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Can This USB Stick Resurrect Your Old PC?

Or you could just install linux into the computer.

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Not gonna lie, when I saw the video, I was expecting one of two things:

 

either

1. A video on a USB stick that makes claims that it will repair a broken Windows install automatically, or (related)

2. A USB stick that makes claims that it will somehow make your Windows install faster

 

Neither, was the case, as it turns out. The USB stick was just a Linux Live USB, with possible rescue disk functionality too.

 

Not at all what I was expecting - though, it was still interesting enough content.

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15 hours ago, CodeNova said:

So... what if grandmas PC doesn't support USB booting?

 

USB boot support has been standard (even on OEM's) since the XP days. So, if Grandma is still rocking a Win 9x box? Sure, this won't work.

 

But even lightweight Linux would have a hard time breathing reasonable life into a Win 9x box.

 

Certainly there are going to be scenarios where this type of device isn't going to help, but for the vast majority of situations, it'll at least work (whether it "helps" or not depends on the specifics of each scenario).

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If grandma is happy to cough up like 80 bucks to "resurrect" her slowish PC I would go for

1., proper cleaning and dusting of her rig

2., cheap SSD like 60gig or so with either a slimmed down windows install or a lightweight linux distro

3., depending on grandma's preferences either some RAM upgrade or a basic level graphics card (or both if you can get them cheap enough on ebay)

4., spending some time to properly configure either windows or linux to make her PC as foolproof as possible. 

Obviously this needs a tech-minded grandson who can do it for grandma :D

 

Szabi

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Honestly, you're better off being taught how to install an SSD and then install Linux to it. Superior speeds and much better usefulness from that too, not to mention that it would also be much cheaper. 

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Definitely, the USB stick did no good to the PC.  It pulled it 3 years behind, it made it as slow, if not slower.

And the the framerate on the lubuntu install          .    .

                                                                              ,-----,

                                                                                   

Won’t visit often..

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  • 3 weeks later...

Can it? No, no it can't. Terrible video, terrible product. I expected more of Anthony and Linus to be frank.

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  • 2 months later...

In the end, dump Windows and install Linux on the HDD. Then you'll see the difference. It's still not a silver bullet, nothing can solve the challenges of old hardware. But something like Xubuntu/Lubuntu (or other light weight distro) will show marked improvement in overall experience over Windows. Then the question becomes...is grannie ready for Linux?

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  • 2 months later...

This video got me thinking. How would I go about making a USB stick with my own suite of specific programs? I want to have something that I can personally use as a virus scanning and cleaning stick, but using the custom programs I want on it, having my own desktop image, a portable firefox with my passwords saved on it, maybe even a custom splash screen like they have, etc.

 

How would I go about doing that? The jargon is so confusing, I don't know where to begin. I tried looking into manjaro, but it had like 6 different versions and I couldn't even understand the differences between them. I couldn't tell you the difference between a "live usb", a winpe, or a bootable usb. They all sound like the same thing?

 

I'm basically "grandpa" when it comes to this crap, and I'm lost. I had hoped the guy who made the manjaro boot had a guide here, but no luck!

 

Could it be done with windows or with something that would run windows programs? Something I would do with a windows USB is install "Ultra Virus Killer", ccleaner, revo uninstaller, diskmark, etc. I don't know of the linux equivalent of these software to try that route either!

 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

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On 3/24/2019 at 2:37 PM, Budjet Tech said:

it should take less then an 1 h to make a bootable usb, and manjaro is not good for beginners.

 

On 3/24/2019 at 2:49 PM, GabenJr said:

I'm not sure I agree with Manjaro not being good for beginners based on my experiences with it so far

Cant agree with GabenJr more.  Im a total Linux newb and had Manjaro up and running in less than an hour and installing using sudo commands.  I had support here from the forums from @LukeSavenije and folks alike but I have to say its about as easy as I could have hoped for, for a first Linux experience.

 

 

As for the video - I was given an laptop with an i7 670M, 2gb RAM that had a fresh install of Windows 10 which made it basically unusable on a HDD.  Installed Manjaro and its like the PERFECT PERFECT web browsing, youtubing, emailing OS.  Basically plug and play for that function.  

 

Installing programs takes learning but for basic daily tasks by most of the population its pretty easy...and free.

 

EDIT - I played with it as a Live OS on the USB stick (still super responsive for what it was...and it was a USB 2.0 to micro SD converter with a Manjaro installed on a 32gb Micro SD) once installed it was a hair more responsive.

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On 3/24/2019 at 3:49 PM, GabenJr said:

I'm not sure I agree with Manjaro not being good for beginners based on my experiences with it so far, but the reason why it took so long was because I actually installed it to the USB stick, rather than running a live environment. Just creating a bootable USB would have resulted in losing any changes made to the live environment. You can make one with persistence using Linux Live USB, but that's limited to 4 GB, and furthermore doesn't enable core system updates. The environment Xtra-PC was running was set up the same way I set up Manjaro.

Sadly you guys never did a tutorial on how to do this yourself. I have been looking it up on the internet but it's all confusing jargon and differing methods. I would love to just do what you did. Could you offer some advice on how to go about making the stick that you made with manjaro? How to customize it and such. I really want to make myself one to use to clean computers up for friends and family. Thanks!

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  • 3 months later...
On 9/14/2019 at 1:40 PM, SZ69 said:

Sadly you guys never did a tutorial on how to do this yourself. I have been looking it up on the internet but it's all confusing jargon and differing methods. I would love to just do what you did. Could you offer some advice on how to go about making the stick that you made with manjaro? How to customize it and such. I really want to make myself one to use to clean computers up for friends and family. Thanks!

same here...
,,, never got a real hunch how to make linux work for me ,

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  • 1 year later...

Hey All,

 

Do you have a DYI video on how to make one of these? 

 

Thanks

Jesse

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  • 1 year later...

Do you have a video where you make one of these Linx USBs and install apps like a game (Minecraft) or web browser? 

 

My my intent is two fold. 

 

First, My son's school computer could run Minecraft. The school has locked down the computer so you can't install anything on to it. I would love to be able to allow him to use this with one of these USB Linux sticks

 

2nd, I'd like to be able to run Google documents and my ebay account on anybody's computer without affecting their computer and without having to drag my laptop or PC around. Just simply having the stick in my pocket. If need a n a pinch to for my small business.

 

Thx 👍😊👍

 

 

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16 minutes ago, JesseSK said:

Do you have a video where you make one of these Linx USBs and install apps like a game (Minecraft) or web browser? 

 

My my intent is two fold. 

 

First, My son's school computer could run Minecraft. The school has locked down the computer so you can't install anything on to it. I would love to be able to allow him to use this with one of these USB Linux sticks

Before you have your son do this, you should check with the school IT team or the Student Policy for computer use to ensure this isn't a banned action.

 

I appreciate you wanting to get your son into tech stuff, but you don't want him getting in trouble (or worse, suspended or expelled) because he inadvertently violated a rule.

 

That's assuming the BIOS is even configured to allow boot from a USB drive (it shouldn't, since that would expose the file system to at least some outside access, but lots of schools have bad IT practices so it could be possible).

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