The Linux.uk Community Forum

I want to put Linux on this laptop which I bought sold as seen and totally untested.
It had Windows Vista on it.
The problem is that none of the "F" buttons actually work so I cannot get into BIOS.
Booting up seems to fail entirely and I do not seem to be able to do anything about it.

Keith,
It's like entering a foreign country with a foreign language for me.
HDD? Solid State Drive? Repositories?

Keith and Rich,
I got my 802.11N 150Mbps wireless adapter this morning and plugged in the USB bit and the tiny DVD and it almost immediately recognised my broadband connection and I was for the first time able to see a webpage on the M70. Do I have to keep both in all the time now?
Now the Toshiba Satellite M70 hardware is not supported by Google Chrome so I wasn't able to properly download that so I just have a very, very slow Bing browser.
I am minded to use that laptop as a replacement screen for the broken screen on my Toshiba Satellite C50 in the fullness of time.
What effect would putting Linux on my computer have?
Could I, for instance, get it to run faster?
Also, what browser would I be able to use on Linux?
I am keen to abandon Google and MSoft because of privacy issues.

Rich and Keith,
Thanks for your advice.
It is putting lipstick on a pig as the Toshiba Satellite M70 is very old and slow. Currently it will not connect to internet at all on Microsoft Windows 8 due to not connecting through WAN Miniport (PPPOE) Error 651. It seems to be a modem issue in the machine itself (it keeps re-dialling for a connection and failing) and this may make the job impossible anyway?
I have wanted to try Linux for a long time due to various issues with MSoft. I like that it is free and also that it hopefully might be faster, smoother and have fewer regular updates I don't agree to, be more private, autonomous and less intrusive without linking me up with products I don't want. I read that it would speed up tired old laptops like the M70 so thought I'd give it a go.
I'm happy to download and boot whichever system is best for the M70 in your opinion to make it serviceable mainly for just browsing the web and watching You Tube films.
The one I have put on the D Drive is the basic Mint, I think, but I can delete that and download another.
I would first want to remove Microsoft Windows 8 from it altogether and install Linux mainly to see how it works and if I get on with it if that is possible.
The BIOS system on the M70 is likely to be old too.
Thanks

Hi Rich J,
Thanks for your reply.
I downloaded Linux Mint onto the D drive on laptop one.
I am talking about two laptops.
Number one has the Linux Mint on the D drive and I have to put that on laptop two on the BIOS.
I thought that the best way to do that would be to download it onto the flash drive then put the flash drive into laptop two.
The file I have is MD5SUMS 33KB with second called READMEdiskdefines with 1KB.

I am installing Linux Mint on a Toshiba Satellite M70-343 laptop.
I recently bought it second hand from EBay and it is currently running on Microsoft Windows 7 Professional very, very slowly and I cannot access the internet as it does not seem to connect to my Three broadband connection at home with a router plugged in to the mains.
I first downloaded Linux Mint onto a DVD drive on my Toshiba Satellite L50-c-150 laptop.
I have bought a 64 GB flash drive from Argos and am ready to put it into a USB port on my L50-c laptop.
What do I do now to install Linux on the M70?
Many thanks for your help in this matter.
Garry