im tired of having to go through all the programs for virus protection and firewalls etc.etc. i have used linux at times and it was very useful. SOOO, im ready for the big step. i want to go full bore linux mint. it is on an internal 500gb hdd. will i run into any problems and if so can anyone direct me to the areas where i can read up on them. plus this will deter my kids from trying to game on my system while im at work. this is the 3rd time ive had to scrub my hdd because they play online games. all help and expert advice welcome. thanks

Welcome to LQ.

My suggestion: if Mint allows you to boot the installation cd as a livecd, do so. Then put Mint through it's paces. Check everything that's important to you.

Does Mint detect your hardware, set up internet connection, allow you to print/scan, connect your DSLR camera to view/download pictures, etc. If it all works while running as livecd, it will probably run when installed.

Since you don't list your hardware, it's difficult to say more about your chances of problem-free installation.

To get the most help, you need to list your pc specs. With Mint, there are several desktop choices and which one you pick can depend on your specs. For example, KDE and Cinnamon would require the most and XFCE the least (I believe Mate is probably next up from XFCE). Mate and XFCE probably will feel quite familiar to you coming from Windows 7.

Might consider a dual boot first. Not all apps and games work in linux.

If your system is newish then I'd use windows to defrag and shrink enough space for linux. Then boot to some install media and place the linux in the free area.

how do i send pics of cpu-z info?

System Security Status
Security Benchmark Score
Score
0.63 of 10 (details...)


Virus Protection
OK
Up-to-date


Security Updates
Alert!
5 missing




Computer Profile Summary
Computer Name: chuck-PC (in WORKGROUP)
Profile Date: Monday, September 01, 2014 8:28:55 AM
Advisor Version: 8.4
Windows Logon: daddy

new Click to try Belarc's Security Advisor for Android

Operating System System Model
Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 7/5/2014 4:21:15 PM
Boot Mode: Legacy BIOS in UEFI (Secure Boot not supported) Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
3.25 gigahertz AMD Phenom II X4 960T
512 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
6144 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Not hyper-threaded Board: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. M5A97 Rev 1.xx
Serial Number: MT7021015202883
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
UEFI: American Megatrends Inc. 0901 11/24/2011
Drives Memory Modules c,d
2889.47 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
2337.46 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH20NS15 SATA CdRom Device [Optical drive]

ADATA CH11 USB Device [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 2, s/n 5320082901102440A11C
Linux File-CD Gadget USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
ST2000DM001-1CH164 [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB) -- drive 1, s/n Z340XZAR, rev CC29, SMART Status: Healthy
WDC WD5001AALS-00L3B2 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCASY4320349, rev 01.03B01, SMART Status: Healthy 16348 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 4096 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 4096 MB
Slot 'DIMM2' has 4096 MB
Slot 'DIMM3' has 4096 MB
Local Drive Volumes


c: (NTFS on drive 0) * 500.10 GB 328.03 GB free
e: (NTFS on drive 1) 2000.40 GB 1909.98 GB free
g: (NTFS on drive 2) 388.97 GB 99.45 GB free

hope that helps. im just tired of windows and want to try and run straight linux on the hdd. i bought the mint and ubuntu discs, but want to try and run them solo without dual booting. i dont know if it is even possible. i want to put it on the 500gb hdd. the 2tb hdd is for music and other stuff. the external 500gb is strictly for movies.

Both Mint and Ubuntu will give you the option from the installation medium DVD to Try it without installing. That is the best way to start to familiarize yourself with the system such as where different applications are located and how to access things. It will obviously run slower from a DVD. When you decide to install, you need to understand that naming conventions for hard drives and partitions on Linux are different than windows. You won't see anything like C:\ which you do in windows. I'd suggest you take a look at the link below, The first part explains some of these things and the second is an installation tutorial for Ubuntu 14.04. Since Mint uses the same installer, it will be almost identical except for the background color:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/u...all-guide.html

You will notice while reading the tutorial that there are a number of links to other tutorials, one in particular on the use of GParted which can be very helpful.

Where did you buy these discs? This came up recently because some of the ebay or amazon stuff is questionable. There is better places than those.

Also, what is the number (version) of mint and ubuntu (mint 17? ubuntu 14.04?)? And as far as mint, it should also have a word or letters after it (e.g. Cinnamon, Mate, KDE, XFCE), what do you have?

If I remember you have 2 GIG RAM and a decent processor, so if that is the case, you should be ok with any linux.

It's good you mentioned having the different drives, I would have suggested you just do the automatic install, but you will need to do it manually so it is just on the c drive. It's not really hard, you just need to understand ahead of time. But my first concern is the quality of the discs!

FYI, four months ago I didn't know anything about linux and put it on this old XP machine as a dual boot. And, if I can do it, believe me, you can. A lot of this may sound confusing, but it really isn't once you start looking at it.

ive used them before on other computers, but never just by themselves as an only os. i have mint 17.v2 cinnamon and ubuntu 1
4.04.1 lts desktop. they are both 64 bit vers. from os disc.com

I think the hardware info you posted indicates you could run the Ubuntu/Mint versions you have and you have 64bit hardware so there should be no problems with that. If you want just Linux, when you decide which you want Mint or Ubuntu, there is an option to erase disk and install. If you decide to put the second distribution on, don't use that option.

OSDisc has been around for a long time and should be reliable. Never used them myself but the only way to find out is to try it.
Also, do read the info at the link I posted above. It will make things a lot easier for you during the install.

thank you for all the help. i have one more night of work then im off for 2 days. i will scrub it and probably start with mint. thanks again.