January 20, 2025
I decided to buy a new computer over the weekend. Partially because the Frankenputer I currently have is from 2011 with a few replacement parts over the years, and partially because it seemed like a good idea to rectify item one before Trump takes office and creates tariffs on anything not needed by his donors. So, off to MicroCenter I went, and came home with an Inspiron. (Dude, I got a Dell.)
My initial plan was to install some flavor of Linux on this new computer, because I'm not really in the mood to deal with Windows 11. Unfortunately the old machine is in bad enough shape now that trying to create a live USB stick utterly failed, and now that old flash drive won't even mount. And as an added bonus, Disk Management won't load to let me see what's going on. My old DVD burner got most of the way through creating a live DVD, then crapped out at the last minute, making the DVD unreadable. Plan B it is, let's see if Win11 is as bad as everyone says.
Drag a table over next to the TV, plug everything in, switch the TV to the new computer's HDMI port, switch the TV to the new computer's actual HDMI port, and off we go.
For thirty seconds. Region chosen, keyboard layout chosen, let's get on the network to finish the install because of course. I have two options: Ethernet, which is not plugged in; and wifi, which is showing a network that isn't mine. With no way to change it. Apparently whatever voodoo Windows uses on this step shall not be questioned. Going back to the old computer, I tried to search for a solution, but the search engine saw "Windows setup change wifi network" and decided "Windows settings change wifi network" was close enough, so all I got were a bunch of instructions on how to change networks once Win11 was installed. Which is (a) something I already know how to do, (b) useless at the step of the process at which I find myself.
Good thing I'm visiting some friends later today, I can ask them to create a live stick for me. And then maybe I'll be able to use this new machine before the old one finishes dying.
Update, later that afternoon: A second DVD burned successfully, so I was able to get Mint Linux installed. I'm currently copying a terabyte and a half from the old computer's hard drive. Should be done some time tomorrow.
Though as a fun little aside, once I logged in to me Google account and checked Youtube, the first video didn't play its sound. A quick look showed that Linux was trying to use the sound out port instead of HDMI, so that was a quick fix. Still had a quick "you gotta be kidding me" moment when it happened though.
