can't load software from software manager or upgrade browser
 

I haven't used this laptop (where I got rid of windows NT and loaded linux mint Julia) in awhile but now I need the thing for a time being (back working with copiers in a tech support environment). It's an old compac evo and it surfs really well in spite of it's age.
Whenever I go to software manager and try to install something the screen turns dark (like the polorized glasses lens) and it stays for about 15 seconds and clears up but does absolutely nothing. It's a vicious circle of wasted activity.
I also tried to upgrade my firefox browser but cant get it to auto run. The file I downloaded is "firefox 33.0 dmg" and can't get the thing to run. I've extracted all the files and clicked on every single file that extracted.

Hi bustertech,

Well, add far as browser is concerned you need "firefox 33.0.deb" and not "firefox 33.0 dmg".
As far as installing other packages is concerned try using #aptitude on a terminal when you have logged in as root.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

that version of Mint has been unsupported since early 2012. I think the simplest approach to get a working system would be to reinstall a currently supported OS.

Evo2.

thank you
 

Thank you for responding so promptly, I'll give your answers a try. We'll see what an ancient box can do.

Whoops, I missed that evo2 said the same thing.

Linux Mint 10 Julia reached end of life in April 2012 and is no longer supported. You will not be able to get software nor security updates through the Mint repositiories.

It's probably a good idea to install a supported version of Mint. The current release, v. 17, is a long-term release that will be supported until April 2019.

Before downloading an operating system to install, you might check the minimum hardware requirements for it and compare that to your hardware. Mint 13 is also supported until April, 2017.