While Zorin recommends balenaetcher, I certainly would not. I used the latest download of balenaetcher, it formatted the usb, wrote the Zorin 15.2 Lite iso, booted. After checking for errors and the report that there were none, tried install but it would not load the iso in a downloadable form. I tried all the installation modes. My computer will not even register the USB as a device unless I boot the computer from the USB, which then tells me files are missing and that it cannot go past the location file on the install. Now the USB is unreadable to reformat. By this I mean that the USB does not appear at all on the disc/drive lists i.e. undetectable. Brand new, worked before, also tried the port with another USB, which was read and worked fine. This is my second adventure with balenaetcher, the first was with Zorin Core. Balenaetcher declared the download ok, I chose alongside installation, then installation froze on the install page, (just after the location page) about half way through installation. Ran through the whole task again, but Zorin download had completely wiped the hard drive, despite me choosing the alongside setting. So much for easy downloading.
I thought Windows 10 was ok until they bought in the new Microsoft edge update, which invades your privacy more that Google and destabalizes the running of your computer, kicking off even their own products. Hence going for Zorin, hence following their preference for balenaetcher. My question now is : Are either of these products reliable? One thing is certain, both products claim they are easy to use, and clearly they are not. I really should have gone with my first instinct and stuck with Mint, my usual before I bought the new lap top a few months before Microsoft’s latest abortion. My bad, should have stayed away from Microsoft altogether, but got to like the early unaltered Windows 10 version at work.
Hi
I don’t have opinions about most of the things you mentioned here wrt Windows, privacy, etc.
If you are looking for information on how to recover a drive that shows up as damaged, I would start with these 2 resources -
- Etcher killed my USB stick
-
https://www.balena.io/blog/did-etcher-break-my-usb-sd-card/
Check out the form thread above, where some folks have mentioned how they fixed their drives. If you are on Linux, you can try Gparted. I have used it successfully before to recover such misbehaving drives.
Hi thanks for the reply, I had a look at the sites you recommended while trying to repair the situation, not quite the same issue. In the end I used a friend’s PC, cleared formats manually, and used Rufus, which worked nicely.
Hi, good that rufus worked for you and good luck with Zorin…