Hi there, I don’t know too much about my older HP pavilion i5 core 7th gen computer as I have not used it in a while as it is painfully slow. By the time it does all its updates and opens everything up it’s probably 20 minutes or so. Will have to try that computer tomorrow when my brain is fresh as it’s very frustrating waiting for it to open. I’m thinking I will probably have to reset it to factory or something like that if I decide to go that route. Bought the newer computer beginning december (just now decided to open it) And then I started hearing about Linux and wondered if it would be easier to start with a new computer. This new HP 1 terrabyte with AMD Ryzen 5000 series and AMD radeon graphics with multi touch screen or use the older one with an older version of windows that might be easier to work around? . I only use it mostly for doing web searches, saving documents, photos etc. I don’t do gaming and just want something that’s fast and private without endless ads and pop-ups. really sick of all the censorship and lack of privacy. I did not grow up with computers so I am a little nervous about all this. Use duck duck go and protonmail, thinking either Linux or Ubintu? would be good? Well open up the old one tomorrow and see what I can find out about it and post tomorrow. Thanks a bunch!
On the older HP you don’t really have to mess with it to find the specs. The i5 is plenty. And being only 4-5 years old most likely has enough memory. Do you know which version of Windows is currently installed on it?
On the newer computer you don’t even need to set Windows up IF you are going to install ONLY Linux on it. So, if you do NOT want window on the new computer then the Linux installation can format the entire harddrive effectively erasing Windows while installing Linux.
My suggestion is to install Linux on the older HP and think about the new computer. If you like the install on the older computer you will REALLY like Linux on the newest computer.
Linux is the operating system Kernel that all of the Linux Distributions are built around. So Ubuntu is a distribution of Linux. As is Linux Mint and many more. One of the more user friendly Distros (Distributions) is Linux Mint and it is based on Ubuntu and uses very similar programs.
If you have time you can look online for Linux Distributions and you will find HUNDREDS.
Here is a site that talks about just a few:
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/top-linux-distros-to-consider-in-2021/
Another website for a quick look. (I don’t much like the picture but the website has some good info)
Great, thanks! That looks like a good site to check in to make a final decision. Initially I thought the older computer would be better to try this out on also, my only concern was that it is so ridiculously slow. Will check into that and post later once I know a little bit more. Have a great day and thanks for all your Advice. Greatly appreciated.
Hi there, so I have had a chance to look at those sites you sent along with a few others and seems to me that either the linux mint or the Ubuntu seem to be the front runners. My understanding is that the Ubuntu option has more of a support system which might be handy for a novice such as myself? I have Carbonite automatic back up and norton on this computer also, will that prevent cause any issues while trying to install either of these options?
Hey @Nikki!
You can get a lot of info from this old post here:
Feel free to let us know what it is you would like to know. 
If you are going to make the computer a ‘totally’ Linux computer without windows then everything including Carbonite and Norton will be erased and gone forever. And should not prevent the installation of Linux. It is very possible that Carbonite and Norton are some (or a lot) of the reason the computer is running so slow.
If you tell the Linux installer to use the entire harddrive for the new Linux install then it will ERASE the entire drive and install Linux on the harddrive.
Anything you want to SAVE from the old computer must be COPIED to external storage BEFORE starting a new install of Linux. So any pictures, documents or other files that you want to keep should be copied to external storage, like USB thumbdrives or SD cards or even DVDs or CDs.
After the new Linux install you can copy your pictures and files back onto the Linux machine. All of your pictures and almost all documents will still be readable in Linux. You probably won’t need anything like Norton but there are backup utilities that could be used in place of Carbonite.
Thanks! I am working on the beginners section right now that you sent. Are you by chance one of the admin‘s on the site? I signed up for the course a couple days ago and when I try to login and register it says my account is inactive. Thank you for the encouragement and the reminder that we’ve all been at the beginning before. I will eventually get this all figured out👍
@vasileios Is one of the admins and he can fix you up. Ask him about backup utilities for Linux. I back up manually and don’t know the current utilities.
Thanks. I will do that. Again, appreciate your help👍
Thanks for the info. I am working my way through it and have written down all my computer information and also have a question for you. Thank you in advance for your patience. When I make the switch can i add Carbonite backup to my computer with either the Linux mint or the Ubuntu? They both sound like they would work on my HP laptop but I heard the Linux mint doesn’t have as much support if you have problems, and being a non techie person I am sure I will need support at some point LOL.
Other question I have, I understand you are an admin for this site? I signed up and paid for the course the other day and when I go to sign in, it says my account is inactive. It’s probably something silly that I am not doing correctly but I can’t figure it out.
So glad I found this great site, have had wonderful people reach out with great tips.
If you haven’t heard back about your log in problem for the course then shoot out a quick email to
support@jeff.pro
Give them a short description of the problem and they should be able to fix you right up.
Hey @Nikki!
I had a look at Carbonite and saw that it only supports macOS and Windows, unfortunately. One good solution that has come to my attention, if you need Cloud Backup, is IceDrive (www.icedrive.net). There is also the IDrive, which can be quite cheap to begin with, but I found myself not having access to my files for 5 days straight before someone got back to me from their support. Naturally, there are also the local options, at which Linux excels.
On the HP side, I’ve successfully installed several Linux distributions on 3 different HP laptops, so the OS works nicely there.
Per your LMS issue, what @dennis said is true. You can either contact support@jeff.pro (this includes subscriptions), but if you have simple account issues, just as you have, you can Private-Message me here too. To do that, just click on my name in the forum and select Message. All I’ll need is the email address you registered with and I can check it out for you.
Good morning and thank you. I hope I am doing this right and not public post. Appreciate addy used. XXXXX. Guess that brings up another question, will either of the programs Ubuntu or mint have compatibility issues with proton mail? Thanks
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Hey @Nikki!
This was a public post, so I hid your email from here. I saw it on the private message you sent me and I activated your LMS account.
Proton mail and VPN are fully supported on all of Linux distributions, so you will have no issues at all.
@vasileios
I purchased the Proton Visionary Plan which includes both Email and the Plus VPN. I’m using custom domains and dropped my Google business Email Plan. Email is set up and working well on 3 devices including my computer using the Proton mail bridge.I haven’t tried the VPN yet.
What are you thoughts on the Proton Plus VPN?
Unless I hear something bad about the Plus plan I will be setting it up within the next couple days.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Hey @dennis!
I haven’t heard anything bad personally. However, keep in mind that I haven’t used their VPN, so I can’t speak for or against. I only hope they fixed a connectivity issue bug they had recently, in regards to the DNS resolution on Linux.
I bought the Visionary Plan thinking I would support Proton only to find out that the Visionary was cheapest for what I wanted. Their 4 user Professional plan would have been plenty for me but the Visionary cost less and it was just slightly higher than my Godaddy business account (I mis-spoke Google above)
I’ll go ahead and set up the VPN and watch for the bug.
Thank You.
As long as you keep on using the VPN, you’re good! The bug would appear when you disconnect the VPN or if you uninstalled it. I trust they must have fixed it by now.
And you’re very welcome!
The plan allows for 10 VPN connections. I’ll be able to use it on all my devices. So I hope the bug is fixed!