installing Linux Mint

[Radulas]

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

[Rich J]

Hi Garry and welcome to the forum.

Before we begin, how did Linux Mint get on to your DVD?  Did you download it to, copy it to or did you burn it to to the disc? (This is important)

And what is the purpose of the 64GB flash drive?  Are you wanting to install Mint from that?  (*Usually* Mint can be installed from either DVD or Flash drive - but not always..... it depends on the BIOS set-up of the machine - but we will get to that later) 

EDIT:  And which version of Mint are you looking at?  Cinnamon is fairly 'heavyweight', Mate a bit less so and XFCE is very light on resources.  Depending upon your system specs will pretty much govern which version will work best for you.

[Radulas]

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.

[Keith]

Hi Radulas.

You have downloaded the ISO file (plus MD5SUM and Readme files). 
The ISO file is all the hundreds of files needed for Mint combined into one file for ease of transport/download.
 
The first thing you need to do is check that the MD5SUM value provided (a very long string of numbers) agrees with the MD5SUM of your downloaded file.  Actually I've never ha d a failure so you might want to risk not checking.  If you do want to check, you'll need to download MD5SUM for Windows - https://sourceforge.net/projects/winmd5sum/

Then copy all your downloaded files to the Downloads directory (= Folder, in Windows-speak) of your destination laptop. 

You now need to "expand" the ISO file onto a fresh USB stick. To do this you need to download and install a "USB writer" for the job.  There are two main ones - your choice:
1. Etcher - https://etcher.download/
2. Unetbootin - https://unetbootin.github.io/
Make sure you choose the Windows version if that's what your destination laptop is using!

Run whichever of those you've installed and select your ISO file when asked. 
Don't disconnect your USB until your system tells you that the installation has finished!

That's quite a lot for now, so I suggest that you do that and come back for the exciting bit. 

Keith

[Rich J]

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.

Simply downloading to either medium will not boot.  You have to burn the iso image to disk/flash drive in order to make it bootable. 

Are you looking to completely replace Windows with Mint on the Toshiba?  That model is an old one with low RAM which you might possibly upgrade a bit but it still won't have much by modern standards - also depending on whether suitable RAM is still available.  *I draw your attention to the edit in my last reply - which version of Mint are you looking at running?  There are many 'lite' versions of Linux that will successfully run on old equipment - I have 2 laptops of similar age that run Linux Lite very well but would not run the full Mint properly.  Perhaps it would make life easier if you could tell us what you're trying to achieve in changing to Linux and what your usage would be, then we could give you more accurate advice?   

[Radulas]

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

[Keith]

When you install Linux, you will be given the opportunity to do so either instead of Windows (deleted) or alongside Windows. 
There are several low-level versions of Linux that might be suitable for your machine - Rich & others will know more about that than I. 

Keith

[Rich J]

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

*** I had the same problem on one of my laptops too - the wireless firmware was so out-of-date it wouldn't work with modern wireless standards and there was no firmware update available to correct it.  However, I found this - Edimax 150Mbps Wireless IEEE802.11b/g/n nano USB Adapter EW-7811Un, plugged it in and it fired up straight away.  As I remember, it didn't cost much.  It may be worth you trying one of these (pre-Linux install) to see if it will work on your laptop - if it works with Windows it should work with Linux.  Mine is still working fine on the laptop and as an added bonus, it works on my desktop rig too - useful if my cable connection ever plays up. 

[Keith]

I second Rich's suggestion.  Mine has been working well for ages.

Keith

[Radulas]

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.

[Keith]

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.
Also, what browser would I be able to use on Linux?

What effect would putting Linux on my computer have?
Could I, for instance, get it to run faster?   I am keen to abandon Google and MSoft because of privacy issues.

Hello Radulas,

Good news about your wireless adapter.

Web browsers:  Google and Bing (Microsoft) have privacy issues as well, so it would be good to get away from them.  Most people use Firefox which supports Linux very well.  To install it, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and enter this code:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt install firefox

.  "What effect would putting Linux on my computer have?   Could I, for instance, get it to run faster?"
Unlike Windows, Linux is intrinsically more secure and doesn't become slower and slower over time.  So providing you update regularly - like whenever an update warning appears - you will have a reliable system for a long time.  Upgrading to new versions is easy, also.  As for getting it to run faster: Most people find it runs faster than Windows and are happy with that, but if you replace your HDD with a Solid State Drive you will see an enormous improvement in speed.  Installing non-approved software is to be avoided as it might impair the overall system speed - just stick to what's in the repositories. 

Keith

[Radulas]

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

[Keith]

I do apologise! 

HDD = Hard Drive device
SSD = Solid State Drive (no moving parts hence much faster). 
If you decide to go the SSD route, come back here.  It's easy enough but you might need to buy a "carrier" as the SSDs tend to be smaller than HDDs. 

Repositories: These are where approved software reposes.  Such S/W is guaranteed to work and can be installed either from your Software Centre or via the command line.

Keith

[Rich J]

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.

** No, just the Edimax adapter.  If you leave the mini disk in the player all the time, on start-up the bios will likely look at it first for the operating system boot files and won't find any, therefore throwing up an error.  The mini DVD just contains instructions on how to set the Edimax up and as you have found, it works straight out of the box!

So, to be clear,
1 - the M70 is still running Windows and you are now wishing to install a suitable Linux distribution as a replacement?
2 - we need to know the M70 system specs  (see here on how to find them - https://www.liberiangeek.net/2019/11/how-to-find-out-the-computer-specs-windows-7/)  Copy/paste the results into your reply - I assume you are accessing this website via the M70?
3 - Changing to Linux will give you an enhanced computing experience!  It will run faster and more reliably and you will have a selection of browsers to choose from, though the native version that ships with the distro is usually good enough.  One caveat!  You mentioned watching YouTube videos?  Video rendering is heavily RAM dependent - in other words the more memory, the better videos run.  The M70 in original form doesn't have much RAM so it would be wise to check if an upgrade (i.e. increase) in RAM is feasible. On the M70, take a look here - https://uk.crucial.com/store/systemscanner and see what it recommends.

Once we know the exact capabilities of the M70, we will be in a better position to advise you 

Rich