One of my maternal grandmother's favorite sayings was "Better to leave well enough alone." If something is working for you, why tinker around with it? Often, when we try to improve or enhance something that is meeting our basic needs or desires, we unwittingly screw everything up. That's precisely what happened to me yesterday.
As noted previously, I had a major computer malfunction which caused me not to be able to reload my Windows XP operating system (OS). After trying out several alternative systems, I found one that met my basic needs: Puppy Linux. While the learning curve for switching from Windows to Linux is high, I was starting to get somewhat of a feel for my new OS.
Generally speaking, I'm a very loyal person. When I find something that meets my needs or desires, I tend to stick with it come hell or high water. I've been with the same woman (Della) for 26 years. I've eaten the same brand of peanut butter (Jif) for over 45 years! I wear my clothes until they are threadbare.
So, since the Puppy was meeting my basic needs, I find it a bit surprising that I actually was willing to try a different Linux distro.
I suppose the explanation is that, while Puppy indeed was meeting my basic needs, there were some aspects of it that I was having a difficult time getting a handle on.
For example, the file structure is altogether different than the Windows environment and so I was having a devil of a time finding specific files. They never seemed to be in the folders that seemed most logical to me. I would download a package (a program) and then not be able to find it, so that I could access it.
In addition, the Help Files left a lot to be desired. Most of the time, they offered no help for a Linux novice. Instead of explaining procedures in plain English, all I found was a bunch of programming gobbledygook.
So, since I had set up a separate partition in order to try a different Linux system, late Friday night I downloaded and began the install of Debian GNU/Linux OS. I made absolute sure that I loaded this second OS onto my smaller partition, so that Puppy would be left unmolested.
Saturday morning I tried out the Debian version of Linux. As with Puppy, it immediately found and connected with my modem. The file system was laid out in a more familiar manner, it was easier to locate specific files and the Help section provided much more detail.
On the downside, it is slower than Puppy. It's certainly faster than any Windows system I've ever used, but it is nowhere as fast and streamlined as the Linux distro on my other partition. I thought it would be good to work with both of them and then decide which to go with.
So, I rebooted my computer and restarted Puppy. To my absolute horror, all the modifications I had made to Puppy over the previous week and all my downloaded emails had vanished! Poof! I can't figure out the why: I placed Debian on a different partition. Being that it's on a different partition, it should have no effect on the data on the Puppy partition.
With all my data gone, I decided to switch to Debian full-scale. So, I reformatted partition #1 and installed Debian GNU/Linux. As this OS is much larger, the whole process took three hours. When it was finally completed, it wouldn't allow me to log in. I could type in my user name, but when I went to type in my password, nothing happened. Arghhh!!!
I ended up repeating the entire install again, this time choosing a slightly different configuration. It worked and, as of late last night, I was back in business. Just to be sure there were no surprises left, I rebooted it several times and logging onto the system worked in each instance.
So, I think I'm back. I also think I'll heed my grandmother's advice!!
As noted previously, I had a major computer malfunction which caused me not to be able to reload my Windows XP operating system (OS). After trying out several alternative systems, I found one that met my basic needs: Puppy Linux. While the learning curve for switching from Windows to Linux is high, I was starting to get somewhat of a feel for my new OS.
Generally speaking, I'm a very loyal person. When I find something that meets my needs or desires, I tend to stick with it come hell or high water. I've been with the same woman (Della) for 26 years. I've eaten the same brand of peanut butter (Jif) for over 45 years! I wear my clothes until they are threadbare.
So, since the Puppy was meeting my basic needs, I find it a bit surprising that I actually was willing to try a different Linux distro.
I suppose the explanation is that, while Puppy indeed was meeting my basic needs, there were some aspects of it that I was having a difficult time getting a handle on.
For example, the file structure is altogether different than the Windows environment and so I was having a devil of a time finding specific files. They never seemed to be in the folders that seemed most logical to me. I would download a package (a program) and then not be able to find it, so that I could access it.
In addition, the Help Files left a lot to be desired. Most of the time, they offered no help for a Linux novice. Instead of explaining procedures in plain English, all I found was a bunch of programming gobbledygook.
So, since I had set up a separate partition in order to try a different Linux system, late Friday night I downloaded and began the install of Debian GNU/Linux OS. I made absolute sure that I loaded this second OS onto my smaller partition, so that Puppy would be left unmolested.
Saturday morning I tried out the Debian version of Linux. As with Puppy, it immediately found and connected with my modem. The file system was laid out in a more familiar manner, it was easier to locate specific files and the Help section provided much more detail.
On the downside, it is slower than Puppy. It's certainly faster than any Windows system I've ever used, but it is nowhere as fast and streamlined as the Linux distro on my other partition. I thought it would be good to work with both of them and then decide which to go with.
So, I rebooted my computer and restarted Puppy. To my absolute horror, all the modifications I had made to Puppy over the previous week and all my downloaded emails had vanished! Poof! I can't figure out the why: I placed Debian on a different partition. Being that it's on a different partition, it should have no effect on the data on the Puppy partition.
With all my data gone, I decided to switch to Debian full-scale. So, I reformatted partition #1 and installed Debian GNU/Linux. As this OS is much larger, the whole process took three hours. When it was finally completed, it wouldn't allow me to log in. I could type in my user name, but when I went to type in my password, nothing happened. Arghhh!!!
I ended up repeating the entire install again, this time choosing a slightly different configuration. It worked and, as of late last night, I was back in business. Just to be sure there were no surprises left, I rebooted it several times and logging onto the system worked in each instance.
So, I think I'm back. I also think I'll heed my grandmother's advice!!
When I first read of your 'puter trouble and that you installed linux, I thought, "When my vista machine starts up with the windows problems, I'm gonna install linux." Just a few days later my computer stopped accessing the internet! I installed ubuntu linux, but couldn't get the wireless drivers to work. I then installed fedora linux and have been running it happily for one day. I think I will like it better than windows. In sharing your trouble, you helped inspire me to go linux. Thank You.
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