Windows 10 Decisions and the Ancestry You Keep There

Maybe you’re like me—someone with two aging computers. One is a desktop that originally ran Windows 8 but received the upgrade to Windows 10. Now, it just doesn’t cut the computer grade, and as of October 14, 2025, it’s officially unsupported.

My laptop started as Windows 10 and upgraded to Windows 11. But its days are numbered too. The biggest issue? I only have 32GB left on a 960GB hard drive. That means I can’t install the October update until I free up space.

Are these computers salvageable? You bet. And I hope I won’t bore my blog readers too much as I walk through the options. (By the way, I recently learned what “blog” stands for: Boring + Log = Blog. I’ll try to keep you from snoozing.) Seriously, this is so important as the family genealogist I have to share. Let’s start with my old windows computer.

New or Linux

For my Windows 10 setup, I have two options: new or Linux. My husband wants new, but the tech—or Nancy Dru—in me wants to solve this puzzle and in the process learn something new. I need to at my age for good brain health. 🙂 There’s nothing wrong with the desktop itself; the real issue is that the Windows operating system is no longer supported, and that’s a serious threat to its security and usability.

My other option is Linux, an open-source operating system that my tech friends swear by. Believe it or not, it’s less prone to viruses—and best of all, it’s free! I’ve been picking my tech friends’ brains about Linux, watching videos, and Googling like crazy. The more I know, the smoother my installation will be, and hopefully for my readers too!

Either way, I need a solid plan for everything I’ve stored and want to keep—which I’ll share a little later in the post. One last note on Linux and security. Just because it is less prone to viruses, that doesn’t mean they don’t get any. There are free open-sourced options like ClamAV and some others. I plan to use ClamAV

Now it’s learning time or should I say getting familiar with Linux Lingo.

Linux Lingo

For me, the best way to learn something new, especially techy stuff like computers or my blog, is to head to YouTube and search for exactly what I need, taught by just the right kind of person. I like it basic, not overly complicated, so I can build on that knowledge one video at a time.

I want to understand the essentials before I dive into installation. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

Distribution is a Linux operating system built on the kernel, and it comes in different “flavors” for different people. If you want the comfort of a Windows‑style look and feel, options include Linux Mint Cinnamon or Zorin. Ubuntu is also good if you want a modern, clutter‑free look. I even watched a video showing how to move the left‑side dock to the bottom to look more like Windows, and how to resize the icons. That flexibility is nice because you can style it to your comfort.

You can dial it in further depending on how the computer will mainly be used. For me, my focus might be a Windows‑style look but with creative software for blogging, making videos, and editing photos. All Linux distributions come with basic writing tools, media playback, and simple photo editing. If the software you want doesn’t come with the distribution, you can usually find free or paid options in the Software Manager or Apps. Each distribution might call it something different. Linux Mint calls it Software Manager, Ubuntu calls it Apps. Whatever the name, it’s the same idea as the Windows App Store: a place to find what you need, with both free and paid choices.

Browsers: On most distributions (distros), Firefox is the default browser, but you can add others like Brave, Chrome, Chromium, or Edge. I might add Edge because I already have a profile and passwords synced, plus easy access to Microsoft 365 with OneDrive. I’ll also add Chrome for my blogging tests.

As for your preference, it’s whatever makes you comfortable. If you want Edge, you won’t find it in the distribution’s app store, but you can download it from Microsoft’s official site. Scroll down to the Linux section. I plan to start with Firefox and see if I really need Edge.

Before switching to Linux, I plan to export my passwords from Edge. Besides Edge, I also keep my passwords safe in a protected app on my phone. One thing I know is, if you want browser privacy, Firefox is good because it’s open‑source. I look forward to seeing if I get fewer ads.

I’m sure there’s more Linux lingo to learn, but to keep this as basic as possible the last lingo words I want to touch on are Terminal, Sudo, and Apt. For new users, you very rarely need to use the terminal with sudo and apt. My analogy is that it’s sort of like Windows Command Prompt, which I honestly don’t use very often. I had to recently when my laptop wasn’t downloading a Windows update even after I created space on my hard drive. So Terminal, Sudo, and Apt are tools you might use when something isn’t available in the app center.

The Terminal is a place where you type instructions (commands) directly to the operating system.

Some commands require administrator powers. To run those, you type sudo before the command. sudo is short for “superuser do” — it tells Linux, “Run this command with administrator privileges.” When you use sudo, Ubuntu will ask for your password first.

Another new word for me was APT, which stands for Advanced Package Tool. It’s the system Ubuntu uses to install and update software. There’s more to it than I fully understand yet, but it’s good to know the term since you might need it when the app center doesn’t have what you’re looking for.

Once I had a handle on the Linux lingo, I wanted to make sure my computer could actually run my chosen distro, which is Ubuntu.

System Requirements

Each distribution can have different minimum requirements. Looking at Linux Ubuntu and checking mine, this is what I found out. (For me to check, I clicked Windows and the Pause/Break key at the same time, and for resolution, I went to the desktop, right-clicked, and clicked Display.)

Ubuntu Requirements vs. My System

RAM: Ubuntu needs 2 GB (4 GB recommended); mine has 16 GB DDR3 — plenty.

Processor: Needs a 2 GHz dual‑core 64‑bit processor; mine is Intel Core i7‑4790 @ 3.60GHz — fast and capable.

Graphics: Needs VGA capable of 1024×768 resolution; mine is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (3 GB) — excellent for media and blogging.

Storage: Ubuntu needs 25 GB minimum; I have 932 GB total, with 752 GB free — more than enough, but I should have a good plan for backup.

Resolution: Needs 1024×768; mine is 1680×1050 — crisp and well above the minimum.

This old desktop is actually quite fast, and it could be when we initially purchased this family computer it was built with gaming in mind. I can remember the kids fighting over who got to play on it first and for how long. Now we are empty nesters, and this computer sees grandkid use, but even that not so much as it is slow by gaming standards.

Troubleshooting the Bloat

Remember I said my laptop was bloated, where at one time I looked and it said I had 6 GB free! At the time I saw this, my laptop was slower than molasses. If I wasn’t really able to do anything, what was going on? Before this, I knew when my laptop decided to do a Windows update, as all of a sudden there was a complete halt to what I was working on. What happened to the little indicator usually where you power off that shows there are updates?

For some reason, my external hard drive took about two weeks to arrive, and so in the meantime I started working on my laptop, as I just couldn’t do anything and it wouldn’t do the October Windows update in its bloated state.

My first thing I tried to do was to back up my whole laptop on OneDrive. I didn’t realize until too late that it also pulled from the desktop, as they were synced. I noticed things that I never use on the old desktop — from my grandson — were now on my laptop desktop. I stopped the desktop syncing, as I don’t need to sync all those files and settings to my laptop. I think this could be partly the problem with why my laptop was bloated.

Once I finally got the complete backup of my entire laptop to the cloud and everything was done syncing, I shut off backup. To create space so I could do the October Windows update, I put all the documents in the cloud. I went from 6 GB free to 180 GB free!

Then I tried and tried to do the updates, and I made sure my laptop would not turn off, as this was taking a long time. I mean long — I would go to bed and get up to find it still not finished, and finally it gave me an error.

I googled why I was receiving the error, and what I found out was that I had some corrupt files and needed to use the command prompt, which is entering basic instructions for the operating system to do. For this, I asked Bluebee or Edge Copilot (AI) for help. This saved time instead of me researching more on the internet, as I was getting quite frustrated with my laptop. I needed to be in the command prompt with administrative permissions, and this is the sequence to clear my corrupt files:

My Steps in the Command Prompt sfc /scannow — This took about 15–30 minutes to complete. Some files were repaired but not all, so I had to go to steps 2, 3, and 4.

DISM /Online /Cleanup‑Image /CheckHealth — This took under a minute.

DISM /Online /Cleanup‑Image /ScanHealth — This can take about 10–15 minutes.

DISM /Online /Cleanup‑Image /RestoreHealth — This could take 15–30 minutes. This is the actual repair step.

Once I did the repairs one at a time, I rebooted and did another scannow. It came back as a clean state. I did another reboot and ran the update, and it was successful.

I mention this as a good example of having to dive into the backend of the computer, which I have to say resembles the Terminal/Bash on Ubuntu. I am clearly not all‑knowledgeable on how to clean corrupt files, but like anything, using the internet or AI for help made my tasks easier. If I hadn’t done this, I probably would have ended up taking it to a computer repair shop or asking my friend and fellow FamilySearch consultant for help.

My First Ubuntu Test: My Grandson’s Computer

Since starting this post, I have been working on three computers. I forgot to mention that I saw my son had my grandson’s old computer by their door to throw out — another one that bit the dust for updates — and I thought it would be a great way to practice Ubuntu installs. Well, you can say that all three computers were waiting for the 5TB external hard drive.

I already had the Ubuntu install USB created, and all I can say is: follow the recommendations for the writer. In this instance, I followed a suggestion to use Rufus instead of BalenaEtcher, and I could not get Rufus to be recognized. Plus, I had to contact Evan’s other grandpa, who built the computer, because he had the BIOS password. Not to get too complicated, but I also had to change the boot order so the computer would see the USB first. See — I am truly learning.

The reason I stopped the install on my grandson’s computer was that I discovered my daughter‑in‑law hadn’t backed up everything. She came over and backed up what she knew about, and then I found more hidden files — videos from when she was a baby. She didn’t even realize she still had them.

This computer actually has two drives, and if I select the correct drive to be erased (Windows C, D, and E), then the completely separate drive F will not be touched. But since she is also her family’s genealogist, I wanted to make sure I copied everything from F just in case. My grandson’s computer was my guinea pig — the first one to go to Ubuntu — because it was supposed to be thrown away. It was my practice run so I would have the process down pat for my real computer.

While I was waiting, I created my little computer kingdom: an old antique table for the back‑to‑back workstation, another table for the two CPUs, and a small table for my laptop, router, and mesh network. I’m hoping my grandson’s computer will be super‑fast and less bloated so he can run his Steam games. I guess you can say I am repurposing and reusing for the environment. 🙂

So with the holidays, waiting for the drive, and waiting for my daughter‑in‑law to come back, I kept putting the installation off until I felt ready again. She never did come back, but that was okay — I took matters into my own hands. I had my 5TB drive and backed up everything from the F drive myself, just in case I made a mistake during the Ubuntu installation.

A Good Plan = Good Ubuntu Install

Before I download Ubuntu for my two old desktops, I need a solid action plan — and working on my grandson’s computer taught me exactly why. Taking matters into my own hands and backing up his files helped me realize that this ties directly into the bloat problem on my laptop that I mentioned earlier. The backup step lets me kill two birds with one stone: finally cleaning up my laptop and making sure every important file is safely preserved. For me, that means anything tied to family memories and all the documents that support my genealogy research. Getting this part right is the most important step before installing Ubuntu.

I don’t know what kind of condition your files are in, but mine are still a mess — mostly because I’ve only finished cleaning up Evan’s computer so far. My own files still need a lot of sorting. Cleaning up my grandson’s computer was tedious, so I worked on it a couple of hours a day. When I copied my daughter‑in‑law’s files to the external hard drive, I created a simple, easy‑to‑follow folder structure, and I plan to use something similar for my other two computers as well. The structure looked like this:

Main Folder

  • DIL_Backup_2026

Inside That Folder

  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Documents
  • Music
  • Misc

Once you have everything backed up, you’re ready to proceed with installing Ubuntu or any Linux distribution. To begin, I inserted my Ubuntu‑created thumb drive and restarted the computer. When it powered on, I tapped F12 to open the boot menu (your key may be F2, F10, ESC, or DEL depending on your system) and selected the USB drive so Ubuntu could load. It automatically brought me to the screen where I could either try Ubuntu or start the installation. I chose to try it again since it had been several months since my first trial. Once I felt confident, I clicked the button to begin the installation.

Before you install, it’s important to know how many physical drives your computer actually has. Many people assume C:, D:, and E: are separate drives, but they’re often just partitions on one disk. Checking this ahead of time prevents accidentally erasing the wrong drive. I checked mine first, and it’s a good thing I did. Here is a checklist so you can do the same.

Print Checklist
Drive Identification Checklist (Before Installing Ubuntu)

Use this to know exactly which drive is safe to erase.

1. Open Windows Disk Management

This tool shows the real hardware — not just C:, D:, and E:.

  • ☐ Right‑click the Start button
  • ☐ Select Disk Management
  • ☐ Wait for the window to load

What you’ll see:

  • “Disk 0,” “Disk 1,” “Disk 2” → these are physical drives
  • Under each disk you’ll see partitions (C:, D:, Recovery, etc.)
2. Identify How Many Physical Drives You Have

Look at the labels on the left:

  • ☐ Count how many Disk # entries you see

Example: Disk 0 Disk 1 (Two disks = two physical drives)

Tip: If you only see Disk 0, you have one physical drive even if you see C:, D:, E:.

3. Write Down Each Drive’s Size

This is the easiest way to match Windows to Ubuntu later.

For each Disk:

  • ☐ Note the total size (500 GB, 931 GB, 2 TB, etc.)
  • ☐ Note whether it has multiple partitions

Example:

  • Disk 0 → 500 GB → Windows + Recovery
  • Disk 1 → 931 GB → Storage drive
4. Identify the Windows Drive

Open the partitions under Disk 0 and look for:

  • ☐ Windows folder
  • ☐ Program Files
  • ☐ Users

This is the drive Ubuntu will erase.

Write it down:

  • ☐ Windows drive = Disk ___ (size: ___ GB)
5. Identify Drives You MUST NOT Erase

These are storage‑only drives that contain files you want to keep.

For each additional disk:

  • ☐ Open the partitions
  • ☐ Confirm they contain files you want to keep
  • ☐ Mark them as DO NOT ERASE

Write them down:

  • ☐ Storage drive = Disk ___ (size: ___ GB)
  • ☐ Backup drive = Disk ___ (size: ___ GB)
6. Match Windows Drives to Ubuntu Names

Ubuntu will show drives as:

  • sda
  • sdb
  • sdc
  • nvme0n1 (for newer SSDs)

Match them by size, not by name.

  • ☐ Windows drive (Disk ___, ___ GB) = sda / sdb / etc.
  • ☐ Storage drive (Disk ___, ___ GB) = sdb / sdc / etc.

Example:

  • Disk 0 (500 GB) → sda
  • Disk 1 (931 GB) → sdb
 
7. Final Safety Check Before Installing Ubuntu
    • ☐ I know exactly how many physical drives I have
    • ☐ I know which drive contains Windows
    • ☐ I know which drives are storage‑only
    • ☐ I matched each drive’s size to Ubuntu’s names
    • ☐ I know which drive is safe to erase
    • ☐ All important files are backed up
    • ☐ I’m confident about the correct drive 

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Easy Installing Ubuntu Process

Installing Ubuntu looks intimidating the first time, but the actual process is very guided. Once your USB installer is ready, the computer does most of the work for you.

1. Booting From the USB Every computer behaves a little differently. On some machines you press a key like F12, ESC, DEL, or F2 to open the boot menu. On Evan’s computer, I pressed F12, but I didn’t have to choose anything afterward. A little countdown appeared, and after a few seconds it automatically continued into the Ubuntu installer. It was nice to see an older machine cooperate.

2. “Try or Install Ubuntu” The first screen gives you two choices. For a real installation, choose Install Ubuntu.

3. Choose Your Language Pick English (or whatever you prefer) and continue.

4. Connect to Wi‑Fi You can skip this, but connecting helps Ubuntu download updates during installation.

5. Choose the Installation Type This screen looks more technical than it really is. For an old Windows computer you’re repurposing, the correct choice is:

Erase disk and install Ubuntu

This wipes the Windows drive and gives you a clean start.

6. Select the Correct Drive If the computer has more than one drive, Ubuntu will show them. Choose the drive that contains Windows — usually the one with the C, D, and E partitions. Any separate storage drives stay untouched.

7. Set Your Time Zone Click your location on the map. Quick and easy.

8. Create Your User Account Ubuntu asks for your name, a username, and a password. You can choose whether it logs in automatically or requires a password.

9. Let Ubuntu Install At this point, Ubuntu takes over. It copies files, installs the system, and sets everything up. On older machines, this part may take a little longer, but there’s nothing you need to do except wait.

10. Restart When it finishes, click Restart Now and remove the USB when prompted.

11. First Boot Into Ubuntu You land on the Ubuntu desktop, ready to update the system, install apps, and start fresh. When I saw the “Welcome to Ubuntu” banner I had to take a photo — I was saying “Yes! I did it!” and snapped a quick selfie. Not the best photo, but I wanted my readers to know I really did it. After that, I immediately checked to see if my F drive was intact… and of course it was.

Nancy Smiling as she installed Ubuntu

and finally my thoughts on Linux ubuntu.

Is Linux-Ubuntu Right For You?

The installation was fairly easy, but it took me some time before I felt “ready.” I watched videos, researched, checked the Ubuntu website, and picked my friends’ brains. Then I hit a stopping point because of the holidays and waiting on my daughter‑in‑law. In the end, I’m glad I took matters into my own hands and did the backup — it will definitely help with the next desktop that’s slated for Ubuntu.

If you’re not wanting to invest in a new computer, this option is great — but the downside (or maybe upside) is that you have to organize all the important files you want to preserve. For me, that includes genealogy. Yes, my tree is on Ancestry and Family Tree Maker, but I like to keep all the documents and photos I add on my computer too.

Backing up is essential because most of you will only have one drive, and it will be completely erased. Since my grandson’s computer is mainly for games and watching videos, I learned that the drive I saved will not be recognized by Steam. The only way for Ubuntu to use that Windows drive is to convert it to a Linux format — which I can do once my daughter‑in‑law gets her backup. Even so, his current games don’t take up much space, and the 500 GB dedicated to Ubuntu should last him a few years. The other drive has 1 TB and can be switched over with just a few clicks, but I’m in no hurry.

As for appearance, you can move the dock from the left side to the bottom if that’s where you prefer it, and you can make the icons smaller to resemble the Windows look. I haven’t played around much with the appearance yet or confirmed the browser setup. I’ll work on that with my own desktop, since that will be my main machine for genealogy research.

Is Linux‑Ubuntu right for you? Even if you buy a new computer, you’ll still need to back up your files and transfer them to the new one. It all comes down to looks, money, and how much you want to learn — only you can make that decision for your Windows 10 computer and the Ancestry work you keep there. Just remember: it costs nothing to switch an aging computer, and if all you’re using it for is genealogy and simple tasks like surfing the web and watching videos, this is a good solution. And if you don’t like Ubuntu, you’ve already done the hard part — backing up your computer to a hard drive — so you can go buy a new machine and be confident your genealogy files are safe either way you decide.

So… if this helped you decide, then maybe this ‘boring‑log’ wasn’t so boring after all. 🙂

I’d love to hear your experience in the comments if you’ve switched to Linux—or you’re thinking about it.

Are you looking to explore Ubuntu for yourself? You can visit their Desktop page: https://ubuntu.com/desktop

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