Upgrades -to Kubuntu 12.10 Nov 23

Ok, here we go again. This time I replaced the boot drive to a Solid State Drive (SSD)

Then I loaded Win XP on the primary partition so I could use Google Sketchup for creating woodworking drawings in 3D. Scketchup works under Linux, but had mouse problems under Wine. I also needed to convert some old Corel pictures to jpg format, so I decided to reload my old XP so I can  use it for these two purposes.

Windows XP: (Day 1,2,3)

It took me one evening to install it, and another to update it to SP2 and the SP3... then a third night to load the security updates that came out after SP3 was published. &^%$  I remember now why I moved to Kubuntu. (smile)

Kubuntu 12.10 (Quantal) Documentation Here.

I downloaded the newest Kubuntu iso image, which no longer fits on a CD. It now needs to be burned to a DVD due to it's size. I found that I also had to run it from the CD before I saw any menu to install it. I thought at first that I downloaded the wrong image and it was a Ubuntu Live CD.

The installation went very well, taking about 30 minutes. It created a boot menu (grub) on the new SDD drive and left Windows as a boot option, so now every time the machine is turned "On" you can choose to boot Windows XP or Linux.

The drive works very fast, which is very noticeable when booting Windows. Windows takes about 4 seconds to boot up after you select it in the Boot menu.

The drive also does not even get warm, so I never powered the build-in fan on the mount I purchased. Since the drive was shipped with a mounting plate, one does not need to order the fancy mounting kit (seen below) with a fan, that I bought for $19.00

I recommend upgrading your desktop or laptop to one of these Solid State drives, as it's a cheap upgrade and may avoid the purchase of yet a newer computer to run Microsoft. You might like to try Kubuntu for free instead ! <smile>

(lovely)