Post by mikkh on Sept 16, 2024 19:25:41 GMT
From habits gained from my Windows days, I reinstall my operating system about twice a year, mostly just to clear up junk I've installed but no longer use.
In Windows it's definitely needed to make the system more stable and run faster too. I won't go into the reasons why because I've left those problems behind now.
I'm not a hoarder of files and the few things I do want to keep fit easily on a USB stick and are backed up to the cloud in several places too, so reinstalling from scratch is never that a big deal for me.
So, new version of MX Linux just dropped and I felt like clearing my current MX Linux system of accumulated junk I had tried for experimental purposes.
If I was still using Windows, I'd be in for an evening of annoyances and several hours of updates before I was done, but with Linux half an hour at the very most.
The actual install took 3 minutes (about 10 times quicker than Windows) and then it was just a matter of installing my favourite programs not included in the main install.
I'd already exported my Thunderbird Email settings and signed into my Google account on Thorium, so I was basically done in 10 minutes apart from minor cosmetic changes I wanted to do.
Finished install uses about 14 GB of hard drive space but Windows 11 requires a minimum of 64 GB, not that it matters much with today's big hard drives - but a big difference if you're using a small SSD.
20 minutes in I'm happy with the layout and installed my favourite desktop wallpaper as the finishing touch.
It's only taken a short while, but with the magic of MX Snapshot I made a complete backup of the whole system (while it was running) to make the next install even quicker!
It's a 5GB file but contains everything I've just done including newly installed programs, passwords, layout etc. It's just an insurance policy if the hard drive fails, but I can also use it on another computer if I wanted to. Now obviously I wouldn't want to give that to other people, it's strictly for my personal use, but there is an option to not include my personal stuff, but keep the other customisations for a generic Linux install - very handy thing to have and pass on to other people.
Using another MX tool called MX live USB Maker, I can transfer that file to boot any computer and then use Linux 'live' straight from the stick.
In Windows it's definitely needed to make the system more stable and run faster too. I won't go into the reasons why because I've left those problems behind now.
I'm not a hoarder of files and the few things I do want to keep fit easily on a USB stick and are backed up to the cloud in several places too, so reinstalling from scratch is never that a big deal for me.
So, new version of MX Linux just dropped and I felt like clearing my current MX Linux system of accumulated junk I had tried for experimental purposes.
If I was still using Windows, I'd be in for an evening of annoyances and several hours of updates before I was done, but with Linux half an hour at the very most.
The actual install took 3 minutes (about 10 times quicker than Windows) and then it was just a matter of installing my favourite programs not included in the main install.
I'd already exported my Thunderbird Email settings and signed into my Google account on Thorium, so I was basically done in 10 minutes apart from minor cosmetic changes I wanted to do.
Finished install uses about 14 GB of hard drive space but Windows 11 requires a minimum of 64 GB, not that it matters much with today's big hard drives - but a big difference if you're using a small SSD.
20 minutes in I'm happy with the layout and installed my favourite desktop wallpaper as the finishing touch.
It's only taken a short while, but with the magic of MX Snapshot I made a complete backup of the whole system (while it was running) to make the next install even quicker!
It's a 5GB file but contains everything I've just done including newly installed programs, passwords, layout etc. It's just an insurance policy if the hard drive fails, but I can also use it on another computer if I wanted to. Now obviously I wouldn't want to give that to other people, it's strictly for my personal use, but there is an option to not include my personal stuff, but keep the other customisations for a generic Linux install - very handy thing to have and pass on to other people.
Using another MX tool called MX live USB Maker, I can transfer that file to boot any computer and then use Linux 'live' straight from the stick.
