Switch Vista to ElementaryOS

I have been trying to revive the old Vista laptop, primarily not to recover any files in it, but to find  other use of it aside from gathering dust in a corner. And I have second thoughts that ditching it in the bin, to charity or recycling centres might create more trouble if somebody can recover private details from passwords to emails and financial institution that might contain in there.

Desperate solutions.

After my failed attempts of using the recovery disks that was made during it's maiden voyage many years ago,  the elementaryOS on a USB not loading because of 'no configuration file found: No Default or UI configuration directive found' error ,  and I am still having a problem with my other laptop's DVD (windows 7) drive (could not burn an ISO image of the EOS), a streak of light suddenly has revived my hope when I saw the old desktop's XP recovery disk. At this point, my main goal is to know if the laptop's hard drive is still functioning and can install programs on it. And if it accept's the XP disk, this means there's still a chance of reviving it.

Successful installation.

The installation was successful. Windows XP has been restarting fine in the old machine. I was ecstatic for a while after witnessing the windows XP set up screen. Everything was alright until errors about 'not found drivers ' were appearing. I thought I can live with those but when the driver for the sound card is missing that rendered the laptop not to output any sound except bleeps, got me thinking for a second.

What happened?

I just realised that because the rescue disk was meant for the other machine, it did not have the correct drivers necessary to make the laptop's component work, particularly to the laptop's sound hardware.  If the sound card would have worked, I should be contented with the XP and take no more further steps.

No other choice.

I was left with no other option but to find a fix to my other laptop's DVD drive, burn an ISO image of EOS and try to install it there.  Fortunately I found a fix online for the DVD.

..see the solution to 'fix DVD not recognised' here..

Restore the drivers.

As the laptop's problem is the soundcard gone with XP installation,  I need to reinstall the particular driver by using the same Windows Vista recovery disk again, before trying the EOS.  Although Vista is showing a missing 'Bootmgr' after installation, I was hoping that the driver for the particular hardware has been  installed, as I can not test the laptop with the error during start up. The good thing is I also know that the hard disk is not in failure as it did installed the XP earlier.

Successful EOS installation.

As I hoped for, the laptop accepted the EOS disk and installed it wihout any errors. And the drivers were all installed with the Vista disk as there were no error messages, and the sound card working. I was happy everything went very well!

With the the clean interface and the fast to load system, I am beginning to like it! I compare it to like a Mac in speed and neatly packed menus and buttons, but totally free.

I am now using the old laptop with the EOS installed, and I can say that it is fast to boot, open applications, and shut down. Having said that there are also 'limitations' of this pretty and able operating system, which I will discuss on the next post.

Post by Prakticality.

How To Create a Bootable ElementaryOS

ElementaryOS(Luna) is an alternative operating system to Windows and Apple computers. This can be loaded into a CD or DVD disk or USB stick and can be run from it without installing first. It is fast, lightweight and the best part is it's free. In my experience, I loaded it up to a USB for it's convenience and no fuss to use. Loading the OS to this device is also straight forward. Here's how.

What you will need.

1. USB Drive of at least 4GB space.
2. Downloaded elementaryOS 

3. Downloaded UNetbootin.


Steps.

1. Format memory card.
Go to 'Computer'(start>computer>select drive(1)>right click>format(2)>start(3))

2. Presuming you have downloaded the two softwares above,  open up UNetbootin.exe and choose the 'ubuntu' distribution from the dropdown menu.

3. Click the browse button(4) and go to the download directory and choose the elementaryos file(5)

4. Start by clicking ok. It would take a while to finish setting up so be patient.

5. You're done. You can now reboot to try  EOS or just exit.

6. After the screen turns blank, start hitting F12,  to select the drive to boot from. This key varies from different computers so watch out at the splash screen before Windows logo appears if this does not  work for you.

Watch video and see how simple it is to run and how fast to load and to shut down.

Post by Prakticality.

Backdoor Windows Access

I was testing the elementaryOS the other day and I was impressed by it's performance. Aside from the fact that I have found an excellent 'replacement' for windows, just in case I lose all my patience in 'waiting' for a program to run or disappointed by random software crash, it also solved one of the most dreaded potential problem of forgetting a profile's password, when you can not access any of your files because you can not log on to it.

Although it has not happened to me yet, one of my friends 'managed' to forget his. This has made him run into lots of trouble and inconveniences as he could not access the files on his computer, as his profile is the main administrator and did not set up his files to share with any of the secondary users. At that time, I could not help him as I have not known elementaryOS, or have not tried a second operating system to run into a windows computer yet.

The elementaryOS could have helped him as it can access the files from windows on any account, with password  or without, using EOS as backdoor access. Here's how.

What you will need.

1. The elementaryOS loaded into a USB device. (steps to load EOS to USB here)
2. Another USB or any memory card for saving retrieved files

Steps.

1. Boot into elementaryOS(EOS)

With USB loaded with EOS and any second memory card plugged into the laptop, shutdown windows. Turn on again and start pressing F12 to change the boot sequence.  Select the USB with the EOS loaded then choose 'try without installing'.

2. Go to Windows files using EOS as backdoor.

Click the 'applications'(1) menu at the  left upper corner of the screen and click 'files'(2).

At the connected devices, open 'system'(3) where the windows files are located, then go to 'users'(4).

Under users, you will find all the profiles created within the windows environment. You can open any profile(5) even with passwords set up and can access any folders and files. Full access is also rendered meaning, there is no restriction on copying of any file. This is useful when you just want to retrieve files and transfer it to a removable drive.

3. Save retrieved files to the second memory stick or card.

Open the folder and choose the file you want to retrieve then  right click and copy. Under devices, choose the other memory stick(6) and paste in there.

The copied windows file(7) pasted without logging into Windows.

Last words.

Although this software is full of potentials and a relief to those who forgot their windows log in passwords, it could form a threat to those running Windows OS in the wrong hands as this software can access any profile without using a password. In fact it did bypass the 'front' door of windows and goes directly to any profile and files like accessing a backdoor. This has changed  my view that profile passwords are not enough to secure computer files.

An Operating System Worth Trying

My old VIsta laptop has died, literally. I suspected a hard disk failure as it is making all these "never heard before" noises. It just would not load the operating system. Could not repair it as I could not find  the rescue disk made during it's first start up. Thinking that if I have an operating system in a thumb drive, I may be able to run it and rescue my files within it! Using the other laptop, google pointed me to try elementaryOS, a linux based operating system with Luna as code name. Downloaded it and put it on a USB drive using UNetbootin. Unfortunately, it did not work with the old Vista and I am convinced that the laptop can no longer be revived.

Intrigued about the OS, I tried it in the other laptop running Windows 7, I was very impressed with it's performance, and here are the reasons why!

Very fast boot time.

After changing the boot sequence (F12>boot>then choose USB drive) to start with the USB drive, I restarted the laptop with the elementaryOS attached to one of the USB ports. Then at the selection menu, I have chosen to run without installing it. This is booting much faster comparing to windows, It came to life and ready to use without installing  it in seconds! As this is booting from a USB drive, this makes it  very portable and handy that it can be carried and tried anywhere.

 Very clean interface.

I could not stop saying 'wow' at the interface. It is very minimal and clean. Not the usual clutter of folders, icons and other shortcuts. The application dock at the bottom of the screen behaves like apple's OS. The usual icons for speaker, wifi and other available connections, battery and power off is handily available at the right upper corner of the screen whilst the  rest of the application can be  accessed at the opposite corner of the screen. The layout is a bit confusing if you are used to windows but could be straight forward if you've used apple before.

Easy internet set up and fast browser.

There's no other thing to set up but the internet connection, the WiFi icon at the upper right is very handy for setting up. Just right click on it and search for your home wi-fi ID.  The Midori browser is fast and minimal looking. It is defaulted to run under it's VPN network and Duckduckgo search engine which is known for it's no ad and no track policy. This means your searches will be invisible so that you will not be bombarded with targeted unwanted ads, which can slow down browsing.

As this is basic to surfing the web, you might need plug ins to download when it encounters files that might need additional softwares to play or render. This can be a good thing as it could block potential threats from rogue flash contents but could also be frustrating specially when playing unsupported video files. This shortcoming is compensated by it's lightning fast render of web pages.

No known viruses.

Safety online is usually compromised with threats from viruses, malwares, adwares, pup ups and other nasty web elements from programmers  driven by greed. This OS has no known virus that can infect it, making it one of the safest OS at the time of writing. You can be confident using it with online banking and shopping.

Improved touch pad functions.

I am also amazed for the first time that the touch pad is behaving like an apple's touchpad. When using the built in browser(Midori) you can scroll the active window up and down with the touch pad, also it allows you to scroll from left to right using the same.

Shutting it down takes seconds as well.

Improved battery life.

My laptop is already 5 years old and the capacity of it's battery has dropped to disappointing 1 hour to atmost about 1 hour and 30 minutes when using windows 7, but using  with elementaryOS dramatically extends it's battery life to at least 3 times, again owing to the very basic software.

Additional applications.

The packaged application with the download is very basic but it is already sufficient for browsing and most of the things you will do with a computer. There is also an application center where you can freely download other apps if you like a bit more like other browsers, aside from the native Midori, more powerful photo editor and more.

Download the OS at   http://elementaryos.org/   and to create a bootable USB disk at 

http://appnr.com/install/unetbootin