- Microsoft removes guide on converting Microsoft accounts to Local, pushing for Microsoft sign-ins.
- Instructions once available, now missing - likely due to company’s preference for Microsoft accounts.
- People may resist switching to Microsoft accounts for privacy reasons, despite company’s stance.
The sha txt file should’ve been available alongside the iso file from the mirror you downloaded it from. Honestly, as long as you used one of the mirrors that the Linux Mint website provided, you should be perfectly fine.
Is there a way to check it after install before it is connected to the internet?
I did use one of the mirrors on the Linux download page.
It should be fine. If you’re truly worried, go here:
https://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/linuxmint.com/stable/
And click the version of Linux Mint you downloaded - it’s probably 21.3 - and then download both sha256sum.txt and sha256sum.txt.gpg by right-clicking -> “save link as…” to download the files themselves.
After that, verify the iso you had in your downloads folder by following the instructions here:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/verify.html
Again, as long as you downloaded from one of the mirrors linked on the Linux Mint download page, you should be absolutely fine. This step is a just-in-case, for your personal ease of mind. It will, however, need you to open cmd.exe and copy the code inside the green boxes into the terminal and press Enter. There’s a pictoral guide if you’re doing the verification on Windows still, right here:
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=291093
Let me know if you get stuck!
Thanks. These are the instructions having a time with. I am going to take a break. I think I have just stared at it too long overthinking it!
No problem, and again - if you experience any confusion during the process, just let me know! I also had to get help with installing Linux Mint myself when I first got started.
I am still unable to verify the iso. I installed gnupg but it keeps saying file not found.
Did you make sure that you opened the terminal inside the folder where your iso and txt files are, or at least navigated to that folder after opening the terminal? Basically, it’ll say “file not found” if you run the CertUtil command while not “inside” the folder containing both the iso and the txt files. Same with running the gpg command.
Usually, if you just open cmd.exe by itself from the searchbar, you’ll see something like this:
PS C:\Users\your_username>
If you instead opened the terminal inside the folder, you’ll instead see this:
PS C:\Users\your_username\Downloads\ISO>
Or whichever folder your iso and txt files are located in.
CertUtil and gpg are pretty tunnel-visioned - they can only see stuff that’s in the same folder as they’re being run in, unless you give them specific directions to get to a different location. That’s why it’s easiest and best to have everything in a single folder and open the terminal “inside” that folder.
Again - all this verification stuff with the terminal is, in my opinion, optional as long as you downloaded from one of the mirrors on the website. But since you still want to do it, this is the easiest way to go about it.
All the directions are here: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=291093
Were you ever able to figure this out?
Yes! Thank you. I have it installed and everything seems to work now, if a bit slow.
I am working on what type of security/virus stuff to use other than basic common sense. Windows once installed a virus in an update. Lots to learn. Once I get passed the security hurdle I will use it for a while until I am confident enough with the system to replace Windows on my main laptop. I really look forward to that day!
Awesome! Linux Mint’s welcome page should have given you directions to setting up the built in firewall. If you really want an antivirus, ClamAV is a good one for Linux. However, whether you need one on Linux is actually a complicated question: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=358408
Really depends on your use case, at the end of the day. Good luck, and let us know if you have any questions!