[pauloz]

A friend of mine has Ubuntu 14.04 installed on his ageing Acer laptop - it's going OK but he wants an OS that has a familiar "feel" to Windows XP or 7. I've mentioned LL and I'm going to suggest LL 2.4 32 bit to him. Can somebody advise the best method to fully install LL 2.4 on to his laptop? I was going to try a live USB first but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Thanks in anticipation.

[LL-user]

Hi pauloz,

As always there are plenty of ways to skin a cat ;)

I'd suggest as cleanest and fastest solution a new install:

1. Perform your intended testing with a live USB stick. See whether:
    * the friend likes it
    * all the hardware is working as expected
    * the system is running as expected

2. Check the current system for customized settings and apps. Collect as much information as possible of what s/he expects to see and use after the swap.

3. Backup all personal data and configuration, mainly the home directory and maybe also /etc.
[If you want to go the extra mile and have enough external disk space and time you could even backup the whole system, for example via clonezilla or systemback. Just in case s/he changes his mind, or something goes terrible wrong. You could even clone it to a portable disk (if on hand) to start it from there.]

4. Install LL2.4 and transfer all the personal data back and install the additional software required.

My 2c, let's see what others suggest :)
If you need more detailed instructions please let us know.

[gold_finger]

pauloz,

LL-user already gave you a good outline of steps, so I'll just fill-in some details in case you need them.

As far as installing goes, since you want to replace Ubuntu just use the option to erase and use the whole disk.  That will wipe out Ubuntu and put LL in its place.  You'll end up with a large Root partition and a Swap partition on the drive.  If you want a different partition set-up (like adding a separate Home partition), then your best bet would be to use GParted from live LL USB to delete the Ubuntu partitions first.  (GParted is found at Menu -> System -> Partition Drives.)Then you can run the installer and choose the "Something else" install option which allows you to create the partitions whatever way you want.  Here's a tutorial showing those steps.  (It's a Mint tutorial, but LL's install will be basically the same.)  The LL User Manual provides install information also.

[pauloz]

Thanks for the heads up LL-user and gold_finger.
I'm all armed and ready to go. Hopefully, we'll have another LL user by this weekend!

Cheers
pauloz

[LL-user]

All the best for your endeavor! :)
And please don't hesitate to post back, if you run into trouble.