New Desktop Wanted...

Hi. Ok please dont go mad as I have looked through the forums but haven't found the answer. I'm looking for a way of changing my desktop (I'm on Linux) so it looks more like a windows style and is more user friendly.

I've looked through and can only find complicated ways to do this - I don't mind working my way through this but I'm worried that my lack of knowledge will create a right mess.

Is there a simple download anywhere or should I set aside a day and work through. I'm loving some of the desktops people have posted on here and can't wait to get rid of the silly boxes on mine.

Even a push in the right direction would be helpful

Thanks !!

 

Hi Platti,

There are many threads on how to do the desktop switching operation, but if you feel this is to complicated, try this.

Make the USB recovery stick first from the Acer disk that came in th the box.


Now do the following.
1.Hit Alt+F2 and type in terminal to start the console.
2.Type sudo mousepad/usr/bin/xfdesktopnew

Now change this line /usr/bin/xfdesktop2 &>/dev/null 2>&1
To this
/usr/bin/xfdesktop &>/null 2>&1

3. Then type sudo mousepad /usr/bin/xfdesktop

Now change this line /usr/bin/xfdesktop2 & >/dev/null 2>&1

To this /usr/bin/xfdesktop-xfce & >/dev/null 2>&1

Then reboot.

If you find that you have lost USB connectivity (this is unusual but can happen) then do the following to correct it.

1.Open a terminal and launch the xfce4-autostart-editor
2.Add this command sudo thunar –-daemon
3.Reboot and test your USB.


If you now want to resize the desktop Icons do the following
1.Open a terminal and type xfce-setting-show
2.Open the desktop section and find the option show desktop menu on right click under the behaviour tab, enable it and change the desktop Icon and font size to what you want.

As a hint I have set my Icons set to 32 and fonts to 8
Without taskbar

With taskbar

And so you can see, SD cards,USB stick and external USB HD all work fine.

 

Thanks, thats exactly what I'm after !!! Will dig out the disk and do it today. Is it possible to add icons to the homepage or change the background with this ?

 

Hi Platti,

Yes you can add whatever application Icons to the desktop you wish as shortcuts, also change the background wallpaper just like you can in windows.
I use Opera for browsing so have one of there wallpapers.

Re the Acer search bar you may find you still have it on the desktop after you have done the above so do this.

Open a terminal and type

sudo mousepad /usr/share/search-bar/start-search_bar.sh

there is a gap between mousepad and /



You should get an 11 line code appear with the first line as !/bin/sh
now just put a # in front of each line so the first line now looks like this

#!/bin/sh

Click save and reboot.

This code basically tells the Acer where to put the search bar on the desktop, so by entering a # at the start of each line when this script is now activated at boot the search bar will not appear because you have made it redundant

 

Ok, now I'm very excited about this however I have a question that I think I could only get away with in the Beginners section. This recovery stick. I've got the disc out and put it in my home PC and now I'm a little baffled what do I do with it, it says on the reference book something about an USB ODD :? . Dying to get my Acer tweeked can I just get on with it or is the backup important (and going to save me asking loads of silly questions like this!)

Thanks again.

 

Sorry Barrie, just found another post by you on this, I'll work my way through it and get back to you..... :roll:

 

No. Sorry. Cannot access my boot menu for some reason, pressing F12 just beeps at me and boots up anyway. So, do I need this recovery stick ?

Its never easy is it !

 

Ok, this is turning out to be a big thread with nothing happening on it....anyway, I can boot now into the recovery disk but it doesn't show the memory card in the list on the recovery disk menu. Have tried inserting 2 different ones and still the same, only thing it did find was my external hard drive. I'm glad I read the bit about it deleting everything before I selected that, averting a major disaster involving 6yrs of photo's ! Any ideas ?

 

Hi Platti,

If you are referring to this thread,

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7412

then you need to make sure that the donor PC`s first boor option is set to optical drives ( I would not use a notebook personal preference here but a windows desktop PC).
Then just leave the disk in the donor PC and reboot it. Also I used a 4 Gb USB stick for this.

 

Yeah I'm running it on a Windows desktop PC and it is that thread. ow do I set the optical drives thingy ?

 

Hi Platti,

While the desktop PC is booting hit the system set-up button to get you into the Bios. Depending on the manufacturer, this can very but the following are the common buttons.

· F1
· F2
· DEL
· ESC
· F10

Once in the Bios you need to make sure that the CD/DVD drive is the first boot option, then the Hard Drive as second.

Here is a pictorial tutorial.

http://www.whitecanyon.com/esupport/ind ... rticleid=7

 

Ah I'm with you. I can get it to boot from the disc now but cant find the memory stick when I run it.

What happens if I dont bother with the backup ?

 

Hi Platti,


Not having this rescue stick does not stop you changing your desktop or anything else.



The reason I suggested to make the rescuer stick first is it is always preferable to be able to recover your system.
But if in the future you have problems then you will not have the Acer rescue system to help fix things.

As you are having problems with this Acer disk, why not try this method it will create a rescuer CD of how your system is at present with any new software you have added.

http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/12/acer ... ackup.html


This is done on your Acer.

 

Thanks for your time/patience with this Barrie. Nothing ever seems to go as it should for me with computers. I ran the other backup and all was going fine but then I got a message stating that my USB was full and aborted the backup. Its an 8GB stick so it should have been ok, i tried running the line that sticks 0's in the blank space as mentioned in the other page, but then i had to quickly shut down as I watched my available space on the AA1 dropping.

I think I'll just get on and chance it. Worst case can I find a way around getting back to factory spec if it does go wrong without a disk ?

I clearly by now owe you a few beers !!

 

Hi Platti,

No problem, sorry you had issues with this method to, I have restored my box to new via the first method but not tested the second one posted by Macles yet but all his blogs work great so will try it when I have a little free time.

Other than have Acer reload /repair it I am not sure, as with any OS you need some form of disk or disks to format your system. It might pay to buy a new 4Gb USB stick and use a friends PC to create the Acer recovery Stick.

As a personal preference I use Kingston sticks for all forms of backup both on my desktop and Acre Linux systems and have no issues with these. I would recommend even after you have done all the changes you want to the Acer perceiver with creating the rescue stick, as one day you might just need it.

Also have a look here regarding other forms of backup, if you have a USB external Hard Drive.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=500&p=6788&hilit=restore+linux+without+a+disk#p6788

 

Right have finally created a backup. On entering the first command sudo mousepad/usr/bin/xfdesktopnew i get an error message stating 'command not found' ??

 

Hi Platti,

I am pleased you have managed to create the recovery stick.

Please copy and paste this into your terminal then hit enter, you must put a space between mousepad and /

sudo mousepad /usr/bin/xfdesktopnew

And the same space should be put into this command

sudo mousepad /usr/bin/xfdesktop

 

WOW !! It worked, I never thought I'd get there :lol: I bet you didn't. Loving the new look, how do I add icons tho ? Tried the right click windows method but thats a no.

Thanks very much again Barrie.

 

Hi Platti,

I am pleased to hear this news, re adding desktop Icons here is an example for Thunderbird.

Navigate to the directory where the exe file is held, (you can use file manager for this) in my case for TT it is /usr/lib/thunderbird2.0.0.19, once you have found the exe file just right click it and from the drop down menu select Send to > Desktop (create a link)

 

Oh yes. I'm motoring now. Its like having a new computer. How do I get to keep the wallpaper I select when I reboot. And how do I get rid of icons - I dont need both the file system & home ones. And finally......where would I find the .exe file for skype ?

I'll stop being lazy after that and do some work myself !

Hope this has been benefit to others too ?