Base Camp Journal
(09/20/25)
Ok, the journal this month is covering an operation I'll talk about in a podcast episode next month...
To cut to the chase, Windows 10 will reach 'End of Service' on Oct. 14th, but my 7-yr-old Dell laptop (the big one I can't take bikepacking) is working just fine, and I'm saving the Windows 11 laptop exclusively for bike travel. I'm not going through the hassle of upgrading the Dell or installing a different OS, but I decided to use the Linux OS Zorin, said to be one of the latest 'Windows replacement' distros, just for browsing online.
The podcast episode, No. 47, will summarize the project - The Zorin Caper - but I'll go over the messy details here...
To run Zorin on the Dell, I'll install it on a bootable USB thumb drive and use the Dual Boot method to switch to it when I want to go online. So, first thing is to get two thumb drives - a 4-8GB thumb drive to be the installer, and a 64GB drive to hold the Linux OS. I wanted to use Zorin Lite, but it's gonna be phased out in the near future, so I'm using Zorin Core. The other software needed is a free Windows utility app called Rufus, used to create a bootable USB Flash Drive with the Zorin ISO.
A couple days ago I went to the Best Buy and got a SanDisk 64GB 3.0 Flash Drive, but the smallest thumb drive available was 32GB, including the sometimes sketchy PNY drives, so I got that SanDisk as well...
Before doing anything else, I checked out videos on creating the installer, the installlation process, and what the Zorin OS looks and acts like, then I downloaded the Rufus app and setup the installer USB.
I had the current show to work on, then after putting it out I downloaded the Zorin ISO file and burned it on the installer...
The Zorin Core OS, the free version for basic use. I chose it over the other contender, Linux Mint, for esthetic reasons. I'm still watching 'overview' videos on it before I take the next step in the process. And yeah, I went to ChatGPT and had it whip up a step-by-step installation guide...
Zorin Core apparently has apps like Firefox and Libre Office on it, but just in case I need Windows apps that don't work on Linux, I'm adding Wine, an emulator that lets me run them in Zorin...
So that's what I'm doing this weekend - chilling, watching my weekend animes (the Summer shows are winding down and the Fall shows will start up in a couple weeks), doing more research, and trying not to raise my blood pressure over the latest fascist moves of the thin-skinned dictator...
(09/21/25)
Ok, the Autumn Equinox is here...
I'm beginning another intensive weeklong blood sugar check to measure my levels, hoping to get a better result than the 7.0 I got from last time...
On the Zorin front, I'm taking note of what apps I use when curating songs, downloading media, and doing research online, to see which ones I might need the Wine emulator for. Thankfully, I'm told that my text, image and MP3 files are accessible in either OS, so I don't have to make transfer copies, but I'll work that out after I do the install and test the system. Right now, I have three weeks to get it going before my current system is more vulnerable to security exploits, which just might be enough time to feel comfortable...
One additional step I have to take may make this whole caper moot...
In the late morning I went to get a few groceries, and when I returned I opened up the Dell I left on standby and was shocked to see the screen displaying a sickening shade of pink. I checked the graphics controls, restarted it, and finally checked the screen itself, found a plastic corner was slightly ajar, popped it back into place and the screen went back to normal. I shut it down, closed and re-opened the lid, booted up again and it looked fine.
I'm well aware that this is how my previous Windows 7 laptop went bad, and I might have no choice but to use the Windows 11 PC full time after all, and I haven't gotten a single flicker since, but the Dell has all my files and folders while the Win11 only has a few backed up copies. So, I'll need to practically clone my stuff to the Win11 PC just in case...
One of the easiest ways to transfer files from laptop to laptop is via an Ethernet cable. Luckily, I have a Cat 5 patch cable that's only a few years old. Before I take another Zorin step I'm gonna spend a couple days moving the important stuff over - I need to be able to produce my show in Zorin AND Win11 by the Win10 EOS...
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