Hello! My old laptops hard drive packed it in, so I got a new one and now need to flash drive an operating system on it. I think this is my time to give Linux a proper go. I tried it before for my gaming PC but switched for a cracked Windows key because I was young and not bothered to learn.
Well, now is my chance to give it another go. I'm looking for a Linux optimised for performance on an HP 255 G7. Threadbare, but not so bare that it'll require me to do a load of complicated stuff to do the basics. I'll just be using it for YouTube and Google docs really. Any help/advice/orders are appreciated.
Thanks!
I would recommend reinstalling windows, because the activation key is still on the mobo, and you might as well use it. Then you can fuck around with dual boot, and try all sorts of Linux distros.
You can even put them on a USB stick and side load, without installing anything at all. This is great for testing, until you find one you like and pull the trigger on a dual boot setup.
Oh, true yeah. Oh well, too late now. I'll keep it mind if I want to go back to windows.
Sorry I was so late to the game. I used to work computer repair, always had a Linux stick to boot into, and changed it up every couple of weeks.
Always something fresh, it was fun seeing all the different distros. You can also make a Linux USB stick with persistent storage and install apps and save settings. In my experience those tend to shit the bed after a few weeks.
Another option that's one step above a USB stick, is an m.2 enclosure. I had those with dual boot, windows and Ubuntu. I could plug that into anyone's computer, boot the external drive and rule out hardware problems with ease.
The m.2 enclosures are almost indistinguishable from an internal drive, made it so I could boot into my own setup on any machine.
As an owner of this same laptop, I'd just like to mention its UEFI will wipe the boot menu after you boot it up from external drive. You'll need to use something like
efibootmgr(Linux) or Bootice (Windows) to put those entries back. Using Bootice in Hiren's boot is the simplest method. Unfortunately, Windows won't let you navigate into ESP, and Bootice won't let you create a new boot entry without immediately pointing it to .efi file. So, you'll have to create empty .efi file anywhere, select it, and then rewrite the path manually in Bootice. This assumes you know the real full path to the .efi files.I've never heard of such a thing, on any computer. Though HP would be that shitty. Sounds like something fishy with your UEFI, you ever update your bios?
I used to do this like 30 times a day sometimes (HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus), never had an issue with boot menus. The ONLY problem I've ever encountered was an external boot triggering bit locker, and locking me out.
What you've described is a hell I've never experienced, but def does not sound like standard operating procedure.