VIRTUAL WINDOWS! FURTHER COMPUTER ADVENTURES
My existing system, working well but with some drawbacks
I have one older HP Envy laptop still running Windows 11, in the studio for art work. I have some ancient software that won’t run on Linux, which is now the operating system on my other two laptops. Linux has a feature called Wine which acts as a pl0tform for running Windows programs but in my experience it doesn’t work that well, and my desktop publisher (Serif PagePlus) won’t install at all. This is an essential program for the various things that I do because I have a lot of templates that I regularly use, and it is an absolutely first-class desktop publisher. I have not found anything else half as good. It is intuitive and very user-friendly with lots of features like being able to export as pdf, and editing pdfs too. All the text and pictures are in frames that can be resized and moved around at will.
My main laptop is an HP Z-Book which I bought at the end of last year, with great specs for video editing etc. I had a terrible job trying to install Linux on it and eventually resorted to calling in an expert – a simply delightful local man called Richard who spent literally six hours getting it sorted for me. Apparently HPs are notoriously difficult to set up, especially if they have Nvidia graphics drivers which mine does, but he got there eventually and I have been enjoying using Linux Zorin OS on it for a while now. I also bought two second-hand Lenovo ThinkPads from Ebay, one for myself and one for my hubby, after interminable hours of struggle trying to install Linux on one of his Acer laptops (my cast-off) – on the Zorin forum I had such expert help but in the end we had to admit defeat as it seemed that Acer had made some sort of a deal with Microsoft that only Windows could run on their machines. My ThinkPad is now my office computer and running very well. It doesn’t have very high specs and not a huge amount of storage but it is perfect for the usual office stuff.
I have been able to continue to run Serif PagePlus on the studio laptop. I have disconnected this laptop from the Internet because of the security problems everyone is now experiencing with Windows 11. It is rather inconvenient having to do all the desktop publishing work in the studio, and I really wanted to be able to work on things on the main HP laptop in the comfort of the sitting room.
Virtual machines (VMs)
I have been aware of these since my Linux adventure began, but I was too scared and too ignorant to do anything about it until now. I am still all at sea with the jargon and continually ask Zorin Forum members to speak in kindergarten, non-joined-up language when they are trying to help me!! There is a tendency amongst tech experts, in my opinion, to assume knowledge, and I have to remind them that at this stage I am an ignoramus and need hand-holding and plain English! It’s all very well them saying “do this or that,” but if they don’t tell you exactly HOW to do it, it’s a problem!
Installation
My first attempt at setting up a virtual machine wasn’t terribly successful. It did go in but my choice of platform was probably not the best one. I used Boxes, an app available on Linux Zorin, but was subsequently advised by a forum member that Virtual Machine Manager (Virt-Manager) was better because it had a console where things were much more customisable. I therefore deleted the first attempt completely, and began again with Virt-Manager.
I had downloaded the .iso file (disc image) of Windows 10 from the Microsoft website to install on this virtual platform. I really didn’t want Windows 11, despite the fact that support for Windows 10 ended last autumn. I probably won’t be using the Internet much on it anyway, but as far as I am aware at this stage, I don’t think it will be possible to run it offline while Linux (the host platform) is still online. I may have to disconnect everything from the Internet while working on the VM just to be on the safe side, unless there’s something I absolutely need online access for.
During the setup you decide how much of the computer’s available RAM (memory) and hard disc storage you want for the virtual machine. I have chosen 8 GB RAM and 300 GB of storage, which leaves plenty still available on Linux. If I find the video editing in Linux is compromised, I can probably safely reduce the amount of RAM being used by the virtual Windows. I have yet to discover whether the memory assigned to the virtual machine becomes available on the host machine if the virtual one is turned off, but I suspect it is permanently allocated.
DVD-ROM drive problems
To begin with I was unable to use my external DVD drive to install Serif PagePlus because this was the virtual drive where the .iso for Windows 10 was located. With help from forum members I was able to remove this, and the DVD drive is now running correctly on both platforms and can be used for playing DVDs and also for installing software. Success!
My old Microsoft Office 2003 won’t install because I am informed that a file is missing. Installing this software in the past, I was able to click an “ignore” button and everything went in fine, and it worked perfectly well thereafter, but for some reason I can’t get further with the installation onto the virtual Windows and had to abandon the attempt. I have downloaded Libre Office instead – free, open-source and works on both Linux and Windows. I have yet to set up Writer (the equivalent of Word) to my satisfaction but at least it is on, and running OK.
Resolution issues and other niggles
I have a problem with the screen resolution not matching that of Linux and am waiting for some help with this issue from the forum. Meantime, it is usable. PagePlus is in, and working. I installed DigiArty’s WinX Media Transfer App which is brilliant for transferring photos, videos and music both ways between the computer and phone, but which only works on Windows. When I tried to register my purchased version, it wouldn’t recognise my licence code so I have emailed them for help with this. I seem to remember this happened the last time I reinstalled Windows and they set it right for me, so I am hoping this will happen in the next few days. I shall be able to download my photos with ease onto the virtual Windows and transfer them back to Linux for editing.
You are supposed to be able to copy and paste between the platforms as they share the same clipboard but so far I haven’t got this to work. I have got my external hard drive to be recognised, though, and can transfer it back and forth between the two operating systems but it won’t work on both simultaneously. If I can’t get straightforward copy and paste transfers working, I can just stick the files on the external hard drive and transfer the drive back to Linux where I’ll be able to access them for editing.
So… there are a few remaining niggles but with the help of the wonderful guys on the forum I have no doubt that this new system will be up and running satisfactorily fairly soon.
