Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Is it possible to d/l MINT onto a Flash drive to install onto the laptop?
That is the intended purpose. You can grab any flavour of Mint you wish (The MATE version is ridiculously stable and simple, and does not require much in the way of graphics horsepower in order to scream fast) - It will be a .iso file. From Windows, I believe the easiest way to copy that file onto a USB stick and make that stick bootable is using Universal USB Installer, available here: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ This application is extremely straightforward.
Once you've successfully made the USB stick bootable and populated with Mint, you need to boot from that stick, which may involve keeping en eye on your screen during boot: Before your OS loads there should be a message on screen - quite likely just for a few seconds - indicating which key(s) to hit to access alternate boot devices. It might be DEL, F12, F1, F2, etc.
Booting from the USB stick will allow you to use the OS directly from the USB stick without modifying your HDD/ SDD at all - GREAT for testing it out! The installation, available from the desktop you've booted into OR as an option while booting, is pretty much a matter of following along with the defaults, as well as the input of your account name and password. Here is some of their documentation regarding installation: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
If you need a hand at all, PM me or post here or another thread.
Is it possible to d/l MINT onto a Flash drive to install onto the laptop?
That is the intended purpose. You can grab any flavour of Mint you wish (The MATE version is ridiculously stable and simple, and does not require much in the way of graphics horsepower in order to scream fast) - It will be a .iso file. From Windows, I believe the easiest way to copy that file onto a USB stick and make that stick bootable is using Universal USB Installer, available here: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ This application is extremely straightforward.
Once you've successfully made the USB stick bootable and populated with Mint, you need to boot from that stick, which may involve keeping en eye on your screen during boot: Before your OS loads there should be a message on screen - quite likely just for a few seconds - indicating which key(s) to hit to access alternate boot devices. It might be DEL, F12, F1, F2, etc.
Booting from the USB stick will allow you to use the OS directly from the USB stick without modifying your HDD/ SDD at all - GREAT for testing it out! The installation, available from the desktop you've booted into OR as an option while booting, is pretty much a matter of following along with the defaults, as well as the input of your account name and password. Here is some of their documentation regarding installation: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
If you need a hand at all, PM me or post here or another thread.
