I have decided to try out Linux Mint for the very first time. I am going to go through the steps involved in order to install Linux Mint from USB. Universal serial bus is normally faster than digital video disc. You will need a spare computer and universal serial bus flash drive.
You then need to download Linux Mint from the uniform resource locator web page link above. Currently there are four different variations of Linux Mint 18.3 that you can install.
* Cinnamon
* KDE
* Mate
* Xfce
There are x86 thirty two bit and x64 sixty four bit versions available for download. I choose to install Linux Mint 18.3 Xfce because I have used this window manager before and it is quite lightweight compared to the other three window managers. Once you download the .iso file then you will need to burn it to either digital video disc or flash it to a universal serial bus drive.
You will need a program similar to Rufus or Etcher. I was not able to flash successfully a Linux Mint 18.3 universal serial bus drive with Rufus so I used Etcher instead. Etcher is recommended on Linux Mint's website.
Now once your flash drive is ready, then you can attach it to a universal serial bus port on your computer. Any laptop or desktop computer will work. I would suggest a computer with at least one gigahertz processor, one gigabytes random access memory, and twenty gigabytes of hard drive space.
Also, it is advised to connect your computer to the Internet before starting the installation. You do not have to have Internet connection in order to complete the install. Another tip is that you can test Linux Mint 18.3 on your hardware before installing.
The universal serial bus flash drive boots a demonstration version of Linux Mint 18.3. On this Dell Inspiron model 530 computer I had to make sure that the basic input output system detected the universal serial bus flash drive. Also, I made certain that I enabled Removable Media as a boot choice.
On Dell computers you can press your F2 function key in order to enter the basic input output system and F12 function key in order to enter a boot menu. This boot menu allows you to choose what device to boot from. Your computer might detect this universal serial bus flash drive as a universal serial bus hard drive.
This is normal and you would select this device to boot from. Once you boot off the Linux Mint 18.3 installation media, you will be logged into a desktop. You can then test Linux Mint 18.3.
You will want to double click on an installation icon on the desktop in order to begin the installation. You can accept the default settings, which is probably a good idea if you are new to Linux. You will be asked to choose your language, keyboard type and city location.
Then you will be asked to choose your type of installation. I suggest that you choose the top one which is choosen by default. All of the partition settings will be chosen for you.
You do not need to know how to partition using Gparted in order to get Linux Mint operating system installed and working. However, you can choose to encrypt your hard drive, configure Logical Volume Management and even choose a custom install. I have been using different Linux distributions for over twenty one years now and I rarely mess with partitioning, logical volume management, encryption, and custom installations.
Finally, you will be asked to enter in a name, username, password, verify password, and computer name. You do not need to enter in a name. You must enter in a username, password, and computer name I think.
You can change your password later or even leave it blank. You can also choose to have Linux Mint 18.3 operating system automatically login each time. You can change this later.
Linux Mint version 18.3 operating system will download some updates from the Internet if you connected your computer to an Interne connection. If not it will begin to load files from the media you created. It took around ten minutes to install Linux Mint from universal serial bus on this dual core Dell model number 530 Inspiron computer with four gigabytes of random access memory.
Once Linux Mint 18.3 installation is finished it will warn you to remove your installation media. You will want to remove your installation media for example digital video disc, universal serial bus flash drive, etcetera and then hit enter key. Now Linux Mint 18.3 will boot for the very first time.
Depending on how you decided to enter your desktop, you will either see your desktop or have to login with your username and password. Now that you are finished with your installation you deserve to enjoy a mint, a Linux Mint. These instructions and tips were written for Linux Mint operating system version 18.3 on a Dell Inspirion model 530 desktop computer system.