Ubuntu is my friend - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: DavidDLC
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 03:39:45 am
content: Well, short long story:Windows OS created a temporary folder for updates, after the update was done, the folder was still sitting on my C drive.I knew this folder was not longer needed and I wanted to delete it, I tried different ways, no success.I hate the fact that even if you are administrator there are some things you cannot delete, this folder was one of those. I even though on complete format of the C drive, uff a lot of work that I was not willing to do, I started to get frustated.I downloaded "Unlock" application with the hope it will do something on Windows 7, nothing.Then I remembered my friend Ubuntu !I created a bootloader CD where you can install the OS or just start it from the CD, "boala" ! it worked, I launched Ubuntu from the CD and I was able finally to get rid of the annoying folder.Ubuntu created a folder named "Trash.001" or similar, and after booting back with Windows 7 I was able to delete it and now I'm happy that I get rid of it.Hopefully this experience can help somebody with similar issues.Of course you need to know what are you doing, since deleting incorrect files can corrupt your OS.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 08:18:14 am
content: Did you try any of the following:Running the disk clean up wizard?Removing the files with add/remove programs?Rebooting in safe mode, then trying to delete the files?Installing recovery console and setting up the privileges so you can delete the files from there?

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 08:34:17 am
content: i'm a Windows user since DOS. this thing struck me the starting of WinXP (worst on later version, Vista and 7 and fucking NTFS stuffs!), but.... my Windows 98 Setup CD is my best friend, forever!

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 08:57:15 am
content: NTFS is good believe me, much better than error prone and insecure FAT32 which preceded it.Yes, I do agree not being able to have full control is a pain and live Linux can help but I would only recommend it as a last resort.

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 01:05:37 pm
content: ah so the file you after was being hooked by another program.you might like these toolshttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653it allows you to kill of handles of process that hooking the file in question you were deletingthese are tools i use in my day to day job doing security research but these tools are very flexible you might find use for them.

author: Ferroto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 02:08:19 pm
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on April 17, 2011, 08:34:17 amEnjoy your maximum partition size of 32gb and max file size of 4gb

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 02:22:37 pm
content: the maximum partition size is 8 terabytes for fat32 your right about the 4GB file limit though

author: Ferroto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 03:20:48 pm
content: Quote from: Sionyn on April 17, 2011, 02:22:37 pm8 terabytes is the maximum drive size not the maximum partition size.

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 05:06:05 pm
content: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Tablenope depends on cluster size32k clusters max volume size 8TB64k clusters max volume size 16TB (rarely have i seen a 64k cluster drive)

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 06:03:10 pm
content: Yes, MS crippled Windows XP so it can't format a FAT32 partition over something like 32GB to discourage people from using it. The 4GB file size limit is the real killer though.

author: monpjc
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 06:25:21 pm
content: I converted to ubunto about four weeks ago and have not looked back. Sick of updates, reboots and crashes and getting frustrated that stuff would not work correctly. Esp now Vista and Win7 are with us.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 09:00:13 pm
content: I've used Linux on and off over the years and never had a great experience with it. The last time was Fedora, just ovr a year ago, which failed to boot after a kernel update. I use Windows XP and have never had any problems. I don't even bother running a memory resident virus scanner. I scan with malware bytes and rootkit revealer every now and have never found any viruses.

author: david77
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2011, 09:38:01 pm
content: I use Linux and Windows, the file/web/print/mail server runs Ubuntu 7.10 and the workstations dotted around the house run Win2000.I prefer Windows on my workstations due to my being used to it. I've used MS products since MS-DOS 3.3 and have never really had a problem. Win2k still does everything I need it to do and it has proven its reliability. My computing requirements are very modest, so I see no need to switch to Win7 yet.I've tried several Linux desktop flavours over the years - in recent years there have been some rather promising distributions but I always come back to MS in the end, mostly because I miss some essential software package that is not available for Linux.Or, as has happened many times, I want to simply install some software and it just won't work and I end up wasting hours, I just can't be bothered with things like that anymore. I want to start "SETUP.EXE" and then use the program.On the server side things are different, Linux does have definitive advantages over Windows there.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2011, 12:22:12 am
content: Quote from: Sionyn on April 17, 2011, 01:05:37 pmthanx reuter, err... buddy!i always wanted more control on processes rather than the crippled "task manager"Quote from: Ferroto on April 17, 2011, 02:08:19 pmi used Partition Magic 8 to do partitioning stuff, yes there is limit, but i'm enjoying my 500GB++ system in 4 partitions alot more than not knowing whats inside the "System Volume Information" in every root. and how often do i need 4GB++ file in my HDD? unless i want to conseal some HD porno vidz theremost files i worked on are in the range of KB to few MB, hardly frequently reaching 100MB. 4GB limit? there is workaroundLinux is good no doubt, but it misses one aspect that no one care... ie to provide supports, softwares and drivers that Windows has. If Linux can fullfill the following, then i'm willing to embrace Linux fulltime:1) Word, Spreadsheet etc (Ms Office) i think Linux already has this, so thumb up2) On par with Adobe Photoshop and premiere CS3 software. and color management softwares/utilities3) C++, VB IDE (Ms Visual Studio) and extra tools4) AutoCAD, 3D MAx, and other 3D Animation softwares5) All the nice EE softwares, LTSpice, Kicad, MPLAB, AVR Studio, Pickit etc etc6) ACDSee, Notepad, Calculator, PowerDVD and alot other little little tools7) and most importantly... driver (in installation CD) for every device that i'm buying (printers, stylus, Rigol, Hantek FG etc etc).last time i installed version of Linux, it cant even play mpg! ask me to find it in the net? am i a software/driver/support/OS tinkerer? not anymore

author: DavidDLC
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2011, 04:10:01 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on April 17, 2011, 08:18:14 amI tried disk clean up, and add/remove programs with no succes.I didn't try safe mode totally forgot about it. Neither recovery console.I knew something good will be out of this chain, I downloaded Process Explorer and will start using it !

author: PeterG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2011, 07:18:25 am
content: I always keep a Ultimate Boot CD on hand for maintaining my PC. It has a tool for just about everything.Regards

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2011, 05:35:59 pm
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on April 18, 2011, 12:22:12 amA DVD ISO and if you've got loads of RAM Windows might want a swap file that big.QuoteYes, OpenOffice which I use on Windows all the time. Oxygen Office Professional is my favourite distribution. It's still stuck at 3.2.1 but has way more features than 3.3.QuoteThere's Gimp but don't know how good it is compared to Adobe.QuoteThere's loads of programming tools but creating/running Windows executables might be difficult.QuoteThere's no decent CAD package for Linux I know of.QuoteLTSpice runs well under WINE, Kicad has a Linux port and there are PIC programmming tools, don't know about AVR though.QuoteSilly question really, equivalents to those are standard issue on most distributions, if you care to look.QuoteThat can be a problem, if you use Linux just make sure you only buy compatible hardware.QuoteMany modern distributions don't include any way to play mpg./DVDs because the formats are patented and they don't want to charge for them or get sued. Fortunately you can download VLC (which I use on Windows) or codecs for other players separately.There are plenty of ways to get Windows programs running under Linux. WINE (basically a Windows emulator, though technically it's not an emulator as it doesn't emulate the CPU, just Windows) can run many programs. DOSEmu/DOSBox can run some old DOS programs and some Windows console programs under a DOS extender. Then there's the world of virtual machines such as VirtualBox which just emulate a PC within your PC, enabling you to run Windows and all the programs you want as well as scanners and printers. If your printer doesn't support Linux, print to a PDF file using the Linux program, copy it to the virtual machine's hard drive and print it using Adobe in Windows on the VM. To be legal you need a Windows licence but I used to use a pirate copy of Windows 2000 because it could run all the programs I wanted with only 192MB of RAM.

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2011, 09:20:38 pm
content: Using an non journaling file system like FAT nowadays is like looking for trouble in my opinion. My favorite was ReiserFS but Hans had to kill his wife... I will convert to btrfs from ext4 soon.As for GNU/Linux. I am using Linux for about 10 years. The last 7~8 exclusively. I really feel uncomfortable when using a pc with Windows o MacOS. GNU/Linux made my life much easier. I love it.If you have to use extensively software that runs only on windows then don't use GNU/Linux. I you don't intend to dedicate some time in learning this OS (likewise with Windows or any other OS) don't change your OS.For me a new user that selects Ubuntu (or any other of the so called friendly distros) and expects everything to runs flawlessly and trouble free without any effort is like putting a lie in you resume and expect that it will never influence you career. I will bite you. And it will bite you hard.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2011, 09:48:26 pm
content: thanx hero and firewalker for clarifying

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2011, 10:37:47 pm
content: some hans case seems a bit fishy to this nutterhttp://freereiser.wordpress.com/

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2011, 01:29:22 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on April 17, 2011, 09:00:13 pmCan I recommend PCLinuxOS?http://www.pclinuxos.com/The distro also has a great community that will tirelessly help you if you are stuck with any problems. It's known amongst it's users as the distro-hopper-stopper. Drop in sometime, visit the forum and say hello!

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2011, 06:22:21 pm
content: I've also used Ubuntu and Vector Linux. I don't see the point, I can just use Windows XP which doesn't give me any problems, then move to the latest version when I get a new PC.

author: Russel
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2011, 06:39:58 pm
content: It has been a while since I've tried Ubuntu, so I decided to download the latest long term support version and give it a try. I booted my older Toshiba Satellite notebook from a Ubuntu CD and I am quite impressed. Everything works well right from the start, the wireless adapter, the graphics (look and work very well), quite impressive. The operating system appears to be quick despite the fact that it has to load everything from the CD-ROM. I've got an old notebook hard disk laying around, so I think I am going to swap out my current hard disk (loaded with WinXP) and see how Ubuntu performs when loaded from a hard drive.I've used Ubuntu live CDs to work with computers on occasion, but it hadn't occurred to me that I might see my old notebook computer hardware perform better with a linux operating system.Ubuntu is my friend also!

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2011, 11:03:32 pm
content: Linux is the way to gothis put windows and mac to shame that is if buy into desktop effects

author: Russel
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2011, 11:56:04 pm
content: Compiz Fusionis very cool, but I would'nt say it blows Mac and Windows out of the water, even from a desktop effect perspective.Again...it is very cool!

author: Russel
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 05:19:20 am
content: Well, here I am again, posting from Ubuntu. This time I have Ubuntu running from the hard disk on my old Toshiba notebook computer. I have to say that I'm amazed how easy it was to resize the 100GB partition with WinXP on it to 80GB for XP and 20GB for Ubuntu. The installation was straight forward, much quicker than installing WinXP, Vista, or Win7, especially considering the lack of performance on this old notebook computer. And WinXP hasn't been affected except for the size of the partition that it resides on.Tthis old computer operates much more responsively on Ubuntu, worth the time to install Ubuntu in dual boot with XP.I've installed FreeNAS on old computers with 400mhz processors and 256mb of RAM in order to keep the old hardware usefull, but I never really though about using Linux on slower machines for performance improvement.Anyway, Ubuntu is still my friend.

author: updatelee
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 06:13:37 am
content: I really enjoy linux alot, I have it on quite a few pieces of hardware around the house, router, nas, desktop, laptop's etc. I use mac's on a day to day basis but have vmware with linux on them as well for the few times I cant get my mac's todo what I want. I just really hate windows. People always spout windows driver compatibility, ya sure thats important, but driver install and ease of install are just as important.for example I bought a samsung 3170 networked printer. in mac osxclick sys pref, click printers, click the + to add a printer, select the 3170N, donein windows, goto samsung.com, search for the 3170N driver and down, then run and install. Then goto control panel, printer, add printer, select network printer, enter the IP of the printer, so now you have to goto the printer, go through the menu, print off the current settings spec sheet to see the IP, enter that IP, then list to the driver complain its not plugged into usb, tell it to ignore that (because its a network printer) carry on and install.For someone like my mother inlaw or my wife, the mac is a no brainer, for me, its a time saver I dont have to fight with it.Now linux is honestly about as complicated as windows, no harder no easier, takes the same amount of time. I just like its opensrc and gives me full control of things. When something doesnt work the way I want it to, I can modify it todo what I want.Think of it like electronics, Im sure im not the only one that has bought something that doesnt quite do exactly everything I want it to, knowing that I can get full service manual with schematics and diagnostic info, Over the product that does do what I want, but I know for a fact it will never do anything more because its such a closedsrc product nothing more can ever become of it.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 06:22:52 am
content: Quote from: Russel on April 20, 2011, 05:19:20 amThat's great. While *buntu isn't my preferred choice, I happen to use it on a laptop because it is the only *nix that manages to connect an (unsupported in Linux) Telstra usb 3G stick when I'm traveling.The desktop can be even more responsive if you use a lighter desktop such as LXDE or XFCE instead of the default Gnome that ships with Ubuntu.Enjoy your *new* laptop.

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 10:34:52 am
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on April 20, 2011, 06:22:52 amProprietary hardware with precompiled drivers only for *bubtu? It sounds strange though for this kind of hardware. Can you do anlsusbwith the 3G stick connected and post the results?

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 03:12:53 pm
content: Quote from: firewalker on April 20, 2011, 10:34:52 amIt's a ZTE MF636. I don't mean that it only works on Ubuntu. It's was at the time(2009) the only distro that had clear instructions from other users on whirlpool. I'm sure you could get it going on other distros, but I never could(be bothered).There is no special software needed to get it to work in linux, just the right software configured correctly. The trick is, the device is a memory stick when first plugged in. This is so it can assimilate any windows computer it finds. The windows program installed then 'switches' the device into usbmodem mode. A command line program for linux does this task to allow it then to be seen by the system as a USBmodem.The initial problem was the Linux switcher program had to be used manually, the version was old and needed an out of repo update. Then the distros started to preconfigure it to run automatically with hal etc. Sometimes that preconfig was wrong depending on the ZTE device you had.I believe it is now much more simplified and you don't even need to do anything but plug it in. I don't use it very often because the usage fees pretty much require you to mortgage your house, and any unused credit you buy (min $20) disappears after 30 days. Way to go Telstra. You really are the benchmark for contempt of your own customers. Truly outstanding actually.

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 03:31:31 pm
content: Ok, thanks for clarifying it.

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 04:18:39 pm
content: yeah 3g data charges are extravagant

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 06:00:32 pm
content: Quote from: Russel on April 20, 2011, 05:19:20 amThe thing I liked about Linux was the installation which was quicker than Windows because I didn't have to spend ages installing Adobe Acrobat reader, OpenOffice.org, Inkscape, Firefox etc. All I needed to do was boot the CD, partition my hard drive, leave it to install, then come back and install all the updates.What I disliked about the installation was having to install the codecs and my printer driver separately but I understand why this is necessary.QuoteI was disappointed with the performance Windows XP seemed to boot much more quickly than most of the distributions I tried which I understand isn't a problem for a server operating system. Other people I've met on forums say Linux boots faster for them but that's not the case in my experience. I tried various tips I read to make it boot faster but it still didn't seem to be faster than Windows. I've heard that disk performance on some hard drives can be poorer for sectors on the outside of the disk than the inner but the difference seemed to be too great to be that alone.Programs seemed to load more slowly and the memory usage was higher than Windows XP.The graphics were much slower than on Windows which I put down to an unaccelerated driver. I sought help from the Internet but was unable to resolve the issue.I liked some of the programs which have no free Windows equivalents and the user interface but for me these aren't good enough reasons to run it over Windows XP. I didn't have any problem with not being able to run software or Linux equivalents to Windows programs. I like open source software (OpenOffice.org, Inkscape, Gimp, KiCad ect) but run them all on Windows XP.

author: Russel
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2011, 07:30:48 pm
content: Quote from: Hero999 on April 20, 2011, 06:00:32 pmThat's very true. When asked how long it takes to build a computer I typically answer, it takes a couple hours to assemble the hardware (including routing and tie wrapping the cables nicely) but it can take days to install the software. While this may be a bit of an exaggeration sometimes it is closer to the truth than I would like to admit.One of the big differences between Linux and Windows is that Linux usually seems to work well right after installation. I did check for updates during this current installation of Ubuntu, but that seemed to go much quicker than the typical update scenario with a new Windows installation. Yesterday after installing Ubuntu, I ran updates twice, the second time finding that the OS was up to date. When I perform a new installation of Windows, I just keep running updates over and over until the OS is finally up to date. That can take some time and many reboots. At my last place of employment, the operating system of choice was WinXP. The new notebook computers that the company purchased arrived with Vista, only to be overwritten with WinXP by us to maintain uniformity. It was done legally, with WinXP licensing, and had some of us scratching our heads, but that's another story. So, needless to say I've installed WinXP a few times...On another note, I usually spend at least one afternoon, if not a couple days, disabling software in the Widows OS that is running and not needed or desired. There are many services that don't need to be running and only slow your system down, take a look atwww.blackviper.comfor more information. And, of course, every application that you install wants to run a little applet in the tray that usually isn't really needed. Although I don't have any great experience with Ubuntu, it does seem to operate faster on the same hardware and as far as I can tell part of this may have to do with the fact that tons of unnecessary software isn't running from the start.Quote from: Hero999 on April 20, 2011, 06:00:32 pmI also run some of the Windows versions of Linux software in WinXP. One of my favorites is OpenOffice. While Microsoft Office has some incredible capabilities I got tired of using a semi truck (or Ferrari, if you prefer) to go to the store for a loaf of bread. I really like OpenOffice, in fact this post is being composed on OpenOffice Writer, albeit I am on my notebook operating with Ubuntu.While most of my time using a computer involves Windows operating systems, I am very impressed with this current installation of Ubuntu (10.04.02 LTS). I am going to have to try running a live CD on my older desktop machines. If they work out as well as it has with this notebook computer, I will be setting up more dual boot machines.