Which Linux ??

[fecmech]

You fellows have helped me in the past with my computer so I hope you will again. I'd like to try linux on my old desk top by running it off a DVD or flash drive without messing up my old XP system to see if I like it. I'm totally confused as to which version to try. About all I do with the box is surf the web and some word processing and printing occasionally. The computer is a Gateway with Pentium 4 240ghz processor and 2.98 GB ram 32 bit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[2wheelDuke]

It's been years since I messed around with Linux. Flash drives are cheap these days, sounds like the way to go. It used to take a bit for the live DVD to get loaded up, flash drives should be faster.

Looks like it's pretty easy to do with the utility listed here. https://opensource.com/life/14/10/test-drive-linux-nothing-flash-drive

Same info here. http://www.pcworld.com/article/249870/create_a_bootable_linux_flash_drive_in_three_easy_ steps.html

As far as the "flavor" of Linux, I'm not sure what the best is these days, and it's probably a bit like gun styles and brands. I used to like Suse Linux over a decade ago. Ubuntu was the most recent one I've messed with and that's still years ago. If you've got the time, it looks like it's easy enough to try different setups using that utility.

[Smoke4320]

Linux Mint

https://linuxmint.com/

[guywitha3006]

I dual boot into Ubuntu for just about everything other then CAD or MS Office. For me Ubuntu was the easiest to use I did boot from a disk/flash drive in the past but switched to hard drive after a few weeks. You should be able to find a tutorial about how to partition your hard drive and have the ability to boot both windows and Linux. I think I used Partition Magic the last time I did it.

[Boolit_Head]

There are several versions which offer a live cd or dvd version. You can get a taste with them but really they will not offer you the full experience since they will run slower from a optical drive. The best option would be to install to the hard drive even though that may mean you have to sacrifice the old version of Windoze. The USB boot option would be faster and give you the ability to save files but still not as fast as the hard drive install.

[RogerDat]

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/try-ubuntu-before-you-install for Ubuntu which tends to do a really good job with hardware driver identification and set up. My goto for laptop rescue OS. Mint gets some really good reviews. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/linux-mint-vs-ubuntu-distro-choose/ So Mint is also a good choice https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

Knoppix is a granddaddy of live cd/flash drive installs. http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-info/index-en.html also generally pretty good.

CentOS or RedHat have a large commercial and enterprise user base, less user friendly for desktop but sort of like having an IBM product, so much business uses it that it gets good support. I have a 15 year old printer that is at it's core and IBM just rebranded, I was able to get Windows 7 drivers and keep using it.

I have about three older PC's in the basement that I may install Mint on (or Ubuntu, whatever works) see if they can be used to provide basic word processor with open office, email and web browser functionality. Maybe something for digital camera picture browsing or minor photo edits and they would cover 90% of what people do with a computer.

[DougGuy]

Thx for the Knoppix mention. I haven't had a Knoppix distro in quite a while, this will make a nice bootable utility.

[DerekP Houston]

Linux Mint

https://linuxmint.com/

I'll second that recommendation. It is lightweight and still runs almost anything you could need. I used it on our old laptop until I gave it away.

If you prefer a more "windows like" feel, the latest version of ubuntu is good. At work almost everything is SUSE or RedHat linux command line for actual working....then windows 7/10 depending on which laptop you got for goofing off with.

[farmerjim]

I am on a debian Right now dual booted with Xp. I have Ubuntu on the machine to the right and windows 7 on the left machine. Ubuntu is the easiest to use. If I didn't need windows to run several programs, I would use Linux exclusively.

[dannyd]

mint :shock:

[WebMonkey]

Xubuntu is fairly lightweight.

[fecmech]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I appreciate the "how to" link for the flash drive utility. I think I'll give the latest Ubuntu a try. Again thank you all!

[dragon813gt]

Anyone running Quickload on Linux? It's the only program I'm not sure would run on it.

[popper]

Ubuntu Mint is easy to use but not the best security wise. Haven't used Linux for several years, hopefully they've gotten a good GUI by now. Crash recovery didn't used to be much better than Windows. Ubuntu appears to be the best for streaming and as most computers these days just stream from servers, it would be the best choice. In fact, Android is just a layer over Ubuntu and smart phones basically are a communication streaming device - request and display only. No real 'computing' or calculating or much storage.
I'm running Win 7P in the virtual machine from MS, I might try Ubuntu if I get bored. Flash drive Linux is sloow. Like DVD linux (even slooower) , files can get lost if there is a glitch.
Oh, there is a package for Linux that lets you run Win programs.
Like Win, write down the root(Admin) password and learn about permissions.

[RogerDat]

Yes slow. But flash drive or DVD Linux allows one to find out if it works before doing a real install. :-) Network card or video card without driver is a bummer to find out at the end of formatting a drive and installing a distro. Bet you can guess how I know. Never the fast machines that have the problem, always the slow as molasses laptop that in the end of a looong install leaves you at 640x800 screen res. or without USB or network or....

Also good for the corrupted windows OS with files you need to pull off, or the virus infected one you just boot in an uninfected OS to get files because some people don't know that screen savers are not .exe files and should not be installed from the internet. I think there are some servers now that boot from read only disk such as DVD in order to make hacking a real uphill battle. Or at least hard to compromise the OS and installed software. On a 24 gig of ram system the entire light Nix OS can fit in ram. With room for a nice swap space leftover. Not that I would want to use it for a desktop like that but pretty neat solution to reducing attack surface.

[victorfox]

Anyone running Quickload on Linux? It's the only program I'm not sure would run on it.

Me. You have to install wine then run the Quickload installer. Runs flawlessly.

I'm using Linux mint (edit: and QL 3.6)

For the op, I'd third (already seconded :lol:) the Linux mint suggestion. Get the MATE flavour the interface is easier to use than Ubuntu's off the box.

I'm an avid Linux user since about 1998-99, and basically don't run windows. If I may help in any way, just ask. I'm not a programmer or hacker but we accumulate a few tricks under the sleeve tru the years.

[Boolit_Head]

If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. I am a Sr. Systems Engineer and specialize in most forms of Linux and Unixes.

[popper]

But flash drive or DVD Linux allows one to find out if it works before doing a real install. Actually an external HD is cheap and pretty fast. That way the internal drive doesn't have extra partitions unavailable to Win.

[Moonie]

I'm a RedHat Certified Engineer and a UNIX/Linux Senior SA for a living as well. My preference is Fedora and they do have a live dvd.

[StolzerandSons]

I have an old desktop that windows stopped working on and would freeze right after the bios so I used Ubuntu on a USB flash to recover the files I wanted to save off of it then I wiped the drive and installed the latest Ubuntu at the time(updated many times since then). Running off of a flashdrive has a few limits but for just doing basic stuff it works good and it makes it easy to recover files when the original OS goes bad. For word processing either Apache or Open Office will work with nearly all MS file formats.

[Digger]

Good to see a group of linux fans here , have been using "mint" for quite a while.
Have used Ubuntu before along with Fedora , love the choices we have available to us.
With this said ... would suggest this site for all visit when they have a moment as it will help with the overall outlook on version availabity ...
Distrowatch.com
Link:
http://distrowatch.com/

Rather facsinating with all the versions that are focused in different directions.

[victorfox]

Boy, my thoughts exactly. Who would think? Maybe writing scripts for solving problems activate the same brain area that deals with load development? :lol:

In my beginner years I'd try every distro I could, like Debian, Slackware, Red Hat (older), Fedora, Crunchbang, Slax, Vector, and a bunch of others. I wrote and published some scripts in a time where the search bar was not part of the browser and to make swap files more easily for weaker systems with 16 or 32 megs of RAM. And translated a bunch of man pages for the LDP (pt BR).

Now I got old, busy and lazy, so I'm using Mint for its easy configuration of more exotic hardware. I remember compiling thr kernel to make my modem and sound card work... Those were the days!

[DerekP Houston]

Boy, my thoughts exactly. Who would think? Maybe writing scripts for solving problems activate the same brain area that deals with load development? :lol:

In my beginner years I'd try every distro I could, like Debian, Slackware, Red Hat (older), Fedora, Crunchbang, Slax, Vector, and a bunch of others. I wrote and published some scripts in a time where the search bar was not part of the browser and to make swap files more easily for weaker systems with 16 or 32 megs of RAM. And translated a bunch of man pages for the LDP (pt BR).

Now I got old, busy and lazy, so I'm using Mint for its easy configuration of more exotic hardware. I remember compiling thr kernel to make my modem and sound card work... Those were the days!

I can't write a script to save my life but I can follow instructions ;). I tried a bunch of the other flavors but settled on one that "just works" for what I need it to do. Quite similar to my load development to be perfectly honesty.

[Boolit_Head]

If you want to have fun and challenge yourself try a Gentoo install. No namby pamby installer programs for them, real life he men install it all manually. I jest but it is a manual install and you will learn a lot by doing it several times and compiling your own kernel till you get a working system. And yes for the uninitiated it will take several installs to get one working. :)

[victorfox]

If you want to have fun and challenge yourself try a Gentoo install. No namby pamby installer programs for them, real life he men install it all manually. I jest but it is a manual install and you will learn a lot by doing it several times and compiling your own kernel till you get a working system. And yes for the uninitiated it will take several installs to get one working. :)

This is the sort of thing I liked when I started. I actually run it a while. Arch Linux was about the same. Now it's easier. I even got involvee in trying my hand on a LFS (Linux from Scratch) but never finished... Life got in the way :lol:

I liked to play with mini Linux distros too, these fitted a pair of 1.44 floppy diskettes!!! And during my move from windows I tried FreeBSD (real fast but a bit complicated with hardware drivers and I disliked the little devil mascot), BeOS (what mac should be), Solaris x86, minix and a bunch of other unknown OSes like ReactOS (a free windows from scratch), but Linux is kind of a 12ga pump... You can do just about everything with it... :lol:

[barrabruce]

I know jack shhhht about linux but have been using it for 15 yrs or so.
I eventually get a new flavor installed and it'll work till I can't update or figure out how to anymore.

I just google my laptop or or machines credentials in search and see what works on it with out having to do any script mojo special stuff.

I'm using Unbuntu at the moment.
I found it easy to install as it recognized most of my gear.

Had a bit of trouble with login passwords and root password and permissions at one stage after I forgot them.
But googled it after tearing my hair out and it was fixable even to me.
Apparently a not so uncommon problem as I thought.:oops:

And there I was thinking I had wrecked and lost everything!!!

If you have windows keep it as somethings WINE WILL NOT RUN.

[Boolit_Head]

FreeBSD is pretty good but it is limited in hardware, it really prefers server class hardware and applications. But I built a entire virtual hosting environment based on it and it was incredibly stable. At one point we had two years of uptime on the machines.

[tommag]

Can I cut in? I made an ubuntu install disc after trying it. I installed it along with wine.I have Windows still on my laptop, so I can boot either to Linux or Windows 8.1. When I start with ubuntu, I can't access quickload. Is there a way to do this other than 're installing Ql? I have misplaced my original Ql disc.

[victorfox]

Not sure if it will work. But you can try.

1) make a copy of the quickload folder in linux (copy from c:/ pogram files/blablabla to your user folder in Linux)

2) open a terminal go to the newly copied folder and look for QLOAD.EXE (using ls). inside said terminal type
wine QLOAD.EXE

I'm assuming you have wine installed. These steps might do the trick. I'm away from computer now, but I believe it can be run this way. I installed mine using the installer.

[Smoke4320]

I installed 1 wine didn't work installed another bottle of wine computer did not work any better
kind of made the screen blurry and the keyboard type the wrong letters��

[Boolit_Head]

Not sure if it will work. But you can try.

1) make a copy of the quickload folder in linux (copy from c:/ pogram files/blablabla to your user folder in Linux)

2) open a terminal go to the newly copied folder and look for QLOAD.EXE (using ls). inside said terminal type
wine QLOAD.EXE

I'm assuming you have wine installed. These steps might do the trick. I'm away from computer now, but I believe it can be run this way. I installed mine using the installer.


Very likely that will not work. Almost all Windows programs rely on registry entries. I'm afraid without the install disk the OP is hosed.

[w5pv]

Vote Trump

[victorfox]

Very likely that will not work. Almost all Windows programs rely on registry entries. I'm afraid without the install disk the OP is hosed.

Guess what? It worked! Seems like Quickload is more "old school DOS" style, with all the needed libs and files inside the install directory.

Only complaint from the program was the lack of the MS style true type fonts, which can be installed in most systems as the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package.

I made a mistake on the filename, it's actually QLOADFW.EXE, so the command

wine QLOADFW.EXE

inside the copied directory will do the trick. :)

[victorfox]

I installed 1 wine didn't work installed another bottle of wine computer did not work any better
kind of made the screen blurry and the keyboard type the wrong letters��

Hmmm... seems like you got Alcohol 120%....**

** rotten joke on a cd burning app, in case you're wondering... http://www.alcohol-soft.com/[smilie=p:

[Boolit_Head]

Guess what? It worked! Seems like Quickload is more "old school DOS" style, with all the needed libs and files inside the install directory.

Only complaint from the program was the lack of the MS style true type fonts, which can be installed in most systems as the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package.

I made a mistake on the filename, it's actually QLOADFW.EXE, so the command

wine QLOADFW.EXE

inside the copied directory will do the trick.


Count yourself lucky!

[popper]

Almost all Windows programs rely on registry entries Kinda and it depends on the Win version. Win 1.0 was fun to tinker with. Anyway, registry is a combination of pointer, permission, parameter, etc container. Yea, building a working kernel with everything included is fun but IIRC there are some security problems. Gota stay away from ring 0 and root executions. Then there was the processors that hid sector #s to prevent SW piracy. If the Win virtual machine is as good as VMware, that is the fastest/easiest/safest way.

[victorfox]

Popper, I'm aware of this, specially M$ products being notorious for needing registry entries, weird .dlls, and all the associated BS. But in the case of Quickload, seems its only registry entries or such are the links and desktop icons. Running from the command line (terminal) worked fine, even when I copied the install folder (located in ~/.wine/Program Files/QuickLoad) to another place and running from the new folder.

I understand YMMV, but worked for me.

174745

[ol skool]

My reading a while ago suggested Xubuntu or Mint for MS converters. Light footprint for older computers, can be tuned to familiar interface. Been using Xubuntu and see absolutely no reason to daily fight with any MS products again.

[Digger]

Gentlemen ,....
Linus Torvalds , The man who gave us "Linux" ... , on " TED talks""
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrYt4bbEUrU

[Moonie]

I always suggest people try lots of different distributions of Linux, choose the one they like best.

[victorfox]

I always suggest people try lots of different distributions of Linux, choose the one they like best.

Just like firearms, it's difficult to choose ONLY ONE! I'm running Mint in my workstation right now (and believe it or not, Linux is so versatile, I am running as a install on a pendrive, since my HD crashed (in 2013, it's the same pendrive running flawless 3 years and counting), because my old notebook won't accept new HDD due to SATA -> SATAII/III incompatility of the BIOS) and have an Antix install on my external HDD, just in case I need to repair/rescue something.

[needausername]

Having used distro after distro since 2001, my biggest annoyance had nothing to do with the desktop(s) or package managers. Rather it's Fluxbox, Gnome or KDE was just fine. My choice of distro over the years has become based on that distros ability to make gtk or qt apps look seemlessly integrated. I use both daily and I've settled on elementary OS for the last couple of years. It's highly polished and professional looking. It's light and fast and while some have said they stripped off too much customization with the Pantheon Desktop, I find it's usability simple and strait forward for everything I do.

[Storydude]

Mint with the KDE desktop.

[DougGuy]

Which Linux distros can read NTFS?

[Boolit_Head]

All of them with the addition of ntfs-3g. Some it comes with the distro but it can be added to all in one manner or another. Hmmm not sure about the BSD's, I have not used them in a while.

[kmw1954]

Last one I'd used was PCLinux but that was years ago until Win7. I too now have a couple old XP systems that run great and might go back to using Linux on one.

Here are a couple links that may help'
http://forums.justlinux.com/index.php?
http://distrowatch.com/

[dbarry1]

I use Ubuntu 15.

[DougGuy]

All of them with the addition of ntfs-3g. Some it comes with the distro but it can be added to all in one manner or another. Hmmm not sure about the BSD's, I have not used them in a while.

I used to really like BSD 4.5 if that shows you how long it's been since I visited there. Up to 10.3 stable now, and there is a PC-BSD version with the lumina desktop that might appeal to wintel users. Gonna have to try that one!

If M$ keep on making builds that will NOT run with my hardware, and they won't let you STOP at the build that does run for you, they are pretty much forcing you to buy newer hardware which completes the conspiracy theory.

[fecmech]

Hi guys, back again. Downloaded linux lite, burned it to a dvd and it runs on my machine albeit slow as you would expect from a disc. Made a flash drive up using unbootin to try but the machine won't boot from flash drive. Went to the boot menu and it did not give a usb option. Just HD,floppy,CD or 1BAfe slot??. Went into the bios and it said usb boot enabled. Also tried latest ubuntu on unbootin but no joy. Any ideas?? Sorry for being a pain. Nick

[pertnear]

I never expected to get such good computer info from my cast-boolit forum!! :-D

As a hobby, I have collected old or broken PC's & cannibalized them & put running systems back together either to play with or give to someone who needs one. For most word-processing & web surfing, you don't need a whiz-bang PC, so my Frankenstein computers work just fine!

Now the OP has got my attention about trying Linux. Here are a couple of questions:

1) If a Linux OS can be configured for NTFS, can a network share be created with Windows OS's? I'd also like to know about vice-versa? I'm not talking ftp here.

2) Is there virus protection or a security shell for Linux? It was assumed you didn't need it because no hacker bothered with Linux, but times change! What's the status of this issue with Linux?

3) I currently use a version of "Myth TV" which was adapted to Windows & called "MediaPortal" to manage all our TV, music, movies, pictures, etc. I assume Myth TV is still around & is it as slick as MP?

I for one don't trust Microsoft with this last "free" release of W10. They definitely have something up their sleeve on this deal. Moving away from Windows & MS-Office seems to be a good idea while avoiding jumping into another bottomless dollar pit like Apple!

TIA...

[DerekP Houston]

Booting from USB without BIOS support.

You basically need to make a boot CD and then use that to select the OS you want to run.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Boot-from-usb-on-an-old-pc-without-modding-the-BIO/

That link above will walk you through the steps. Not an uncommon thing for older PC's to not have the USB boot option.

[DerekP Houston]

I never expected to get such good computer info from my cast-boolit forum!! :-D

As a hobby, I have collected old or broken PC's & cannibalized them & put running systems back together either to play with or give to someone who needs one. For most word-processing & web surfing, you don't need a whiz-bang PC, so my Frankenstein computers work just fine!

Now the OP has got my attention about trying Linux. Here are a couple of questions:

1) If a Linux OS can be configured for NTFS, can a network share be created with Windows OS's? I'd also like to know about vice-versa? I'm not talking ftp here.

2) Is there virus protection or a security shell for Linux? It was assumed you didn't need it because no hacker bothered with Linux, but times change! What's the status of this issue with Linux?

3) I currently use a version of "Myth TV" which was adapted to Windows & called "MediaPortal" to manage all our TV, music, movies, pictures, etc. I assume Myth TV is still around & is it as slick as MP?

I for one don't trust Microsoft with this last "free" release of W10. They definitely have something up their sleeve on this deal. Moving away from Windows & MS-Office seems to be a good idea while avoiding jumping into another bottomless dollar pit like Apple!

TIA...


1) If a Linux OS can be configured for NTFS, can a network share be created with Windows OS's? I'd also like to know about vice-versa? I'm not talking ftp here.

i can answer this one, I run nas4free (BSD fork nas server). I can access my samba/cifs shares and NFS shares from both types of pc's. I run the server as separate hardware but I know guys at work who utilize onboard software to make it work. The original intent of nas4free was to canablize old systems to use as network shares so it works perfect for me. I've upgraded the disks to have more space, but it runs all the base features and works via usb boot disk.

2) I don't bother with linux protection since mine is mostly recovery environments or work related things that are running enterprise level software.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/free-linux-antivirus-programs/

That's a decent selection of them and explanations though

3) I never used Myth TV, but I've used Plex media server and XMBC for my tv's like a champ. XMBC has a forked version called "openelec" and it runs off a raspberry pii I have handing on the back of the tv (~$30 little pc with all onboard parts the size of a credit card). On our nicer TV it can access the network shares via the apps.

[fecmech]

Derek--You da man!!!!!! Sending this from linux mint on my old machine! Downloaded the file,burned the CD, piece of cake with your help. Thank you sir

[DougGuy]

Whoa.. PCBSD 10.3 is NICE!! Very cool so far.. Have to find a way to let QuickLoad run on it, and my raid controller isn't recognized but I can get one from ebay cheap that will work. Windows may have met it's demise!

What do I need to do to get some windows based proggys to run?

Edit: Installed Virtualbox, then installed a stripped down version of Windows XP into virtualbox, QuickLoad installed into this and RUNS!

Edit #2: Installed a stripped down copy of Windows 7 into virtualbox, and QuickLoad installs and runs in this one also, now I can get rid of the virtual XP machine..

QuickLoad running in a virtual Windows 7 on the PC-BSD desktop:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/PC-BSD%20Stuff/snapshot1smaller_zpsjeycox9v.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/PC-BSD%20Stuff/snapshot1smaller_zpsjeycox9v.jpg.html)

[Storydude]

I just dig the 5 second boot with a SSD(solid state drive) with Mint.

[Storydude]

Whoa.. PCBSD 10.3 is NICE!! Very cool so far.. Have to find a way to let QuickLoad run on it, and my raid controller isn't recognized but I can get one from ebay cheap that will work. Windows may have met it's demise!

What do I need to do to get some windows based proggys to run?

Edit: Installed Virtualbox, then installed a stripped down version of Windows XP into virtualbox, QuickLoad installed into this and RUNS!

Edit #2: Installed a stripped down copy of Windows 7 into virtualbox, and QuickLoad installs and runs in this one also, now I can get rid of the virtual XP machine..
WINE does all that. Might be a little harder to get them all to play nice, but WINE has worked for everything I've tossed at it and not needing the actual Windows loaded on a virtual box.

[Rustyleee]

Not to hijack this thread, but since there are so many people here that are well versed with Linux I have a question about it that someone might be able to answer.

My wife has a laptop that will barely even boot. She also has a lot of pictures on it she would like to recover. Could I load Linux onto that machine and use Linux to extract the pictures?

[DougGuy]

WINE does all that. Might be a little harder to get them all to play nice, but WINE has worked for everything I've tossed at it and not needing the actual Windows loaded on a virtual box.

QuickLoad CD will not install in WINE. It errors out early on saying the install must be run from cdrom, so the parameters in the path to the cdrom drive are not compatible with what the installer is looking for.


Not to hijack this thread, but since there are so many people here that are well versed with Linux I have a question about it that someone might be able to answer.

My wife has a laptop that will barely even boot. She also has a lot of pictures on it she would like to recover. Could I load Linux onto that machine and use Linux to extract the pictures?

You would be better off removing the drive from the laptop and installing it in a desktop and pulling photos off it like that.

[DerekP Houston]

Not to hijack this thread, but since there are so many people here that are well versed with Linux I have a question about it that someone might be able to answer.

My wife has a laptop that will barely even boot. She also has a lot of pictures on it she would like to recover. Could I load Linux onto that machine and use Linux to extract the pictures?

Boot it from CD with a live-linux version, and copy the files off to a USB thumb drive. I do it all the time for neighbors before I reformat the bug infested PC's they bring. Then scan that USB disk with a good virus scanner before you copy anything off. I see Doug's recommendation below would work as well, but I'm leary of connecting anyone's hardware to my own without a scan first.

[Rustyleee]

Thank you Derek

And thank you Doug. I thought about putting the hard drive in a separate enclosure just for that purpose.

[popper]

Made a flash drive up using unbootin to try but the machine won't boot from flash drive. flashdrive must have boot sector installed to work. Usually the install SW reformats and installs the boot sector, than adds the linux stuff.

[DougGuy]

Just started running Linux Mint 18 _Sarah_ - Release amd64 20160628]/ xenial contrib main non-free. Looks really good. It has better hardware support than PC-BSD so I might put a different distro of mint on that box. Running Cinnamon on this one right now, pretty pleased with it.

[DougGuy]

Thank you Derek

And thank you Doug. I thought about putting the hard drive in a separate enclosure just for that purpose.

Hey Rustyleee, once you get the .iso of Linux Mint, google making a linux mint boot usb drive and you can use a jump drive to install it with, much faster I found. As long as you have a fast jump drive. I got two new ones by PNY from Best Buy, a 32gb and a 16gb both for $15 and I made the boot usb for linux mint 18 cinnamon and it took 1/4 the time to install vs. installing from dvd.

This also makes a live usb stick, once you get to the point where you have an icon on the desktop that says install to hard disk, you are running linux fully in ram, it has the entire OS loaded, you can do anything with it just can't save any files to the usb stick you booted from. If you have two usb sticks, you can copy files to the other one. All this can be done without installing linux if you want to get files off the disk before you swap it out. I think you could probably use linux to delete partitions and format that drive if needed to get rid of viruses. It might be that you have to use the software manager in linux to go on the net and find the Gnome Disk package and install it while you are booted into linux, which is a partition manager that might be of help.

Just for kicks, I went and downloaded the latest Puppy Linux release, 234mb .iso for 64bit systems, and I used the usb image writer in linux to make a live boot usb stick out of it. It takes it all of about 30 seconds to boot into ram, and run. very stripped down very basic, but if you have two usb sticks and you want a fast way to get files off a drive, this would be the ticket.. Just sayin'