Hello Everyone,

Okay so I have a some general questions about Linux Mint and also some advice about replicating some Windows XP functions in Linux Mint.

First off I am currently using Linux Mint 14 but I am willing to update to 15 if any of these questions are solved in the newer version.

1.) Can you format a USB flash drive without having to install any additional software to do so?
Saw one tutorial that said you can do it by downloading GParted, and in another tutorial it showed someone using I believe Linux Mint 12 and he just right clicked the mounted USB on the desktop and in the menu it showed "format" option in the menu, but I do not see this option on mine. This is ideally how I would like to do it with the right click menu.

2.) I have been trying to assign some hotkeys/shortcuts but I have not been able to get them to work successfully. I know to go under Keyboards, Shortcuts, +Add Custom Shortcut, I type in the description, I browse to the program exe, and then I assign what key combination I want and it registers, but when I try it out nothing happens.
Some shortcuts I want basically revolve around the Super key (Windows keyboard key) so I want....
Super-E = Open up the File Explorer
Super-F = Open up Firefox
I mean when I hit the super key alone it opens up the Linux Menu and when press Super-D it is already setup to show the desktop, so I know the super key works with Linux I just have not been able to.

3.) When I am away from my computer for a while, Linux Mint locks out the desktop requiring me to put in my password, can someone tell me where the setting for this is? I think I would like to turn this off if possible.

4.) Also am I right is saying that Linux Mint does not have a built in screen saver?


Windows Action Replication Questions

5.) In Windows when you want to rename a single file if you highlight the file and then click the file once it goes into the renaming mode/function which allows you to type a new file name. Does this feature exist in Linux Mint as some kind of setting? I know that the F2 function key works to rename but my keyboard is a little weird where I have to hit a function button in order to access the function keys.
I also know there are programs that are designed for renaming multiple files as well, but I am looking for an easy way when I want to rename a couple files, quickly.

6.) In Windows when you drag files to copy/move them to another separate device such as a USB drive, when you left click and drag the files it copies the files and when you right click the file and drag you get a little menu that pops up when you release the right mouse button that gives you the option to "move here" "copy here" "create shortcut here" and "cancel". Does anything like this exist in Linux Mint? I don't always use this little menu but sometimes it is a convenient feature.

7.) In Windows you can assign what programs open up certain types of files.
For example if you want to open up all MP3 files with Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc. there is a setting that allows you to do this. Can someone tell me if this exists in Linux Mint, I found something kind of like this but it only had like five types of files on it with drop down menus to set the programs (such as general media files like video, music, etc.) but what about if the type of files are not on this list, I don't see an option like Windows has the "Open With" option and lets you browse to a particular program.

Sorry for so many questions but I figured I would try to fit everything into one post.
I am open to any suggestions/information.

Thank You All In Advance

I would really suggest breaking this up. I'll do my best to run through the list- with what I can off the top of my head.

1: Yes, in Mint XFCE I right click on a flash drive icon and I have the option to format.

2: It's doable, I don't recall where/how off hand.

3: Change your power saving/screensaver settings to not require a password.

4: It does have screensavers, just not enabled by default- go into the Control Center and you can set them from there. Otherwise, just just grab some off of Synaptic.

5: I've always just right clicked and selected rename. I haven't used Windows regularly since 2005, so not entirely sure what the feature you're mentioning is.

6: See latter part of 5

7: Right click on a file and select "opens with." You can set a new default there.

Thank you for your response,

I am still in search of answers for the following two questions if anyone else has any advice they would like to share.

5.) In Windows when you want to rename a single file if you highlight the file and then click the file once it goes into the renaming mode/function which allows you to type a new file name. Does this feature exist in Linux Mint as some kind of setting? I know that the F2 function key works to rename but my keyboard is a little weird where I have to hit a function button in order to access the function keys.
I also know there are programs that are designed for renaming multiple files as well, but I am looking for an easy way when I want to rename a couple files, quickly.

6.) In Windows when you drag files to copy/move them to another separate device such as a USB drive, when you left click and drag the files it copies the files and when you right click the file and drag you get a little menu (similar to the menu you get when you right click a file) that pops up when you release the right mouse button that gives you the option to "move here" "copy here" "create shortcut here" and "cancel". Does anything like this exist in Linux Mint? I don't always use this little menu but sometimes it is a convenient feature. Another use of this is if the file you are dragging with the right mouse button is an archive file, in the menu you will see "extract here" and it will extract the files.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you again for your help

Just checking in to see if anyone has any advice to share.
Thanks again

for copying files, right click on file and select 'copy' or 'move' Or cut or copy the file and paste it.

For renaming files, right click on the file and select 'rename'

In general right clicking on things opens up a menu in the desktop management thing and shows what options there are for messing with it.

left click does the default thing, right click asks what you want to do... It's the way Gnome/Mate works. just get used to it.

Another handy trick is to click the centre button. That cut and pastes whatever you have selected with the mouse already..

For the Super key problem, run the keyboard configuration tool. Go to the layouts tab and there should be a button labeled Options. Go to "Alt/Win key behavior" and switch from default to "Meta on Win keys" and that should do it.