Migrating files and settings from Windows 8 Pro to Zorin OS

[uwethomas]

Hello there
being a “spoiled” Windows XP user for many years, and later by obligation, since XP did not get support any more Windows 8 Pro, I got Zorin core 15.3 on a bootable stick already tempting to install it.

So far I have been using PaleMoon browser as my default browser, wanting to continue to do so, as it is almost working as great as Firefox version 25 once was.

Is it possible to install PaleMoon on Zorin?

Apart from that I am using Thunderbird as my E- Mail program.

Using it also for years and being happy with it, I also want to continue using it.

Now, the big question is:

How do I migrate all my files and settings (even incl. my last browser session) from Windows to Zorin?

On Windows there were some helpful programs I was downloading a couple of years ago, MozBackup and PMbackup, which did a good job saving everything, in case something would go wrong. Never made an external whole system backup on a separate storage device; I know this is not recommended. But I was lucky so far

Would be happy if there were some helpful info’s and suggestions of how to best import all my stuff, especially for E- Mail and the mentioned browser ^^

Greetings from Berlin

Uwe

[carmar]

I may not have addressed all your questions but here are some:

Pale Moon - In terminal (ctrl+alt+t) execute these one by one:
echo 'deb /repositories/home:/stevenpusser/xUbuntu_18.04 - openSUSE Download /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:stevenpusser.list

curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevenpusser/xUbuntu_18.04/Release.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/home:stevenpusser.gpg > /dev/null

sudo apt update

sudo apt install palemoon

[CITING THE SOURCE FOR ABOVE COMMANDS, DO NOT RUN THIS IN TERMINAL] - Install package home:stevenpusser / palemoon

Backup - please see the following:

Backup and Snapshot Utilities

It is always useful to make a backup of your entire system in the event of hard disk failure. For this I recommend rescuezilla: https://rescuezilla.com/ Snapshot your system using Timeshift - store your system shapshots to your /home partition for easy restoration of your system if something should go wrong: https://linoxide.com/linux-how-to/take-system-snapshots-timeshift/#:~:text=Timeshift%20is%20an%20open-source%20software%20which%20takes%20incremental,in%20two%20modes%3A%20Rsync%20mode%20…

and

How to Backup: Deja Dup + which application?

Hello there, Since I’m going to install Zorin OS on my Desktop computer, I’d like to create a backup that will install my Home and all of the applications and settings I’ve currently on my Laptop. I’m already using Deja Dup for my Home backup. Now, I’ve several questions about how to backup the applications and settings: Can I use Deja Dup for this? If so which folders should I backup? Is there another application in Zorin to do this? Timeshift: after some research, it seems a good option. …

[uwethomas]

Dear carmar
thank you for your kind reply.
If I may be as honest. To me as a Windows user, this looks much like Linux programmer language, which actually always hold me back from switching to Linux OS. Ordinary users like me really get irritated and insecure by this. It is not really the ‘Plug and Play’ I need to feel comfortable and what I am looking for. As much as I actually dislike the “too big to…” Microsoft (■■■■). A big advantage of it is that all those insider language programming stuff is hidden behind icons and unseen processes. User friendly, so to say. Perhaps Zorin can work on that. For right now, I probably will continue to use Windows. Best wishes, Uwe