dgoddard,

Once you have installed and updated Ubuntu 14.04, you can open a Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type:

Further details here:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/10417...emove-shotwell


I have no personal experience of full disk encryption, so I will let others advise you.

However, I did discover this guide which should help you:

http://thesimplecomputer.info/full-d...on-with-ubuntu


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So early this morning I bit the bullet and told the install disk to proceed for:
Ubuntu Gnome 14.04.2 desktop amd 64bit
And did an install that overwrote the win 8 files to make the entire machine owned by Linux.

Actually I have now done 5 installs.
-- The first install called for disk encryption and the problem was the first time it asked me for a password it insisted I had the wrong one in spite of how meticulously careful I had been in entering it and getting confirmation.

-- The second install was same as the first being super extra careful entering the passwords. Alas the results were identical.

-- Then two more installations without disk encryption produced the same sort of failure except it occurred when asking for the user password as there had been no disk encryption.

-- The 5th installation I gave:
-- -- my name,
-- -- computer name and
-- -- user password and
-- -- verification of user password
as and also I did not give it permission to use the wifi to install the latest updates. This time it became bootable from the hard drive. ... I should also note that when I entered aaa for the couputer name it insisted on displaying the aaa and tacking on Toshiba, + model name +model number similar to how it had done in all previous attempts but this time I let their addition to the computer name remain...

So with such a numbskull but bootable installation I proceeded to see how things worked and promptly discovered that the system could not find a flash disk pluged into a usb port, even though the little indicator light went through its brief blinky thing of handshaking with the computer (usb drive is formatted FAT) So I still have a pretty useless computer that cannot be encrypted and cannot load backup files from a flash drive.

BUMMER BUMMER BUMMER

So now I do not know if
-- this problem is some Toshiba security crap that thinks I stole the computer
or
-- some after market security crap that thinks I stole the computer, As received, there was some sort of norton stuff on it that kept pestering me to accept a free trial. But I would assume that since I told Linux Gnome to erase/reformat the entire hard disk drive, (5 times now!)it would have to have been wiped along with Win 8, would it not?

Resources on hand are the same as previously except
-- I no longer have windows8 8 and its disk burning capability.
But I now have burned disks for:
-- two Mint variants (mate and cinnamon),
-- what I think is a 32 bit variant of Ubuntu 14.04.2, and
-- the Linux Gnome install DVD which still works as previously within the limitations of running from a DVD

Anyone care to offer any suggestions

P.S. The BIOS is still set to
Secure boot disabled
Boot mode CSM
Boot drive Priority sequence ODD - HDD - USB - LAN

..... and with the absence of any DVD it boots from the HDD (for what pitiful good that does me)

I have just booted Ubuntu Gnome from the DVD and it did successfully get me here via a wifi connection so I can browse the web. I just cannot find a plugged in flash drive.

Next attempt will be aboot ofthis OS installed on the HDD

I have just booted Ubuntu Gnome from the HDD and it did successfully get me here via a wifi connection so I can browse the web. I just cannot find a plugged in flash drive.

Next attempt will be a boot of LinuxmintOS from a DVD To See if Mint and Ubuntu have the same problem

Oh by the way when I click on "Files" it just shows me the hard drive. Surely it should offer me the FAT formatted flash drive too, shouldn't it?

I have just Booted LinuxMint 17.1 MATE 64Bit from a Live CD. It not only works to get me here. It actually seems to work! . I can actually get to see a flash drive plugged into a USB port and view and open the files on it.

Hmmmm What does Mint know about Toshibas that Ubuntu does not ???.

Next step will be to install this version to the hard drive and see what happens.

The interface seems to be one that I would be comfortable with.

If Windows...

You may remove Windows as you like, but since the laptop was sold with Windows as an OEM installation, the license is still valid for that machine and you can re-install the same version of Windows again at any time if you need it.

If you want to keep Windows, the ability to re-install may make it easier to recover from any installation mistake that might befall you.

After All my efforts to get Ubuntu up and running, I could still not get it to see any flash drives. In an effort to see if that was a Ubuntu Unique Problem, I installed Mint 17.1 Mate 64 bit, and there was no problem accessing flash drives. So I am now moving on with Mint. a few things it does differently but the same was true of the newer Ubuntu. So it is now just a matter of getting used to the latest fads in what an interface should look like.

dgoddard,

Glad to hear that you got things sorted by using Linux Mint.

If you are happy with this solution, please mark this thread as SOLVED (click on Thread Tools at top of your original post > Mark this thread as solved)

I have been thinking that I should do that. I am not the superstitious type but it is almost as if I am afraid that to make such a declaration will Jinx things. After all the way an unfamilliar operating system and new and revised software works that is a little spooky. The updated versions of software look a lot like the old but some things are different. and it can really throw a monkey wrench in the works when one needs to get a job finished. And sometimes the changes appear to be utterly unnecessary. There is a slogan that says"If it is not necessary to change,... It is necessary to not change!". For that to be honored I am going to have to find the automatic updater and drive a wooden stake through its heart before sunrise. It bugs the hell out of me when I go to use an effective piece of software one day and find out that the updater has screwed it up and I have to learn how my favorite feature has been sabotaged.

But, Ok I guess it really is time to say that the original stated problem has been solved, and I owe a lot of thanks to yoiu and others.

D.Goddard