Old XP netbook, laptop, and PC

[omni550]

Just out of curiosity have you update firefox to 29.0? Often distributions come with firefox as of the date of the distribution, so you need to use the distros update mechanism to apply the fix (as well as likley to fix the heartbleed bug). Luckily its basically a matter of starting the app and waiting while everything is downloaded.

I just checked and FireFox 29.0 is what came with the distribution.

 

[ERD50]

Yes, it is FireFox. I found the "cache clearing" area and it is only using 19KB at present, so I'm thinking that might not be the issue.

omni

It's not about the size - occasionally something in the cache gets corrupted, and then when that item is called up, weird things happen.

I looked and my FF is 29.0 as well - I went to prefs/Advanced/Network/ and can clear the cache from there (it sounds like you found it, but just listing it to be sure).

BTW, I just had some database errors while trying to post, so I think there may be some glitches at er.org, or in some server in-between.

Thanks. I'm thrilled to have gotten this far. ANd spent the last hour making changes/additions per a Xubuntu tips and tricks list.

Q: There they referenced a list of known bugs. I scanned it and didn't recognize any immediate concerns, so I didn't do anything. Was that the appropriate (in)action?

It's up to you, but when I look at bug lists I usually see a bunch of really arcane things that wouldn't affect me. So I usually take a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' approach. Works for me.

This thread has inspired me - I will try to make some time 'soon' to post a video of how I arranged my Xubuntu desktop. With some of the recent complaints about Win8/8.1, I think it might open a few eyes for people who would never think of installing Linux, and have never seen a Linux desktop. Xubuntu is really configurable, I've got my desktop tweaked the way I like it, two panels of 'plugins' (weather, clock, CPU/Memory monitor, directory access, app menus, a clipboard manager - a life-saver!, alarm clock/timer, screen capture app, and a few things to easily manage multiple 'virtual desktops - AKA 'WorkSpaces') and it was all point and click stuff, nothing really 'techy' at all.

I'll be curious of your impressions after you've had a chance to play with this a while (assuming your browser issue is fixed). Heck, at this rate, we may have you setting up your new computer as a dual-boot Win/Linux soon

-ERD50

 

[omni550]

This thread has inspired me - I will try to make some time 'soon' to post a video of how I arranged my Xubuntu desktop. With some of the recent complaints about Win8/8.1, I think it might open a few eyes for people who would never think of installing Linux, and have never seen a Linux desktop. Xubuntu is really configurable, I've got my desktop tweaked the way I like it, two panels of 'plugins' (weather, clock, CPU/Memory monitor, directory access, app menus, a clipboard manager - a life-saver!, alarm clock/timer, screen capture app, and a few things to easily manage multiple 'virtual desktops - AKA 'WorkSpaces') and it was all point and click stuff, nothing really 'techy' at all.

I'll be curious of your impressions after you've had a chance to play with this a while (assuming your browser issue is fixed). Heck, at this rate, we may have you setting up your new computer as a dual-boot Win/Linux soon

-ERD50

FWIW, I'd love to see how you've got your desktop set up.

I read about some people having both Win & Linux on the same 'puter. What would be the purpose for doing that?

omni

 

[aja8888]

I read about some people having both Win & Linux on the same 'puter. What would be the purpose for doing that?

omni

I have XP Pro and Mint on my old desktop (which I custom built years ago but is still pretty powerful and snappy). There are a few business programs I can only run in Windows (specifically XP or in compatibility mode in Win7). So I keep the XP alive (for now). When I am goofing around the 'net, I use Mint.

 

[ERD50]

I read about some people having both Win & Linux on the same 'puter. What would be the purpose for doing that?

omni

As aja8888 said, some people need access to a programs that just haven't been ported to Linux, and maybe there is no suitable equivalent. For gamers that's a big deal, for many, it really is never, or almost never, an issue.

I think the only time I used Windows on my old laptop was to try to update the firmware in a very old DVD burner - that .exe file just wouldn't seem to run under WINE (which lets you run some Windows programs).

I did do a parallel install on my new laptop, but mainly because it was really convoluted to try to figure out how to make Windows restore disks - I wanted to be able to restore it if I had warranty issues. I haven't actually used Windows on this new one, other than to see what the W8.1 'haters' were talking about - yes, it's a mess (IMO).

FWIW, I'd love to see how you've got your desktop set up.

OK, I will get to it, but don't hold your breath!

I can't wait to finally use that 'Add Video' button that gets in the way of every...single...post.... [/satire]

-ERD50

 

[target2019]

I have a Dell box set up with XP and Mint for the purpose of recovering data. Depending on the problem, I may use one or the other. I can boot the same machine with other specialized Linux recovery disks.

 

[CoolChange]

...
I thought everything was going along great and had just written a nice post to that effect for this forum. Just when I hit the "submit reply" button, I got a "database error" message and my post "evaporated"....

The database error was a problem with the software running this board, not your laptop. I had the same thing happen around the same time; but, it was a very short lived issue.

Congratulations for learning so much so quickly and for taking the time to reuse these old machines.

 

[Chuckanut]

Thanks for this discussion. I've learned a lot.