I feel like breaking my windows install was a rite of passage
Lately ive noticed that i was wanting to do certain things on Windows that just seemed much easier and more intuitive on Linux, based in the OS specific solutions i would see to problems i encountered. And i was more frequently using software where Windows support seemed like an after thought.
A couple days ago i finally sat down and tried to install Mint. The installer didnt recognize my windows partition so it didnt offer any assistance. And a stroke of fate saw my internet connection dieing at the exact same time. Yes, i cant believe it either.
So i decided to live dangerously and just try to wing the installation with no outside help. It seems like creating a second EFI partition was not the right call. The install failed, and I couldn't get back onto windows.
I wound up just using a live ubuntu image for a few days while i wrestled with repairing the boot loader. I didnt succeed. Eventually i just made a windows recovery disk from my Desktop with an intact copy of windows, and had to reinstall windows.
Then i did manage to successfully install Debian, and ive been having such a great time with it so far. I feel like i probably didnt even need to keep a windows partition, especially since i could have just used my desktop if i REALLY needed windows. I havent had this much fun just using the computer since i was a kid.
Linux is great about providing that feeling of discovery. New tools, new processes, new paradigm... It's the best way to breathe new life into an old piece of hardware.
If this is your first major step, congratulations! If you're a regular, great job, keep it up; eventually you'll be a grey beard with the rest of us.
its easy for you because you been playing around with Linux,
I tried to install SSH on zorin os.
But after installing SSH , it needs to be restarted, when tried to do that , it won't saying the ash server did not start,
A simple thing like this is have me stumped in Linux where as in windows it was just installing putty and done.
Same thing happened to me. Borked my Windows install and didn't have a recovery disc, so I just wiped the whole thing and went Linux-only. Never looked back since. :)
Sometimes, all you need is a little push to get you out of your comfort zone.
This reminds me of my first time installing Linux. I tried to install most recent version of Ubuntu at the time but for some reason it couldn't install and it wiped out Windows partition. Fortunetely, I was able to install LTS version in first try.
I'm glad you are enjoying Linux. Welcome to the penguin land.
Excellent. Being able to install a fresh OS at will is one of the many fun things in Linux. Theming is another. I would advise you do a backup of anything important on Windows and just erase the entire disk and do a clean install of Linux. If you still need Windows, install Virtualbox and install Windows as a VM. Best of both worlds. I do this to enable me to print to my Canon printer because the Linux drivers don't work ,it needs Windows to print, calibrate etc.
I used to take the long route of physically disconnecting the drive with windows when installing a Linux partition until I realized there wasn't anything of use for me in windows, so I backed up some documents and removed windows completely from my desktop.
When I finally switched my gaming pc to Linux I just stopped debating myself on whether to keep the windows partition and said fuck it, just wipe it and if I want it back I'll get it back.
Haven't missed it yet. Of course I assumed I wouldn't, since I have never missed it on any of my laptops.
My right of passage was trying to run hobby websites in the early 2000s using a pirated copy of Windows Server with IIS. Then I discovered Apache and Linux LAMP stacks and realized how much IIS sucks and it was all over from there.
I even was inspired to get back into programming due to wanting to learn PHP ( I only had some QBasic experience at the time). Now I can do PHP, C, C++, and JS (granted they all have extremely similar syntax)
My "rite of passage" to the magical world of GNU/Linux was... well... boredom. My Windows install was run fresh, with TCPOptimizer, with some things removed out of its core... until I took the decision of "trying to figure out how to use Linux even if it means losing my sanity."