Getting started

[Cabie]

Hi, My User Name is Cabie and I would like to join this group. I am a windows user and I am fed up with the Bull that is labeled vista. I do believe people are leaving MS in droves - no one is upgrading to vista and or 7. I live in Middletown, N.Y. just east of where N.Y., N.J. & Penn touch.in the U.S. this is a 175,000 plus population. The Medical profession has multipull 4 story buildings and a large Hospital. Everything is linked by computer, they are still using XP and have no plans to update their system. New laptops and desktops are being sold with linux installed as the O.S.'s other choice, for less money, & m.s. is running adds on tv. on all channels and every day. I don't think I ever seen an ad on tv. for XP. The only reason I'm on this computer is because my son bought it and when it crashed he couldn't fix it and made it worse till there was nothing left to try, so he gave it to me and told me that he tried everything he knew to get it going but couldn't. He even tried to put XP on it but was unsuccessfull. He wanted me to use the computer for parts. I didn't I called Acer and complained. So for $20.00 US I got a fairly new computer. I still cann't put XP on it - I believe they screwed with the BIOS so that XP cann't be installed. Real Nice of M.S. don't you think ?

So - Please let me know what I need to do to join this group and any other groups that would help me get going with Knoppix . OH, and Thank You Very Much for having this site and allowing me to join

Looking forward to new starts and new friends.
Sincerely
Cabie
P.S. No I don't drive a taxi it's part of my last name.

[krishna.murphy]

Dear Cabie:

Welcome to the forums! We are a pretty laid-back group, for the most part, and there's usually a response within a few days for most questions (often much less.)

You have come to the right place to find out about getting free of M$oft - Knoppix is one of the easiest to use Linux variants, and there are a LOT of options if you are looking to add a capability that isn't pre-loaded. It would help us a lot to know what specifically you are wanting to accomplish (web browsing, document creation, etc.) and to a lesser extent, what hardware you have. Some things just work better than others, even under Knoppix, though I have to say that the help I've seen offered here has gotten MANY systems going despite having unusual hardware.

Generally, the first thing to do is to get a copy of the latest version of Knoppix. You can download it, and then burn it to a CD/DVD (slowly!) or to a flash drive. Old hardware sometimes necessitates using a previous version, as drivers are sometimes removed when they become rare in current systems. Check out the list of download sites using BitTorrent software (which gives a very fast and inherently reliable download) here. I recommend avoiding the "DE" and "Adrianne" versions, unless you speak German as your first language or are visually impaired.

Another popular way to get started is to buy Knoppix pre-loaded on a disk or flash drive. Check out the "Get Knoppix" page linked at the top of this page - the advertisers there support this site, so it's fair that we support them, too.

Once you have a disk or flash drive to boot, try it! The nicest thing about Knoppix, in many ways (if not all), is that you can't easily break it. Usually, it will boot right up, and you can begin experiencing the freedom from M$oft you crave right away. And if something does go awry, simply reboot without the Knoppix drive and you'll be none the worse for wear. Check out the help available at boot time, using the F2 key before it gets going very much, as it's somewhat self-explanatory. Let us know what happened if you need more help, so we can advise on the next steps.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, you're among friends - we've all been novices, too. There's very little flaming going at this site, so don't hesitate to put your situation plainly.

Cheers!
Krishna