I was having the same problems a while back with Manjaro. Have a look at EndeavorOS. I’ve been using that for a long time now.

That would be a weird statement to make. But that’s not really what I said. At all.

They did mention stable, which is not something Manjaro can claim in my experience. They tend to hold back packages in the name of stability but it causes problems when using the AUR sometimes.

I find EndeavorOS (Arch) to be very reliable. I use it with KDE. Gnome can be good too for a minimalistic style that doesn’t change much.

Try mounting them. What is the dd command you’re using?

Now, depending on your threat model maybe a drill and a sledgehammer will be enough. If your threat model is rather high and it is really sensitive data, well you’ll have to spend that money if you can’t get zeros written.

Linux Mint is a good one to try out for starters. It is Ubuntu based so most of the time if you have an issue you can find tons on it in the Ubuntu help searches.

As for a browser, Firefox is likely pre installed and pretty excellent. All major browsers have a Linux client.

For gaming, steam had great support for windows games running on Linux. There is also Lutris and Heroic launcher which all have support for running games under a comparability layer.

Good luck and have fun!