"Handsome Jack" wrote in message
...
JoeJoe posted
On 04/01/2018 17:20, Handsome Jack wrote:
JoeJoe posted
Problem is that most people are usually too ignorant to properly wipe
clean the HDD, so they take it out, and then nobody wants to touch
what's left.
I can wipe clean the HD, but I don't know how to wipe all the personal
data off while leaving the OS on. That would be a useful thing to know.


Wipe it clean and re-install the OS.

I don't have an installation disk.

All you need to do is get the key before you wipe it,
download the installation disk, reinstall it after the
wipe and use the key you saved before the wipe.

On Fri, 5 Jan 2018 17:50:44 +0000, "www.GymRatZ.co.uk"
wrote:

On 04/01/2018 19:47, T i m wrote:

I went up there the other day and whilst there he asked me to explain
why the Linux updates wouldn't complete successfully. It gave a clue
to their being 'insufficient disk space' but he had 1.9G free on his
root partition? Because there were no friendly (/obvious) 'cleanup'
tools on Linux I had to roll my sleeves up and deleted about 20
obsolete linux-kernel files (using Synaptic), magically freeing up
enough space for the update to complete?

That was always my biggest issue. Oh, that and packages not updating
because some suppository had magically made it's self
illegal/invalid/duplicated/unknown or whatever with no clear way to
rectify the situation.

Yup. It's getting there and the s/repositories are a good idea, when
they work (as you say). But again, they are typically way above the
abilities of 'most users' and even this semi admin / geek-user.

Why can't Linux have a simple option in the gear-wheelsy config
"desktop" bit that allows you to select number of kernel files kept e.g.
3 "roll-backs" as default ?

I thought there was such a thing but I can't think what or where (or
if etc).

Needless to say I haven't booted up a Linux virtual box since the last
time it decided it needed peeking and poking or whatever to get it to
play nicely after it tried to update after a virgin install.

I downloaded, burned to DVD and test-booted Mint 18.3 (MATE) 32bit for
someone (just to make sure it works etc) and it just looks the same as
the last 10 releases from my quick glance shrug.

Still at least with virtual machines is easy to get rid of.


I built a new PC specifically to replace the aging Mac Mini / XP and
with the thought of running Linux as my primary desktop OS. It
currently dual boots W10 / Ubuntu (W10 default) and like you I really
only go into Linux just to try stuff and make sure it stays updated.

It has two 3.5" SATA bays and I have a few 2.5 - 3.3" screwless bay
adaptors so it's easy for me to swap out the 'main' hdd and replace it
with any of the large number of smaller SATA hdd's I have kicking
about (most of them perfectly fine for running most of the OS's).

Even one of the few Linux compatible programs (Pan) that nearly mimics
a Windows program well (Forte Agent) is unreliable and sometimes very
very slow (to start, stop, download headers etc). Even on this very
mature copy of XP with nearly no space left on the 100G HDD, Agent
starts, runs and stops nearly instantly.

And now they don't do Skype for 32 bit Linux it means both my BIL's
Ubuntu and mine can't use it. Still works fine on this 32 bit XP.

Linux is good but it's not quite there yet. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Once thing I really find frustrating on Linux is when it's doing
an update you can't install anything else because it says it's locked?
Or if you have Synaptic open and try to install something via the CLI.
Really??

T i m posted
On Fri, 5 Jan 2018 15:38:08 +0000, Handsome Jack
wrote:

JoeJoe posted
On 04/01/2018 17:20, Handsome Jack wrote:
JoeJoe posted
Problem is that most people are usually too ignorant to properly
wipe clean the HDD, so they take it out, and then nobody wants to
touch what's left.
I can wipe clean the HD, but I don't know how to wipe all the
personal data off while leaving the OS on. That would be a useful
thing to know.


Wipe it clean and re-install the OS.

I don't have an installation disk.

Easy to find on the interwebs? What do you need?

I don't know. Googling for "XP installation disk" produces a large
amount of contradictory advice.

--
Jack

On Sun, 7 Jan 2018 15:45:13 +0000, Handsome Jack
wrote:

snip

Easy to find on the interwebs? What do you need?

I don't know.

Ok ... Do you have an existing system or a COA (Licence) sticker you
could refer to perchance?

On an existing system there are tools that will display the *actual*
code in use, rather than what is being displayed (Belarc Advisor being
one and that also tells you a lot of other things).

Googling for "XP installation disk" produces a large
amount of contradictory advice.

Sure, but you might be mixing terms / needs there. An 'installation
disk', as supplied by the board or box manufacturer then if it was a
big player then might be able to buy a replacement (unlikely now) or
find / download / torrent one somewhere.

Or (and better imho) is to see what version you are currently running
(see above and look at the System display in Control panel and it
should say something like Windows XP Professional 64 bit so that's
what you are looking for. I think there were also two versions around
2002 (so before and after etc).

From there you just need the boot / install media, follow the prompts
and not long later you will have a fresh install. You may still have
to install some drivers but again, they should be available from the
board or box maker, is XP was originally an option.

Cheers, T i m