HELP! I changed something and can't change it back!
 

I think this is problem is mainly that I don't know what things are called and don't know what to google.

I'm using a 901 EeePC with 9.04. I don't know what the thing is called that is the first thing you see when you log on that has all the options like internet, administration, etc on the sides. I call it the desktop, like in Windows, but I know it is not the Desktop.

There used to be an ubuntu symbol on the top left that would bring me back to the thing with all the options on the side. Now there is a bar that says "Applications -> Places -> system -> and weather (that doesn't work)." Now there is a drop down menu and I can't get back to that home screen with the options.

Now I can't see the application symbols on the top of the bar either! I don't know how to get back to my internet windows with firefox if I go do something else.

Please help a noob.

Are you talking about the default EeePC tabbed interface?
This thing: http://www.honeypothack.com/eee/

Or this: http://www.w-p-k.org/picture_library...ee-versie2.png
... only that one is not english.

What you are describing is the standard ubuntu desktop. The top panel stuff is the main menu.
Did you install a new version of ubuntu recently? Did you do an update? i.e. what did you change?

If windows are too big for the screen, you can use alt+drag to move them around.
But it sounds like you cannot see the task-bar: the part of the panel (usually on the bottom panel) which shows the open windows. If you rt-click on a panel, you'll get an option to add stuff.

Sounds like you used the 'desktop switcher' and switched from the UNR mode to the 'Classic Ubuntu' mode..

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UNR

Looking good farslayer - if you're right then OP needs to locate the desktop switcher in classic mode.

It's the second one! Except it's in English. But I don't get that when I click "desktop"

It said I needed updates. So I did. I installed 9.04 over Easy Peasy. The system is now slower, but it works ok.

I can't change the resolution any higher and I can't move the windows any more or shrink them to see the whole thing. So I can't click on things that are too low.

I guess I don't have the main menu. I can't pull pidgin back up, once it is maximized, etc, and clicking on the icon doesn't make it show up. I also can't find firefox windows when they go away. I can find the most recent when i do CTRL + ALT + D. I am very much not liking this Ubuntu I was finding I liked.

OK - that second one is what farslayer said.

The bit you said you could see:
... that's the main menu

To move widows around, you must press the alt key, then click on any part of the window, then drag.
I agree that UNR mode is much to be preferred on such a small screen.

An example of classic mode...
http://wiki.eeeuser.com/_media/ubuntu.jpg
... the grey bars top and bottom are "panels".

I'm thinking the desktop switcher is in system > preferences or can be added to a panel.
But it may be that you need to now reinstall the netbook remix packages to get it back. Distribution upgrades can be annoying, especially when there is non-free software involved. You are not the only one, but other people report camera and sound issues.

Thank you for helping. I guess I will try re-installing some of those things. I found Pidgin by using ALT to move other windows, even though it cannot connect at all. Oh well.

Should I install 8.10 first (from Easy Peasy) and then go on to 9.o4? Someone told me that would make it faster and work better.

If you are going to re-install.. install 9.04 UNR directly.. don't go through the old version / upgrade..

Farslayer is right. I found that the Ubuntu Netbook Remix he links to is great. I run it on an Asus 701.

Easy Peasy? Now I understand - I thought you meant that the upgrade was easy :/ But you meant that you installed what used to bo called eeebuntu.

The EP upgrade notifications are telling you there is a distro upgrade - well, technically this is correct, it is just not an EP upgrade.

When you accepted the suggested upgrade, and why shouldn't you, the system installed the regular ubuntu and not eeebuntu. This edition does not have the optimisations for netbooks, which is why it is slow. Lots of EP users have been complaining, though some have been satisfied with the change.

This means you do have to reinstall to get the netbook optimised edition.

There is no real need to use the EP version - go right to the Ubuntu UNR install. Here's a review. This is a canonical-supported version, so you are unlikely to get this sort of upgrade confusion next time.

EP dev performance here is pretty disappointing - an upgrade should not have been offered until an EP 9.04 is tested. However, I am outside the loop on this, I don't know the rationale. I have seen that the notification system is set to be changed in the next release.

There is a lot of debate of "to upgrade or not to upgrade". Many in the community say "upgrade, upgrade,upgrade" there is new security included, your on the cutting edge, which is good for helping contribute to the community so that you can find NEW bugs and YOU can submit them.

Personally, I'm on the other end "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

I like to take a look at the release notes of new upgrades, and if things don't interest me, I don't do it. It seems like every upgrade I've ever done (especially distribution upgrades) slow my machine down. So if I really really want to do a full upgrade, back up the /home directory somewhere else (i use an SD card, but for many this is not sufficiently large enoughh), and then do a fresh install.

With the rapid pace of gnu/linux development, you find yourself on another kind of upgrade treadmill. Any machine which faces the internet should have regular upgrades and security fixes. Important gnu/linux apps have had some serious exploits in the last year or so.

However, support for legacy releases vanishes very fast.

Usually, though, you can afford to wait a few weeks or months after a new release.

The usual compromise is to pick a distro with long release cycles ... for netbook, there's not as much choice. Still, soon there will be a UNR edition of an LTR release which should ease the pain somewhat.

If you find things a tad slower after a distro upgrade, you'll want to see what is running that wasn't before. Some newer "features" are supposed to make life easier but can end up adding extra load.

Hand supporting a legacy distro is no fun. However, you may still prefer to keep patching the net-facing apps and use a strong firewall instead. The main issue is to stop your innocent wee netbook becoming part of a botnet.

i am going to re-install it from scratch, not upgrade, and directly, as per advice on here. Thank you very much. One more question: when using firefox in windows, i can look on the bottom task bar and see my different windows. How do i go back to my minimized windows and see my other windows?

Don't understand what firefox has to do with the task bar.

If you do not have a task bar in your fedora panels, you can add one.
You can restore a minimized window from the task bar just as in windows - left-click on it's name.

However, in gnu/linux desktops you typically have the option of more than one workspace. It is uncommon to minimize windows because we can distribute them over many workspaces instead. I've seen that this con be a bit tricky for windows or mac users to get used to, but it is worth the effort.

eg. I have four workspaces - I typically have evolution maximized in one, firefox maximized in the next, something I'm working on in the third, and supporting documents in the fourth. When I'm busier I can have 5 or 6 workspaces.