got into the BIOS (now THERE'S a learning curve) eventually found the boot order, stuck in the USB, re-started .. and there was Linux.
Glad to hear it.
I assume that I can put the same USB in any other computer, and, after changing the BIOS startup order, of course, run Linux off that USB on that computer, right ?
That's the idea, but in reality it may not work on some computers due to unsupported hardware. Whether or not you're using a 32bit or 64bit version of Linux Mint could also be a factor. A safe answer would be that you can use it on many computers.
What is 'persistence'
When running a live-flashdrive in try-mode, all changes you make to Linux Mint will be erased when you reboot. Please note, changes you make to files stored elsewhere, like on your harddrive, will not be erased. Persistence is a feature you can use to save the changes made to Linux Mint to a file or partition, and then after a reboot, they can be restored. Often people store the persistence file, or persistence partition on the live-flashdrive. The guide you followed offered the ability to have persistence, not sure if you choose to use it or not.
how do I change the 'taskbar' size and icons on the Linus desktop to make them bigger ?
To change the panel size, right-click on the panel, choose "
panel settings", check the box for "
use customized panel size", then drag the slider for the bottom panel height till you get
the size you want.
To resize an icon on the desktop, right-click, and choose "
Resize icon", drag a corner till you get the size you want.
when I do install, it will be firstly, just on my 'play' laptop.
The benefits of having more than one machine
.
What about virus protection ? Do I need any on Linux ?
As on Windows, Linux Mint
(and many Linux distros) uses security updates, and permissions to protect you. For this reason it is often advisable to keep you system up-to-date, and be careful about using elevated permissions. For example, any command that uses "
sudo" in it, is giving root permissions, which is full access.
Whether or not you should install an anti-malware tool all comes down to what kind of stuff you use your system for, and what security measures you personally feel give you the protection your system needs. Personally I use Windows 8 as my default operating system. I run various Linux distros in virtual-machines, but they are discarded quickly, so for me I don't feel a need for anti-malware on Linux. Since your situation differs from mine, you may feel the need to run an anti-malware product.
I will say that it's quite common not to run an anti-malware on Linux. Most of the people who do are usually scanning for Windows malware, not Linux malware, because they don't wish to harbour Windows malware. Windows malware cannot infect a Linux operating system
(the exception being when a user is running WINE, or a similar tool). There are also very few viruses designed for Linux systems.
There are some users here in the Linux section whom use anti-malware, so if you're interested in doing so, perhaps they can tell you which products they like using best.
In Windows, I am a frequent user of CCleaner - run it multiple times daily, as I found it to be one of the best tools. I dowloaded it in Linux, it's sitting in 'downloads' but when I click, nothing happens
CCleaner is a Windows program, it won't run on Linux Mint
(or any Linux distro).
what cleaning tool is appropriate
You can delete cookies, and temporary internet files from within your browser. The default browser on Linux Mint Cinnamon is Mozilla Firefox. To delete cookies and temporary files in Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu-icon that is farthest to the right, choose "
history", click "
clear recent history", in the drop-down menu choose "
Everything", click "
Details", check all the boxes, and click "
Clear Now".
Alternatively you could try
BleachBit, which is not limited to just browser related files. I'd never used it before, but I took it for a spin and it cleaned 200.8MB of space for me, though most of it was from my apt cache which I normally clean myself. Bleachbit is available in the default repos, so you can install it by typing "
sudo apt-get install bleachbit" in your terminal, or you can install it by opening the "
Software Manager"
(it's under the Administrative category in your main menu), searching "
bleachbit", double-clicking on the first result, and then clicking "
install".
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