Before I dualboot Kubuntu or any other Linux distro

[freedom4life]

Hi
I have a windows computer and I have had reality hit me in the face when Windows requested to input the Bitlocker key which is I did not disable nor do I have a Microsoft ID. I have since booted Windows and now I am taking a more careful or measured approach

My questions:

1. What exactly do I need to do other than disabling Bitlocker, disabling fast startup and disabling Secure Boot so I do not have issues dual booting Linux?
2. Given that I disabled Bitlocker, and the device is unencrypted, is it best to encrypt/password protect the drives or the files in the desktop server?
3. Do cloud servers like Nextcloud support ext4? Would servers like those be effective for backing up files in a device?
4. Any tips to beef up the security of Kubuntu?
5. Does Linux support HP Laserjet MFP M227fdw?

[kc1di]

Hello freedom4life, Welcome to the Kubuntu forum.

Best way to tell what works and what does not on your machine is to try the live session for a bit. That will give a good indication of your hardware compatibility.

To answer some of your questions.
1. That should do it for getting Kubuntu working correctly. usually the grub boot loader will find your Windows partition and allow you to boot from there.
2. I don't think there is really a need to encrypt you Hdd's but that is entirely up to you.
3. I use mega here and it works fine with Linux Not sure about Nextcloud never have used it.
4. This page may be of help in understanding Security on Linux https://www.techradar.com/news/softw...-system-915651
5. Most Hp printers are supported I'm not sure about that particular one. But from what I've read about it, Seems it will print fine but may not allow scanning without further driver support.

Others may have more info. But wishing all the best in getting it going.

[claydoh]

Do cloud servers like Nextcloud support ext4? Would servers like those be effective for backing up files in a device?

Nexctoud, and most sync tools don't care what file system you have (not counting Dropbox). This isn't a backup tool, anyway, but I have been running the server on my NAS as a self-hosted Dropbox replacement for a few months now, though it has many more features than syncing. It works fine on my Linux and Android/ChromeOS devices.

[Kumann]

You can use Bitdefender for security on linux servers
https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/

[freedom4life]

Hello freedom4life, Welcome to the Kubuntu forum.

Best way to tell what works and what does not on your machine is to try the live session for a bit. That will give a good indication of your hardware compatibility.

To answer some of your questions.
1. That should do it for getting Kubuntu working correctly. usually the grub boot loader will find your Windows partition and allow you to boot from there.
2. I don't think there is really a need to encrypt you Hdd's but that is entirely up to you.
3. I use mega here and it works fine with Linux Not sure about Nextcloud never have used it.
4. This page may be of help in understanding Security on Linux https://www.techradar.com/news/softw...-system-915651
5. Most Hp printers are supported I'm not sure about that particular one. But from what I've read about it, Seems it will print fine but may not allow scanning without further driver support.

Others may have more info. But wishing all the best in getting it going.

#1, I figured that I have to ply my hands on Disk management before doing anything
#2, I'm even thinking this as well. Not sure whether to do so. Now I was thinking about it, Internet browser traffic is probably the most critical other than files, photos and videos. Since anyone can just eject the laptop drive and use it, don't want people to be viewing my Internet traffic. So in that regards, what is best to maybe safeguard against that?
#3, Was thinking about Mega.Nz for cloud backup
I'll have a look
#5, I figured out the printer. I was able to connect a printer on Zorin with a VM

[claydoh]

don't want people to be viewing my Internet traffic. So in that regards, what is best to maybe safeguard against that?

You do the same exact things you do in any OS -- use a VPN, etc, quite likely with the same tools, even.

[freedom4life]

You do the same exact things you do in any OS -- use a VPN, etc, quite likely with the same tools, even.

Not understanding my point. I use a VPN. But I am saying if a drive in unencrypted, that means someone could steal the computer and access the HDD drive even with password protection. Given there is access to my computer, one can go on my Internet browsers and search my browsing history, or bookmarks or whatever.

[claydoh]

Then....choose to encrypt the OS when installing??

You only need to disable bitlocker so that you can safely re-partiton the Windows drive, if you are installing Linux to the same drive.
You choose the encryption option when installing Linux. This has zero effect on the Windows partition.
You re-enable Bitlocker in Windows when you are finished. This has no effect on the Linux partition.

Also, you do not need to disable secure boot. It usually is just a little bit easier/simpler to do so.
Some systems may have hardware/drivers tied to it, though this is not common, it is common enough to be aware of.
Disabling fast-startup in Windows is usually needed, and a good idea to do ahead of time.

[freedom4life]

Then....choose to encrypt the OS when installing??

You only need to disable bitlocker so that you can safely re-partiton the Windows drive, if you are installing Linux to the same drive.
You choose the encryption option when installing Linux. This has zero effect on the Windows partition.
You re-enable Bitlocker in Windows when you are finished. This has no effect on the Linux partition.

Also, you do not need to disable secure boot. It usually is just a little bit easier/simpler to do so.
Some systems may have hardware/drivers tied to it, though this is not common, it is common enough to be aware of.
Disabling fast-startup in Windows is usually needed, and a good idea to do ahead of time.

Okay. So basically disk management. And then once something is dual booted, one could entertain encrypting Windows partition and Linux partition...
Again I am not sure whether it is best to encrypt the drives but I need options to entertain and weigh up

[claydoh]

it will be more complex (ie harder) for a new user to encrypt a Linux installation post-install than it is to do it when installing the OS. There will be no GUI at all for this, 100% command line, and while not booted to that OS.
One can also just encrypt the user's $HOME instead of the whole OS, but this is still a fully manual process, and I think this is less favored these days.

When installing *buntu, it will be a checkbox and a password for full OS encryption

In any case, the choice is yours. If you are afraid of people physically stealing your drive and viewing your pr0n, err... browser history, crypto wallets, and company data, then encrypting is the only way to go, whether it is bitlocker or whatever method a Linux distro uses. The OS is sort of irrelevant. The actions and practices one takes and uses are the same.

[freedom4life]

it will be more complex (ie harder) for a new user to encrypt a Linux installation post-install than it is to do it when installing the OS. There will be no GUI at all for this, 100% command line, and while not booted to that OS.
One can also just encrypt the user's $HOME instead of the whole OS, but this is still a fully manual process, and I think this is less favored these days.

When installing *buntu, it will be a checkbox and a password for full OS encryption

In any case, the choice is yours. If you are afraid of people physically stealing your drive and viewing your pr0n, err... browser history, crypto wallets, and company data, then encrypting is the only way to go, whether it is bitlocker or whatever method a Linux distro uses. The OS is sort of irrelevant. The actions and practices one takes and uses are the same.

Something to mull about. I could just create a rule to delete all cache, cookies and browsing activity after every day or week but yeah something to mull over. Thank you by the way. Kubuntu competes with Zorin, Mint, MX Linux, and Ubuntu MATE for which to dual boot.

[claydoh]

Kubuntu competes with Zorin, Mint, MX Linux, and Ubuntu MATE for which to dual boot.

In terms of actual OS, your choices are Ubuntu, Ubuntu, Ubuntu, Debian, and Ubuntu.
Not 100%, but maybe 95%. Just different UIs on top of nearly identical operating systems, so other than desktop settings and different default applications, there won't be a ton different to learn between them.

I could just create a rule to delete all cache, cookies and browsing activity

Being Linux, you can script just about *everything*, but if you look around, there are 'cleaner' utilities that do just that, outside of your browser's built in settings and extensions. Nothing special or specific to any distro for that, so that carries over to whatever OS you are running (including Windows).

[Schwarzer Kater]

Encryption aside…

[…]Kubuntu competes with Zorin, Mint, MX Linux, and Ubuntu MATE for which to dual boot.

As claydoh already stated: the only exception here is MX Linux which is currently based on Debian 11 "stable" with lots of addtional tools and the possibility to use recent kernels and Xfce 4.18.
The rest is roughly Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (and can also be 22.10 for Kubuntu and Ubuntu MATE) with different GUIs, programs and tools, another exception here being ZorinOS which is currently based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and could be the least ideal of the bunch for newer hardware.

Try them all one by one for some time in a virtual machine and perform your everyday tasks to find out which GUI fits your needs best (I could use all of them more or less happily if I had to - except MATE… And for a first Linux experience I would choose an Ubuntu LTS or Debian "stable" based release for less "upgrade hassle", not the Ubuntu interim releases).
And/or try them in a live environment from an USB stick to test the compatibility with your hardware.

[freedom4life]

Encryption aside…


As claydoh already stated: the only exception here is MX Linux which is currently based on Debian 11 "stable" with lots of addtional tools and the possibility to use recent kernels and Xfce 4.18.
The rest is roughly Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (and can also be 22.10 for Kubuntu and Ubuntu MATE) with different GUIs, programs and tools, another exception here being ZorinOS which is currently based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and could be the least ideal of the bunch for newer hardware.

Try them all one by one for some time in a virtual machine and perform your everyday tasks to find out which GUI fits your needs best (I could use all of them more or less happily if I had to - except MATE… And for a first Linux experience I would choose an Ubuntu LTS or Debian "stable" based release for less "upgrade hassle", not the Ubuntu interim releases).
And/or try them in a live environment from an USB stick to test the compatibility with your hardware.

I'm taking a very measured approach. I have certain criteria to decide which one is best for me. Of course I will prefer more stable builds because it gives me an idea of what works and what doesn't. Anything on developer mode has a lot of chopping and changing and calibrating. Also, I am just limiting the distros to beginner, user friendly and looks more like Windows hence why I chose those 5 to test. Otherwise, just going to test the ability to use Terminal, and just being able to replicate some activities I do on Windows 10. Right now as I use the Virtual Box, I am having trouble using webcam irrespective of Distro so I am reaching out on their forum.

I am also in my consideration paying attention to how responsive the forums are (including this one) and engage in multiple chats to have a sense of the most common issues that people have that is on the distro, rather than the computer specs

[Snowhog]

Right now as I use the Virtual Box, I am having trouble using webcam

Maybe see https://www.net-usb.com/virtual-usb/...x-passthrough/