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Reviving an old notebook or desktop to surf the web


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In case you like watching videos and surfing on a notebook or desktop..

especially if its old and you don't want to spend $$$ on new one with gas prices going through the roof

 

I've had really good experience with  Zorin OS 16.

If you can use windows.. you can use Zorin and its super fast.

https://zorin.com/os/download/

I like the FREE Core version but if you want to spend $40 you can get the pro version too.. upto you.

It brought my notebook that I bought in 2006 and first travelled to Thailand with (and used to surf a forum that shall not be named) but it works just fine with Zorin.

 

P.S. tried other distros but I wanted to use WIFI and had the best experience with Zorin for my TP link Nano USB wifi adapter.

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On 3/15/2022 at 4:12 AM, Pdoggg said:

Any particular blasts from the past that rocked your world?

All of the following were no barfines, no payment of any kind.. impromptu hookups so genuine experience

 

Top 5 lays (not based on looks but chemistry & action) were:

Benz (blue dragon bar).

Rose (ez/ famous) - turned out to be a pyscho personality but still the only girl that's come with me 4 times in 30 minutes.

the cashier from La Bamba .. Pinky/ Pui/ Patty I think??

Patricia from C&D Phuket

Sai from cascades

 

honorable mentions based on looks.. not performance:

Palm - she pretended her name was Fon.. YEAH RIGHT! (probably to throw off her sponsor or whatever, and insisted on either fucking or just taking pictures with clothes on.. up to me)

Gor - meh..

Seya - C&D

guess bar.. june???

Am/ Aratie Malibu bar?

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My old notebook is out of date. Needless to get it fixed said the maintenance service, we'll replace a component, then another one will fail. I used it during my last holiday after a few months without switching it on. 

I thought of setting up Linux and play with VPNs and TOR. What would be the advantage of using Zorin OS 16 instead ?

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On 3/21/2022 at 2:44 PM, Pulci Gorgon said:

My old notebook is out of date. Needless to get it fixed said the maintenance service, we'll replace a component, then another one will fail. I used it during my last holiday after a few months without switching it on. 

I thought of setting up Linux and play with VPNs and TOR. What would be the advantage of using Zorin OS 16 instead ?

Honestly.. it's probably overheating which is the problem with 99% of laptops.

To save yourself some $$$ do this..

1. Look on youtube for the exact laptop's dissassembly process so you can get access to its fan.

2. open the laptop while writing down where you took each screw out from as a guide to reassemble later

3. use a blower to get all the dust, lint, gunk out from the years you've used it.

4. reassemble the laptop with the screws using the guide where the screws came from.

5. If you don't have these already, buy a USB stick ($10) and a USB wifi dongle that supports 5ghz network ($10-15)

6. Using the USB stick, install any operating system you like.. and if needed the wifi drivers.

Your Laptop should be good as new.

 

Now the question of why Linux?

Linux is easier on the hardware than windows which overheats it because of constant running stuff in the background. (really handy for old computers which don't really need minecraft or candy crush or weather apps hogging resources like windows does)

The newer versions of linux look just like windows so no steep learning curve, basically if you know how to use a mouse to click links and a keyboard to type in google searches, you're set.

The reason I liked Zorin OS and Linux Mint was that it came preinstalled with like 95% of wifi drivers so you likely won't even have to search for them to get your internet working.

Wanted to keep it as simple as possible.

Hope that helps!

 

Edit: BTW Windows upgrades are designed in tandem with Dell/ HP to make you upgrade when you shouldn't really have to. As long as you can upgrade the wifi capability and hard drive to a SSD.. your old notebook really can last 15+ years especially if you change it to a linux operating system.

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I'm not in a hurry to do it. I changed my PC last year and got a laptop. BTW, my notebook's fan started working again. According to the PC maintainance, too many components are burnt out or on the verge of being out of date. It's a good opportunity for me to try "playing" with Linux for a newbie. 

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On 3/27/2022 at 10:19 AM, Pulci Gorgon said:

According to the PC maintainance, too many components are burnt out or on the verge of being out of date. It's a good opportunity for me to try "playing" with Linux for a newbie. 

Translation: you need to pay him and he'll clean it up and replace some parts for it (like RAM, SSD HD and wifi card). Notice he didn't say anything about buying a new notebook lol.

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Ok I've been fooling around with Linux Mint a bit this weekend and I'm impressed. 20 years ago when I first tried it.. I found it lacking in gaming.

Currently to my surprise that has been fixed.. Steam wrote a program called Protondb which basically makes 99.9% of windows games work on linux.. and its much better than WINE ever was. Just enable steamplay.

The downside is the game must be on Steam. Cannot be EPIC game store or the others. That said I always had most of my games on Steam and I can honestly say.. I will never upgrade to Windows 11 which is buggy as hell and a hot mess even 6 months after launch.

Nvidia already puts out drivers for linux.

I can already browse, shop, watch videos and movies and bank in linux mint.

Android is basically linux and I've been happy with android phones forever.

Also figured out how to use virtual on screen keyboard in thai so the missus will be happy.

Doesn't hurt that I don't have to pay for MS Office with Libre Office/ Open Office and can use GIMP instead of Photoshop.

And now I can game on it!!

 

Most of all I like that there's a good community to get help from https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewforum.php?f=143

So when the day comes and windows 10 is done getting support from games (approx 4 years from now).. I'll be switching to Linux Mint full time.

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2 hours ago, Fenton said:

I gave the missus a make over on her pc by dual booting linux mint.

She hasn't complained in over a month. She was annoyed by constant windows updates and dell update prompts. Been able to watch her videos, search for thailand hotels, atk, embassy, use messenger, discord, line without problems.

So linux mint.. ladyboy tested.. ladyboy approved that it does indeed float the boat! :party0011:

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