Are you trying to connect the Stream to your wireless? If that is the problem, this might help.
Are you trying to connect the Stream to your wireless? If that is the problem, this might help.
Read a bit about win 10 lite, and Linux mint. Lots of info on either, but not one comparison of the two. Only Linux vs full win 10.
Would not go that route, till I could consider it a spare or toy, but y'all got me ta thinkin'. Dangerous
03Panther said:All I've ever used a computer / iPhone / tablet (whopping Tab A) for:
never play games
my wife uses an app for :
the tube of you. I just open a browser.
Amazon. I just open a browser.
e bay. I just open a browser.
her email. I just open a browser to view my web based provider (whatever they are called)Prolly a few more I forgot. But you get where that's going.
I do use Word, for putting some data I want to keep, and letters, ect. Other programs would do for myself, but Word has the ability to be compatible with the mainstream folks I might deal with.
I do a few different things with Excel, but its 98% just for my own data, and fun (sad, ain't I)I go online for this forum, and to a MUCH lesser time a couple others. And do searches from google for lots of questions.
And I go to websites for job applications and contract paperwork for each contract... sometimes 5 or 6 times a yearI do have a printer and a scanner, although mostly these days, I just take a photo of a document, instead of hooking up the scanner!
I use a fair bit of Paint (have not learned a thing about the new paint 3d) to clean up various things... from pictures to poorly scanned pdf files. I find it fun going down to the pixel level and making a "fuzzy" line clean.
Im totally comfortable moving files, data and folders around.
I can do some VERY basic stuff, in the background areas of windows ( learned on Win98) where you can really screw a computer up by doing something wrong. But VERY minimal, as I don't want to screw upProlly smart enough for Linux,(if bairly) but never had the patience. Back in the late days of Win 98, when we HATED how bloated xp was, I read some on various Linux, but compatibility problems keep me from trying it.
Edit: my wife has her own hardware, and although I'm a full fledged tech geek com paired to her, she embraced the whole "click here, dummy" approach, and lets her apps tell her what to do. I did not. Proving, once again, she is smarter than me
To be honest, you're in the perfect region to try out a Linux distro if you just do basic computer tasks like that. Right now typing this comment, I'm using my school PC which is a Dell Latitude E5470 running Linux Mint 20.1; I've been using it consistently for a year with Libre Office instead of Microsoft word (Think microsoft office but free and open source) and for browser I use firefox with some basic addons like uBlock Origin. In that time, i've had:
Frankly, you might wanna get a preowned machine running windows, and use your old laptop to test Linux Mint and if it works for you. Linus Lite is another that works similarly meant to run on older machines with minimal system resources.
As for the wifi connection? Not sure, i'm not really understanding the problem well.
How much can you spend on a new machine?
Thanks so much for the details. About half of that I could understand, but just bairly over my current knowledge (just for a reference on me!)
as to afford at the moment, I have zero income, and zero support from anywhere except the money we have pulled from retirement investments over the last several years. From accounts that were pitifully low to begin with.
I liked the link you had sent for a refurbished, and will probably get that or similar next year (I know I'll have work in the spring... hope to find some despite all the holidays coming!
Good news is, the pos machine I have, after getting the ambition to tweak on it some, is doing all I have to have ... for now!
any of my Linux reading (till last night) goes back to XP days, so no surprise the various types have overcome some of the driver and constant tweaking issues.
I did use open office along that same time, as I didn't have a copy of MS Office on a disc.
It was fine for my own use, but no one else could read anything I sent them. There is s posed to be a workaround for that problem, but I was not able to manage it.
Than you so much for your time and patience.
I'll try a bit better to explain my internet connection question:
In the lower right corner of the task bar, the wi fi icon looks like this, when the wi fi is turned on, and connected using my phone as a mobile hot spot:
On the phone, to use the hot spot feature, this is the message that pops up:
To connect to laptop wirelessly, I click turn on wi fi and Bluetooth.
(I turn off all three when done)
If , however, the laptop wi fi antenna is turned off, and the phone is "tethered" to it via USB cable, I only select usb only.
Then , on other computers, it would connect the hot spot through usb, and the icon in the corner would look more like a computer icon, when communication was established.
This is not connecting that way.
I hope I explained that better; I'm sure it's a setting I'm not turning on in Networking, but I don't see anything, so I'm missing something.
I could get a picture of the other icon from the other computer, if needed, but I think it's ok.
My poor explanation shows my fragmented knowledge!
back on my dads 8088, I did do a bit from the command prompt, since it was in the DOS only days! 1983 or so.
I found, maintaining my own Win 98 machines, knowing what a C: prompt was was needed.
On other hand, I only did VERY basic stuff, and, well, I've slept since then! And lived under a rock, while tech zoomed on by!
In reply to 03Panther :
If I'm reading this right:
To act as a hotspot, your phone is taking one signal from your router, pumping it up via it's own internal antennas and battery, then broadcasting it again. It's doing the same thing as like, those little wifi extenders you might have seen, except it doesn't have an ethernet connection directly to the router.
You have to plug USB OR use bluetooth, because the internal antenna can't both send signals to the router AND take signals from your machine without slowing you down to constantly swap tasks. In this state, your computer is sending what pages it wants to see via USB (represented as the computer like icon) and then your phone uses it's wifi/bluetooth to load webpages and signal boost from the router.
Damn, zero income and zero support? Do you feel like you need a laptop with a functional battery more than a desktop?
GIRTHQUAKE said:Damn, zero income and zero support?
As a single youngish man, I got laid off from a defense contractor, in '94. Being single, no kids, and way burned out from 12 years of lots of OT (I've never had a 40 hr week kinda job), I just started doing short term contracts, all over us, and taking a lot of time off between. So this is not as bad as is sounds, in some ways. I'm used to it. But the last 7 years, I've made less income each year, than I have spent. My income has not been the problem; the economy is.
So ya, it's pretty bad.
We are blessed to have food, cause we plan ahead, and a roof the sleep under, and a paid for house (1991 double wide, on 2 acres in the woods, and we like being in the woods!)
No fear of going hungry, us or the animals. Have plenty of propane if electricity becomes a problem, so we'll never freeze. Got a friend that was homeless in MI 2 years ago. I'm in a lot better shape than he is now in, and he couldn't be happier with his life, cause he's got a warm place to sleep! 
But I've never been this low on availability cash, in my entire life. And no end in site on the increase in cost of living
Good news is, didn't grow up with much money, never had much money, and never have expected to.
GIRTHQUAKE said:Do you feel like you need a laptop with a functional battery more than a desktop?
For the short term, this pos stream is doing fine. So the "need" part is good for now.
I have a long term contract on the hook, about 6 hrs from the house, so I could come home some. This Stream, after having the nerve (knowing I had IT help, here!) to tweak it some, will be fine to get me through the background check and other paperwork, if it happens.
A couple folks closer than you offered to see if they had an old laptop better than this one, so we'll see where any of that goes.
Don't want anyone to go to much trouble, but I'd do something with a hand me down, and don't need the latest stuff!
If my life slows down a bit, I'll pull those two older gaming desktops out... maybe GRM IT can walk me through some maintenance on one of them!!!
GIRTHQUAKE said:In reply to 03Panther :
If I'm reading this right
Not quite there! 
You forgot my Luddite ways!
No router. I use others wi fi when available. But never have paid for access at home, since dial up was free days! 
I use my phone as a wireless hot spot. Just for one computer. Computer only knows that wi fi signal as "Daniels Phone" (I'm so creative with names) my hot spot, wi fi and Bluetooth are all turnd off on phone, unless in use
Thats working fine.
I prefer to "tether" the phone, with a usb cable, and only connect the ?network? On the computer to communicate through usb cable straight to phone. (Only turning on usb on phone hot spot). No wi fi, no Bluetooth. Computer uses phone hotspot only through usb "teather" cable straight to phone
on all other computers I have used , this works automatically. This one does not.
Do you have iTunes installed on the laptop?
Check device manager and make sure your phone is not listed there without drivers when plugged in.
In reply to moxnix :
Nah, I don't use newfangled stuff like I tunes.
Even without I tunes, I've learned that I can use a usb/lightning cable to hook the phone to a computer make sure they shake hands, and can copy data from the phone to the computer. (Not the other way around, without I tunes )
Once they are "hunky dory" with each other, the computers will "go online" through the usb cable, and phones "usb only" hotspot.
Don't know how to do that intentionally.
The battery, after setting on a shelf for years is not accepting a charge...battery is internal only.
Without iTunes it may not have the correct driver installed.
I just followed the instructions here and got it working on my devices. iPhone and windows 10.
https://bartsimons.me/getting-iphone-usb-tethering-on-windows-without-itunes/
Cool! I'll look at. Thanks.
worked on other machines, but that was pre bloated 10! ( I remember when we thought that xp was silly large!)
The IT guy at the last multi national co. I worked for, came to the maint. shop to help with the computer on my desk, that would not do several things I needed. He went a few places I'd have no clue where to go or what to do. Couldn't fix anything. Tried to ask a bit; he knew a lot less abut how or why a computer works than I do. But had been taught a lot of stuff I'll never learn!
My fragmented knowledge can be frustrating! So thanks to all.
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