Dan wrote:
I've considered this on and off for a few years but as I got given a free W7 Ultimate code years back and its never been that much of a problem.
Cant knock it if it was free
Dan wrote:
I do need to reformat at some point but the broadband to our house is painfully slow and pretty much unusable on a pc so I've been putting it off. The Windows updates alone would take days.
How bads bad ? Slower than a phone..?
Is it the connection or is it the win 7 draging it's ar*e on the pc by being to bloated.. like did it come with win 7 oiginaly ?
also what do you do on it.. like do you mainly use a browser ? like chrome / firefox etc..
or do you have a collection of fave programs like photoshop.. wavelab.. office ?
I ask that because the version of linux can be chosen to suit your best needs.
Dan wrote:
So my questions are.
How much data would I need to download to get everything set up?
Long winded answer - A LINUX like Ubuntu and it's varients come out every 6 months.. to be on the cutting edge of tech.. so the reall nerds
download this every 6 months and reformat and install.. and seem happy doing that.,.. (it's not a hassle like windows as everything (drivers / office etc are all in the install) Unlike windows Linux alleady comes with software set up in it)
Every 2 years - a version is put aside and called the LTS - the long term release - the last one was v16.04 - the next is 18.04 which will be comming out around july this year..
This LTS version is the buisiness one - it has a 5 year life.. at any time in that 5 years you can throw a new LTS version at it and it will upgrade itself..
So what i'm saying is if you download a 16.04 LTS version which is allmost 2 years old now - the updates to that
are around 300 meg to bring it up to date. That includes all updates to system and software.
You dont have to actually do them to make it workable or safe - Linux doesnt work that way. It will be ok and safe right out of the box..
but when you feel like it you can upgrade and it will be around 300 meg..
When Linux downloads upgrades and any other software for installation it doesnt delete it - so you can go into a folder and copy paste all the installation files to a new folder and keep them.. or use them on another computer.. or give them to someone else.
So if you had no connection at all.. some other linux user could send you them on a disk after he'd done his..
or zip them all up into a single zip file and let you download that overnight. Theres allways a way.
So 300 meg is the worst case scenario
Dan wrote:
Is it possible to download this via my phone using a wireless pci card?
Absoloutly

No poblem at all
When i had no wifi, i used to just plug my phone in and switched on USB tether in the phone - instant wired net connection.. (especially with android)
To upgrade from scratch on that took about 20 mins..
If you have an android or apple phone you can switch on the WIFI Hotspot and have mobile wifi straight to your comp..
again just as easy as plugging it in.
This is one of the things that Linux 'just does' without much hassle.
So YES - cr*p wifi is no problem.. many ways around that.
Get your head around this one - you can wait untill one of us has installed it AND fully updated it and then ask them if they would kindly hit a couple of buttons and....
Re-clone their machine (with updates) into a brand new installation disk and send you that
Thats the equivalent of saying - I can install windoze 10, then fully update / upgrade it -
THEN - install Office, Photoshop, Audacity, and another 3 gigabyte of any of my favourite software - set it all up with all the setting I'd normally use - all my passwords and WIFI stuff AND change all the wallpapers, themes, etc..
and
then hit 3 buttons and go and make a brew while it crunches it's self back down into a brand new Instalation disk that i can give to other people
(there is a tick box to not put the passwords in if it's for others)
or keep for yourself to use as a reinstall (or for the missus comp etc)
Thats all beyond the realms of possibility for Windows.. (Nearest thing would be Norton Ghost)..
But i can do all that in my Linux while it's still running.. and it takes no more than 3 button and around 30 mins on my laptop
Dan wrote:
I'm guessing I could download everything I need and save it on a usb stick first?
Yup
and it will be a lot smaller than anything micosoft...
Over the next couple of days I'm going to video my set up working and show what it can do.. and how easy it is to do it when i've got an hour spare
so you can actually see it going..