5 things to do before replacing Windows XP with Lubuntu

If you have read my previous articles then you will know that I started off by listing 5 reasons why Lubuntu is a good replacement for Windows XP and you may have read the alternative reviews that I listed and following on from that you may have tried out the live version of Lubuntu.

The next step is to actually install Lubuntu but before you do you should perform the following 5 tasks first.

1. Create a backup copy of your current Windows XP setup.
2. Copy important files from your computer to external sources such as DVDs, USB drives, external hard drives and cloud backup services.
3. Export your Internet Explorer bookmarks
4. Make sure you know all your usernames and passwords for all sites and applications you use.
5. Make sure your system is ready to go

Points 1 and 2 above can be achieved by following this guide "backing up data and creating a system image using Windows XP"

To export your Internet Explorer bookmarks open Internet Explorer and click on the Favourites icon in the top left corner (This assumes you are using Internet Explorer 8).

Click on the "Add to favourites" option.

Click on the "Export to a file" option and then select "Next".

Select "Favourites" and click next. If you have RSS feeds then you might like to export these as well. It may be possible to import these into Lubuntu as well.

Click "Next" to continue.

Select the top level folder or the folder full of bookmarks that you want to keep. 

Click "Next" to continue.

Now select the folder and filename that you wish to call the export file. Click "Export".

After creating the bookmarks file it is now important to copy this off to a USB drive or to Dropbox. You will then be able to import the bookmarks into Lubuntu after you have installed it.

When people visit websites they quite often choose to have their password remembered. This seems handy at the time but when you need to log in from another computer it is sometimes difficult to remember what the actual username and password is.

As your Windows XP set up is likely to be set up to log in to various places automatically it is definitely worth making sure that you can remember the usernames and passwords to all the sites and applications that you use including iTunes, Amazon, PayPal etc. 

Make sure that the Lubuntu live disk works. If you are using a CD/DVD then make sure there are no scratches and that it reads properly. Make sure your computer is plugged in (laptops) so that the install doesn't fail halfway through. 

Finally check that your computer meets the system requirements:

The next article will show how to install Lubuntu 14.04.