BE CAREFUL friend! Installing Linux on a new unfamiliar laptop machine MAY be a recipe for heartache. NOT ALL hardware is compatible, and DELL in particular. You may find that certain features will not/cannot work. I HIGHLY recommend you use a program like Acronis to backup your entire drive (all partitiions) and boot record JUST IN CASE. Use the LIVE version of whatever OS you choose FIRST and try out everything. USB - both 2 and 3 ports, HDMI, DVD, Wifi, Bluetooth, Audio... EVERYTHING B E F O R E you commit and wipe the drive. --------------snip On 12/22/2014 12:05 AM, joe@actionline.com wrote: > I just bot a Dell Laptop and want to install Linux Mint. > > I guess Mint 17.1 is the latest stable, correct? > > Should I install 32-bit or 64-bit? > > What are the pros and cons? > > Also, since it has win-8.1 out of the box (ugh!) what will be the > safest, surest, quickest way to wipe the HD clean and install Mint? > > How do I access the bios and what change(s) or settings will I need to > make? > > (Sorry I missed the install-fest.) > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss