If a Linux install attempt fails on one PC I use another PC to install then swap the drive back so if you still want to try the latest version that's one way.

There are well -studied and understood safe methods for running W10 LTSC and W11 on hardware their "planned obsolescence" hardware check otherwise rejects. CPU and TPM checks can be bypassed. Note you own the hardware and lawfully use the OS if you paid for it through proper channels. Microsoft even...

Since this forum is not for discussion of how to obtain software outside legal channels (including the many perfectly safe ways to verify .iso checksums and perfectly safe script-based activations which are legal to publish (the most popular is hosted in Github) I suggest going to specialty venues f...

Xubuntu 20.04 after using other stable versions. I quit distrohopping in the mid-2000s and relinquished Gnome after the classic theme was deprecated. It makes a stable host OS (I don't need more Nvidia driver issues since finally sorting out my P52) and when I add a PC it's light enough to clone my ...

Not I since there are much more powerful tools for the job but I quite like your idea of making a separate operating system partition as a toolkit especially on a tablet. You're not alone and these fellows installed the (superior to W2K, though I always liked W2K) WinPE to hdd. PE is light, fast and...

I've not heard of such a thing (probably because every OS collectors has specific preferences and offering such a very large file to torrent could be a copyright issue while individual, locally legal resources would be nation-specific) but offline updaters can be had for 7 at least besides Windows 1...

Has anyone here tried this with success or otherwise? Nadim Kobeissi Repairing a ThinkPad with a Corrupt Thunderbolt Firmware Chip https://nadim.computer/posts/2018-10-26-thinkpad.html https://tomvanveen.eu/flashing-bios-chip-raspberry-pi/ I don't have a failed machine to test but if one comes my wa...

Overall its much ado about nothing as normal users won't care and simply use their machines until they malfunction then replace them, like phones. OS upgrades only concern techies who are best equipped to handle or not need them in the first place. Serious users won't care about Windows 11 unless th...

The classic solution isn't a fecal cheap internal "Winmodem" but an external US Robotics modem which work with most operating systems. I learned about them when using Linux in 1999 before software modems had good support then used them throughout my dialup years. They work fine with Windows 2000 whi...

Some version will be available without the annoying requirements just like Pro and Ultimate versions of W10 differ from consumer versions and clean isos will exist as they do now. Commercial users only care about their use case, not what MSFT wants, and their only NEED to use Windows is dictated by ...

Another happy xfce user of many years here, which I particularly like as I use multiple displays. I find Xubuntu convenient as I'm long past the exploration stage and use my machines as tools. BTW distrohopping is easily done in VMs and places like obsboxes.org have a wide variety of prebuilts for f...

Externals are the by far most versatile way to go and it's very low effort to rip optical media to store piles of DVDs on a much smaller hard disc leaving the originals safe for the future. Rather than seeking compactness in external peripherals (which I only use at home in desktop mode anyway) I lo...

It shouldn't be a problem and you can always boot live off a USB or external hard disk with USB adapter to test. You'll probably be installing via USB anyway and can save that flash drive as your rescue and reinstall disk. (Of course since Linux is so portable you can install to your new SSD using a...

Turns out a bad patch pushed in August MAY HAVE (Lenovo cannot be trusted based on their ghastly recent track record) caused the problem per https://www.cnet.com/news/is-your-thinkpads-usb-c-port-not-working-upgrade-its-firmware/ It turns out that a firmware update issued in August 2019 corrupted th...

I have an external 32GB SSD (M.2 2242 SSD in a USB 3.0 enclosure) with Debian installed. It boots much faster compared to a similar install on a USB 3.0 flash drive; the performance is good even when plugged to a USB 2.0 port. The USB 2.0 bottleneck only shows on heavy disk access, i.e. software up...

Web browsers alone are horrendous RAM hogs.

When I first installed Ubuntu on my T61 I used the same 32-bit CD on my A31p. An unexpected benefit was no process could exceed 4GB RAM so browsing didn't hang my 8 GB machine!

Sebi you have my thanks for your excellent videos!

Just coreboot the machine, X220 has perfect coreboot support. Less hassle :) There are obviously other, perhaps related, backdoors so Coreboot may be the solution. Much love for Thinkpads but every Chinese company is an organ of the Party. Nothing anyone here does with their entertainment/hobby mac...

Yukikaze wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 20, 2018 11:30 pm

And who needs 32GB of RAM?

Those who run virtual machines. 32GB isn't much nowadays.

Thanks for posting! More storage slots are always good news.

I use Windows VMs for interacting with Kindle, then immediately use Calibre to convert my ebooks to use them on all my devices. https://calibre-ebook.com/

All my Linux installs get Calibre. It's popular for good reason. Binary installs preferred: https://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux

My solution to webmail interfaces is not to use them. I've used Thunderbird for many years to interact with all my email accounts because webmail interfaces annoy me. On Windows I use Thunderbird Portable so I can copy the program folder including all saved messages and burn to DVD (malware can't wr...

I've run several similar spec T61s for shop PCs with no problem. Gaming is for gaming boxes. I prefer light DEs and mostly use xfce.

Any distro should do so try a variety (remember you can run live off USB to test) and have fun!

I stopped dual booting off a single hard disk back in the early-2000s because it's much more hassle than running a host OS and virtual machines. I warn people away from dual booting unless their Thinkpad is too ancient to make a usable host. A P52 has ample power to run VMs which is why I bought min...

I switched to a P52 (got a better deal) which can be affected but mine has the latest flash and no issues.

Getting an SSD to replace the disposable spinner placeholder is the way to go. I ordered my P52 (I cancelled the P72 I was going to buy after reading too many BIOS issue posts) with one so I'd get the SSD cable which isn't otherwise supplied. I threw in 64GB more RAM, disconnected the WD spinner, in...

You can install Windows (or anything else) as you prefer in a VM then take a clean snapshot to which you can always revert. The safest way to run Windows is on a Linux host. Virtualbox is easy to get started with and you may never need anything more advanced. Virtual machines can be left disconnecte...

I agree on using a Linux host. If you need anything Windows-specific you can run Windows in a VM or using Wine if the program is compatible.

If you need Windows you don't necessarily need it on bare metal. I prefer to confine it to virtual machines which never connect to the internet and run Linux hosts. I like being able to boot to any snapshot including a new clean install at will. I like never having to update Windows unless it serves...

WARNING! Check the Lenovo forums and ensure you have the latest flash as there were MANY bricked P72s due to firmware problems. Begin by googling " p72 bricked bios site:forums.lenovo.com " . I found out about this while researching the P72 I just ordered. I learned long ago to check in advance so ...