No need to wipe the drive, just install from scratch over your existing version. The installer will reformat the drive so essentially anything currently on the drive will be lost forever.

Obviously backup anything you want to save.

I would check the drive's SMART data to see how many hours it has accumulated and to see if there are any errors or reallocated sectors etc. I would think about replacing the drive.

1 members found this post helpful.

Wow! Now we're getting technical. How do I check the SMART data? Is that on the HDD? Sure, I can run an analysis.

As I was scanning the numbers on the terminal, I noticed one or two 32 bit items pop up, but it was going so fast I couldn't identify the part. It may have been in reference to the OS.

I did look at an SSE drive, 500 GB $69.00 plus installation.

As long as I'm cleaning things up, I may as well check the HDD. Thanks.

Tommi

S.M.A.R.T - Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology is a built in tool that tests the health and is supposed to help predict the possible failure of the drive.

Check out the ArchWiki

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/S.M.A.R.T.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

Should I change the SWAP size after adding RAM?

It all depends what programs you run and if you hibernate the computer etc.

If you allow the installer to automatically partition the hard drive then the defaults are fine.

1 members found this post helpful.

Okay, I'll let the Linux install take charge.

About the SMART diagnosis - I could not find a command that triggered an analysis. I've had programs that did this function in the past, but don't recall which one.

smartctl as shown in the archwiki link I posted. I thought it was installed NY default in Mint. You do need to use sudo to rum the command.

1 members found this post helpful.

Michael,

I'm not savvy enough with the use of the terminal to perform this operation. I'll mess things up. I'll have to have a tech at the shop run a test, or simply replace the HDD when it fails. I back up data anyway, so big deal.

Thank you so very much for your help and patience. It appears I won't have to buy a new computer right away, so that's great.

Thanks, everyone.
Tommi Jordon

1 members found this post helpful.

GNOME-Disk-Utility can run SMART tests in a GUI environment, and in spite of the name does not require GNOME to run. It's included by default on Ubuntu (and is just called 'Disks' within GNOME), so I'd imagine it would be available in Mint as well. Select the '3 dots menu' on the upper right hand and choose 'SMART Data & Tests' and you're off to the races.

I'd also probably consider swapping the CPU out for a quad core - 2nd gen chips should be fairly cheap these days (something like an i5-2500 or even an i7-2600 would be a significant upgrade from the dual core i3).

Finally, it would be normal/expected to see mentions of 32-bit/x86 libraries or software on a multilib system - you can confirm the installation as 64-bit (or not) with uname:

Run a thorough test on the first HDD:
Wait the reported length of time for the operation to complete, then examine the results:
You'll get a mass of data that you'll want explained, so do this to upload it for us to look at:
Paste here the resulting URL.

tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo # smartctl -t long /dev/sda
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user] [-u user]
[command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHknPS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AknS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] file ...
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo # smartctl -x /dev/sda less
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user] [-u user]
[command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHknPS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AknS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] file ...
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo # smartctl -x /dev/sda pastebinit^C

This did not process after the long wait, so I'll attempt to rerun it.

Tommi

Your commands as you have pasted them are not correct and sudo is telling you the syntax you must use.

I have hilighted the offending "#" in the examples above, these should not be there. In addition, there is no pipe symbol, "|" preceeding pastebint in the last form and there should be. Remove the "#" frrom the first one and try again.

Whats with the added # in the above command. That is the cause of your all your problems. Remove it...

The terminal prompt outputs # or $ to differentiate between being root or as a regular user. However, using sudo your never going to login as root.

Always to late...

tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo smartctl -t long /dev/sda
[sudo] password for tomgirl:
sudo: smartctl: command not found
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo # smartctl -t long /dev/sda
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user] [-u user]
[command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHknPS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AknS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] file ...
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo run
[sudo] password for tomgirl:
sudo: run: command not found
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ run
No command 'run' found, did you mean:
Command 'runq' from package 'exim4-daemon-light' (main)
Command 'runq' from package 'exim4-daemon-heavy' (main)
Command 'runq' from package 'sendmail-bin' (universe)
Command 'rup' from package 'rstat-client' (universe)
Command 'rn' from package 'trn' (multiverse)
Command 'rn' from package 'trn4' (multiverse)
Command 'grun' from package 'grun' (universe)
Command 'qrun' from package 'torque-client' (universe)
Command 'qrun' from package 'torque-client-x11' (universe)
Command 'runc' from package 'runc' (universe)
Command 'zrun' from package 'moreutils' (universe)
Command 'srun' from package 'slurm-client' (universe)
run: command not found
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo smartctl -x /dev/sda less
sudo: smartctl: command not found
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo # smartctl -x /dev/sda less
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user] [-u user]
[command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHknPS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AknS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] file ...
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $ sudo # smartctl -x /dev/sda pastebinit
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-AknS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user] [-u user]
[command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHknPS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AknS] [-r role] [-t type] [-C num] [-g group] [-h host] [-p
prompt] [-u user] file ...
tomgirl@tomgirl-OptiPlex-790 ~ $

This is the result after a second pass. I am confused about what to do after entering this: "sudo smartctl -t long /dev/sda" Do I need to enter run, process, anything? I did wait in excess of 74 minutes for this result.

Tommi