Background picture for what? On a standard install Ubuntu, if you want to use your own image as a desktop background, just right click on the Desktop and select Change Desktop Background. Click on the plus (+) sign on the lower left of the window and it will open your /home/user/Pictures directory and you can select whatever you have there. If you mean something else, you need to be more specific.V

Right click on desktop does nothing or let me make a folder. Can't put icons on desktop & mouse hangs up if moved all the way to left. Put auto hide move mouse to left disappears, nothing happens. Loaded Chrome, but will not install. Thank you for your time & patients.

Fred33435,

The article below describes Ubuntu 17.04, which uses the Unity desktop.

Your problems arise from the fact that you are expecting this Unity desktop to behave in a particular way, when it was not designed to do so.

You have in effect picked up a screwdriver in order to hammer in a nail.

In any event Unity is going to be scrapped shortly, so it is much more sensible to choose another desktop.

My advice would be to use the MATE desktop, preferably with Linux Mint (my personal preference) as opposed to Ubuntu, but Ubuntu will also work well.

The default Ubuntu desktop will be Gnome for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS [long-term support]. This version will ship in April 2018.

The next two versions, 17.04 and 17.11, which will be released in November 2017, will continue to use Unity 7.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/ubuntu-...linux-release/

Extract:

All of these are minor improvements. If you're happy with Ubuntu 16.10 or the long-term support (LTS) Ubuntu 16.04, this latest distribution doesn't give you a compelling reason to upgrade. The exception is when you're using a machine with one of the hot new processors.
The real improvements are in features that are used mostly in the cloud and servers.


Do yourself a big favour and install either:

(i) Linux Mint 18.2 MATE 64 bit: (this is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS)
https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

OR

(ii) Ubuntu MATE 16.04.2 LTS:
https://ubuntu-mate.org/download/


Mint 18 review:
“Just works” - Linux doesn’t get any better than this.

https://arstechnica.co.uk/informatio...ux-just-works/

You will be able to do all these things, and more, using MATE in either Mint or Ubuntu.

Good luck.

1 members found this post helpful.

Desktop now working, except the mouse still hides. Can't load Opera or Chrome. Reading up on how to load them nothing works. If I decide to install mate or mint, how is it done. I had 14.04 & never had trouble, including installing the weather app for the top of the desktop. Thanks,

Fred33435,

Assuming that you currently have a separate partition for /home, try this:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...-distro-37074/

Failing that, just download the relevant 64 bit ISO file for Mint or Ubuntu and burn it to DVD or USB drive. Then boot from this media.

If you can install 14.04, I cannot see why you are anticipating problems with Ubuntu 16.04 or Linux Mint 18.2.

Don’t forget to backup all your personal data, just in case!

Have tried different web browsers. Chrome, opera & other ones I found, don't execute. Sometimes I get extract, click on it goes to another page click extract, nothing happens. Mouse still moves to left. Nothing in mouse settings to correct this.