Shura

As Sauron said, you can install the bundled software and options manually. Of course if you want to support the developers, you can pay for the Ultimate and get everything setup automatically from the get go.

Manjaro XFCE (Arch Based) MX Linux (Debian Based) PopOS (Ubuntu Based) Linux Mint (Ubuntu Based) I would recommend in that order, For Manjaro just install a backup kernal incase you break it during an update. Though if you do regular updates, you shouldn't have any issues.

For an old system, my recommendation would be Arch+Cinnamon or if you feel Cinnamon is a bit slow, Arch+XFCE+Nemo File Manager. This is not noob friendly but once setup, its really responsive. My Arch+XFCE+Nemo setup uses only 260mb of RAM at idle. Arch+Cinnamon uses 590MB which is still very low compared to some other setups. One of the biggest advantages of setting up your own Arch setup is you won't have to deal with all the bloat from some Distros.

If you are willing to put some time to set it up, I would recommend Arch + XFCE. I run it on my HTPC, it's set it open Kodi at startup and then I have Kodi set it launch other things like Firefox or Youtube through Ice from Kodi. The best part is that it only uses 294mb before Kodi starts. It's very light and with XFCE+ Arc Theme, it's very clean. I find other distros to be unnecessarily bloated, Manjaro + XFCE uses 760+mb at start and Mint mate was around 700+ too. Arch takes a bit of learning to install but the experience is very good. Also once you have a desktop environment installed, Install the LTS kernal, that way you won;t have to worry about breakage as much.

Right and that's exactly my point, Most people are okay with windows or Mac and that's why those OSs are popular but it's not everyone. If you feel Windows and MacOS doesn't offer you what you need, then try Linux. But setting up the perfect Linux setup for for the user requires some time and effort by the user. It can get frustrating but the end result when done can be amazing. Vanilla Arch was so frustrating the first few times, but once you figure it out, it becomes so easy. I can clean install my perfect setup in just a couple of mins, that works for me but might not be your perfect setup. With linux, if you want the perfect setup you need to put in the time to configure it.

Linux gives you freedom and options in areas that Windows or MacOS doesn't and this concept in general is hard for new users to understand. Don't like your overall interface? change it, don't like your file manager? change it, feel the OS is using too much memory and is low? go with a lighter environment. There is just so many options here that the other OSs don't give. Options and Choice are the keywords. The question, "Can Linux be used as a daily driver?" doesn't really apply to Linux in the same way because Linux is simply a kernel, the distros we see are whats built on top of that kernel. Windows and MacOS are also built on top of kernels, We don't really ask "Can Windows NT Kernal be used as a daily driver?"; Windows 10 is just one distribution built on that kernel, along with Windows server, windows phone, and xbox. Similarly Linux is a kernel and we have things built on top of it, such as servers, androids and the hundreds of Linux pc distributions. Is Linux a general purpose laptop/desktop OS? well that depends, which distribution of Linux are we talking about? we can't generalize everything that is Linux, is there distributions of Linux that can be used as a daily driver? yes and there has been for years. But those distributions like windows and MacOS pick out a windows manager, desktop environment, file manager and so on for you based on what they think is best for the majority of end users. But would that be the best setup for you? that depends on the user and once you have some knowledge about Linux, you can reshape your OS to best suit your needs and likes without all the extra bloat. Hence why it's always recommended to start using a distro like the three Ms mentioned above to get used to the environment. Windows and MacOS are just fine as a daily OS for most people, especially so if you don't want to think about how it works and just want it to work. If you have no issue with your current setup, there is no reason for you to change to Linux. There are Linux distributions that offer the same too like Ubuntu, Mint and others. But when you want more options, more controls, that's where Linux shines.

Have you tried using the purge command to just remove fwupd?

I have no experience with those distros so can't say anything about them and they don't catch my interest so have no intention of trying them. Clearly someone went to the trouble of creating it so the owners clearly seem to like it. It doesn't mean its good. My point is linux gives you the freedom to set things up the way you like, As I mentioned in my previous post, I like vanilla Arch because I can customize it to the way I like. I find most popular distros too bloated for my liking. that includes Ubuntu, Mint and even Manjaro. I understand that they are targeted at the mass users and offer something for most people. For the those who know exactly what they want and need for the their system, a clean configuration is always best in my opinion. My Arch Cinnamon uses 460mb of ram, My Arch XFCE uses 290mb; Manjaro XFCE uses 1GB+, I just don't need all that bloat, it doesn't mean I think Manjaro is bad, It just doesn't suit me. For new users, It's better to go with a Distro like Mint, Manjaro or MX and get used to linux first.

Distros like any OS will have different issues on different systems. So Manjaro didn't work for you, and that's too bad but it doesn't mean any distro that doesn't work for you is trash. Manjaro is popular because it works for majority of the people who use it. Every distro has issues, as others have pointed out above, I've personally had more issues with ubuntu based distributions and refer Vanilla Arch. That doesn't mean I think Ubuntu is bad or trash, it just doesn't work for me, I still recommend Mint along with MX and Manjaro when people ask for beginner distros. For those wanting to try Arch or already on Arch and are worried about your system breaking, Install an LTS kernal so you have a backup kernal to boot into. If you don't need the latest updates, use LTS kernal as main. All my systems use Arch, and the ones that I don't update often like my servers and htpc, I run on LTS and haven't had any breakage in the last 2 years. For those on Manjaro, do your updates regularly, You increase your chance of issues by doing not updating often then doing a large update. Updating regularly is good for Arch Based distros because it usually gets the latest updates first. Also for big updates on Manjaro use, "sudo pacman -Syyuu" instead of "sudo pacman -Syu". If your new to the linux community or thinking of trying linux, just enjoy the experience. Linux gives you freedom to try many things and change things in your OS to the way you like it. I suggest you try many distros,and you'll eventually find one you like. Or you can take the bits and pieces of many different distros and customize your OS to your liking. Your journey will have issues and troubles, but once you get used to linux, you'll realize just how much more simpler and easier it is to use compared to windows or macos.

I made a mistake in my original post, I meant to say "make sure the bootloader/grub is "NOT" installed on the windows drive" Installing both OS not the same drive isn't that big of a deal, My laptop can only have one drive so I have it split for both linux and windows(need windows for some work software). The problem is, sometimes an update to grub in linux or even an update from microsoft on windows can effect the boot partition, which can make accessing either OS a problem. This isn't a common issue but it does happen, I had it happen when I installed Linux kernal 5.0; This was fixed by rebuilding initramfs and reinstalling grub but both had to be done from command line, which can be a pain for some. Since you plan to be using multiple drives, you might as well take advantage of that and install the OSs more efficiently. Based on your setup, if it was me I would, Install Linux on the 120gb, split the 500gb if you don't plan to use windows much. If you do use windows a lot and have a lot of things that take up space like steam games, leave the 500gb as it is. Once you have linux setup, install a software called ntfs-3g, this will allow you to access and write to the 500gb normally from linux. This way if for some reason you use up the 120gb on the linux drive and need more space, you can access the 500gb.

You don't need to do anything with the original ssd, if you want to do a clean install of windows, go settings > backup > recovery and just do a clean reset. Once done, install the new 500GB ssd and split the partitions if you like, something like 30/70 and install ubuntu onto the partition. You can use the 70% left over as a storage partition or for future installs of different distros. You can choose which OS to boot by going into the boot menu of your computer. One thing to note is when installing ubuntu make sure the bootloader/grub is NOT installed on the windows drive. Another suggestion is, if you want windows as default, you can install windows on the 500gb ssd and linux on the 120gb. Linux doesn't need a lot of space, unlike windows. Windows uses NTFS filesystem by default and Linux uses EXT4, Linux can read NTFS pretty well whereas Windows can't read EXT4 without third party programs. The point is, if you make the 500GB windows, you can still access the drive and use that space if need be from linux. But if you make Linux the 500GB, you can't access that space and use it from windows without workarounds.

No if your PC is booting fine with no issues then it's okay, if you have issues like slow boot times, then go ahead and try those above methods. It's used to fix and rebuild any issues with the windows bootloarder. If you are interested in Linux, I would just using it through virtualbox or use of the the other hard drives on your computer, like that 300gb drive maybe. That way you won't have to mess with the partitions on the main drive.

Are these all connected externally? if so have you tried starting with all but your main drive disconnected. If grub was installed on your 500mb partition on the maun drive, the question is how? simply putting an old hdd shouldn't overwrite the partition on the main drive, unless while in ubuntu the system was updated and grub installed somehow. To fix the MBR(Windows Bootloader), there are two steps you can try. If you are in windows, download and make a windows 10 installation USB(if you don't have one already), boot the pc using that USB, on the first screen, choose "Repair your Computer", Then from there choose, Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt. Once in command prompt, types these in order: bootrec /fixmbr bootrec /fixboot bootrec /rebuildbcd after shutdown the pc, remove the usb and try starting it. It's best to do this with all other hard drives and storage disconnected from the pc.

How many drivers do you have in this PC? i thought you said it was a laptop. For the time being don't touch anything on Disk 0. Do you have two different 1TB drives in the PC ? + a 300GB?

If you moved from SSD to HDD, do you still have the HDD or did you format it? if you still have it, you can try going back to the HDD and make sure your data is there. If it is, just wipe the SSD and migrate it over again.

Pretty much what 2FA said. If your computer boots with the second drive removed, then the partitions on the second drive are the problem. A linux mint or Manjaro live USB should have gparted installed. Use gparted to delete all paritions on the drive and also do a clean format of the drive and change it to NTFS. Considering you had Ubuntu on it, good chance it was formated as ext4, which won't be read by Windows. Make sure you don't wipe your main disk, considering you said the second HDD has more space, you can use that number to figure out which drive you have selected on gparted.

Well Nextcloud has software for Linux, Windows, Mac, Android and iOS.

I'm thinking of upgrading from a 6700k to Ryzen 3000 depending on performance; I'm mostly looking at it for the extra multi threaded performance but as others have said, AMD over the past few years has become a much better options, in both CPU and (mid range) GPU.

I don't know what domain your using but I would assume you can use it to create some SSL keys and host your nextcloud. I use the free domain duckdns. Ya one of the best parts about having your own cloud server is, not only the peace of mind that your stuff isn't stored on someone else HDD but the fact you can have all the storage you need without paying anything. My Nextcloud has a 2TB HDD and I can add more if I need to. On a separate note mega.nz gives your 50GB of free storage.

Rasberry pi 2 does seem to be supported but not sure if it can do both video and host nextcloud with smooth performance. Here are some links to articles that talk about nextcloud on raspberry pi 2. https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-nextcloud-server/ https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=160874 There are some videos on youtube too. Again I would personally get a Odroid C2 (better Ethernet chip) or Odroid XU4 (better Ethernet & USB 3 for better speeds to HDD).

I use the Nextcloud docker on my NAS PC, It's running openmediavault. I also use emby for my media files. You can also look into doing it using a rasberry pie or odroid c2, these will set you back about $50 but they are tiny and this way you don't have to worry about your pc staying on all the time or windows updates.

Yes but responsiveness is the issue. I have a Vaio SA (1st gen), came with Windows 7 and was fine in Windows 7. It had loud fans but that was hotfixed. When I upgraded to Windows 10, while the system worked, none of the driver optimizations worked, so suddenly it was using almsot 3GB of ram, and the battery life fell 60%, not to mention that fan hotfix was no longer supported so it was loud... very loud. Also the hot keys for brightness, volume and so on wouldn't work properly, This was handled by the Vaio control center in win7 but not supported in win10. I now use it with Arch linux, everything works, its super fast, dead silent, hot keys work, temps are cool, with Arch+Cinnamon, it only uses 564mb. So while Yes most laptops that support Linux can run windows, the question is how well windows will run on it. When it comes to linux, there are so many options, where as windows will install that heavy bloated OS regardless of machine. I would personally find a laptop within your budget that you like, then just google linux support for it before you buy it.

You can run it on your PC, there are many ways to go about it, but the simplest would be to set it up in a VM and leave the VM running all the time. The downside to VM is it uses some of your PC resources. Another option is to set it up in docker, this will use less resources than a full virtual machine but might be a more difficult to set it up. Both options, or any option for that matter will require your PC stay on and connected 24/7. The main reason why people don't like setting it up on windows is because you never know when windows 10 update will restart your computer or what it will break. The main difference between OwnCloud/NextCloud and a Cloud storage provider is where the physical files are located and who has access to them. In the case of a provider, you use their hard drives on their machines and you access it; for OwnCloud and NextCloud, you use your Hard Drives on Your machine and you access it through the OwnCloud/NextCloud app. As you said, it's just like a media server, similar to a personal media server and netflix or other such providers.

I used a mix of both for over 8 years back and forth, eventually got frustrated with some of the Distros. For 2 years, I've been mainly on Linux. Specifically vanilla Arch that I got setup just to my liking. I still have a windows partition for Final Fantasy XIV, I can get it to work just fine on Linux but I can't seem to get it to support my PS4 controller within the game. I like playing that game on controller so I still use windows for that but 95% on linux. My main laptop for work is also on Arch, It's an old (7-8 years now) Vaio SA(1st gen). It came with windows 7; while It works on windows 10, the battery life is down by 60%, the fan is super loud on windows 10 and a memory hog since the windows 7 optimization drivers don't work on 10. But on linux it's dead silent, my Install only uses 564mb of ram and the responsiveness is amazing; it really did breath new life into the laptop. I don't usually play the latest triple A titles but was very interested in DMC5 and was surprised how quick it was made compatible with Linux. Honestly at the rate Linux is evolving, if Microsoft doesn't step up their game, they will really be in trouble. I have nothing against windows, Win7 was a good OS, it's just a matter of productivity, security and convenience and for me personally Linux wins in all 3 for my personal usage over windows.

It's a decent DE with a very clean look/feel and everything a beginner would need for basic use but it's too limited/locked down for my liking. my main two machines run Arch+XFCE and Arch+Cinnamon; having distro hopped so many times, Arch is the only distro where I feel like I have control. Even Manjaro and other arch based distros feel stiff imo.