this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2024
566 points (98.1% liked)

Technology

59357 readers
4386 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
  • A new patch is being quietly pushed to Windows 10 (and 11) PCs
  • It’ll force upgrades in certain circumstances to keep the PC in support
  • This update will mean more nag prompts coming to your PC
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] funkajunk@lemm.ee 33 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Pretty much all modern Linux installers offer to wipe the existing drive and overwrite. Just prepare a USB drive and boot from it, then follow the steps in the wizard.

Create bootable media - Linux Mint

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Always remember to disable secureboot and remove bitlocker before installing linux on a oem windows machine. They make it hell to remove that malware from newer machines.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Bitlocker doesn't mean anything when you delete its partition.

I would recommend keeping secure boot enabled if your OS supports it, and manually enrolling the key if it doesn't. Boot chain attacks are a real concern.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Some linux installers will refuse to erase the bitlocker partition automatically. Then you have to manually erase it before running the installer.

[–] Screen_Shatter@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I get that, and this is likely what I will do for my existing PCs. The reason I ask is three fold: 1) To save time. I don’t have a ton of spare time, so I would rather spend it gaming than messing around with wiping drives and installing stuff. 2) To encourage my friends to switch over, many of whom are less likely to spend time and effort than I am. 3) This is less important, but wouldn’t I be paying for a windows license I won’t even use? Not a fan of wasting the money, not a fan of paying Microsoft for a service I’m actively fighting to get away from.

Nonetheless, thanks, I will try to find some time to fiddle with installing on an older machine I have and see how that goes.

[–] funkajunk@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago
  1. The actual time needed to wipe out Windows and install is under 30 minutes.
  2. See above.
  3. Prebuilt machines use OEM keys, which are $10-$20 at best - whoever you buy the system from is definitely getting a volume discount. In my opinion, a small sacrifice to be free of M$.