Should I upgrade Windows

Not quite. I notice that Autorun is missing, among others. Perhaps that’s the problem.

Just to be certain, this is the Linux Mint file to download…

https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=274

Choose the UK download site from the list.

I used this utility to put the downloaded iso file onto the USB stick. Maybe try the same…

https://rufus.ie/

Thanks.
I’ll download the files from the above.
However, the utility you provide says Ubuntu. Does this all change automatically with the Mint version?

Do I need to click one of the UK ‘download mirrors’, whatever they are?

I’ll give it a go, anyway, and let you know.

Although it says Ubuntu, it does work the same with Linux mint.

You can click any download link because it’s the same file but one of the UK sites might be the fastest ones to use.

Thanks. I’ll do that.

I’m afraid nothing’s happening. Rufus states ‘ready’ but ‘start’ is greyed out.

You need to create a bootable USB. It is a bit more than just having the files on it. Google Create Bootable USB

Try this procedure…

Click the select button on Rufus (not the drop-down arrow) and Windows File Explorer should open.
Go to where the Linux download ((ISO) is, select it and click ‘Open’ in the Window (or double-click the ISO file).
You should now see the ISO in Rufus’s ‘Device’ bar and the ‘Volume Label’ bar.
The ‘START’ button should spring into life
Click it to start the format and creation of files on the USB stick.
The result is a Linux bootable USB stick that can be used to boot up the computer.

I’m not sure which F button you’d need to press on your computer for the boot menu to appear as it starts but on my laptop it’s F9. When the Boot Menu is showing, choose the USB stick.

Thanks. I’ll give that a go.

If that doesn’t work, try this…

Right-click on the USB stick and do a quick format. Rename it to lm (or just anything).
Then try the procedure described in the last post again.

I mention this because I found the buttons in Rufus can be greyed out under certain conditions. The formatting and renaming worked for me.

It might be worth changing the USB being used. I have a Sandisk 16Gb thumb drive that Windows doesn’t recognise as a drive even though it recognises it as a USB device ie Explorer doesn’t automatically open which is the default action for such drives.

However Windows Explorer can view, transfer, delete etc the files on it, don’t know why this is so because other drives by the same manufacturer bought both before and after this model are fine (I have three of this type).

Just a thought.