It's going to format the hard drive anyway (unless you're installing Linux in a separate partition), so it doesn't matter what's on the hard drive (unless you want to keep it, of course).

If your laptop won't boot from the DVD and you're sure the DVD was made correctly (ie; your friend can boot from it on his computer), then you may have to go into the computer's BIOS setup and change the Boot Order so that the DVD drive comes before the hard drive. Although, on a lot of newer computers, you may get the option of a Boot Menu on startup. Watch the initial startup screen very carefully for a message about Boot Menu. On my desktop computer, for example, the message on the startup screen says to pres the DEL key for the BIOS Setup or the F11 key for the Boot Menu. If I press F11 while it's booting up, I get a menu listing all my drives and I can choose which one I want to boot from. But not all computers have a boot menu; especially older computers. In that case, you can go into the BIOS Setup instead and change the boot order so that the DVD comes before the hard drive. Then, as long as there's a disc in the DVD drive when you reboot, the computer will try to boot from that disc instead of the hard drive. If there's no disc in the DVD drive, it will boot from the hard drive, as usual.

You can get more information about changing the boot order here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromCD


Here's a picture of a computer's startup screen (not mine; I just found this on the web). Notice the bottom line. It says "Press DEL to enter SETUP,  F11 to Enter Boot Menu". Your screen will probably look different but if it says anything about a Boot Menu, just take note of which key it says to press for it. It might be something other than F11. For example, F12, F10, and ESC are sometimes used.

[Groundy]

Cheers 64'' will check it out.......Alex

[Groundy]

Managed to get rid of freespire, As you suggested I found a really old Windows disc along with the installation code and that did the trick, mind you it's Windows 98, I will wait for my computer to come back from repair and download the latest mint, thanks 64, and everyone else for your help...just love this site......Alex