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Post by jojo on Aug 2, 2009 12:15:46 GMT
I talked about this problem, I think, almost 18 months ago on here. My laptop still functions quite well though the CD drive is broken. The HD was reformatted for various reasons so there is no OS on there apart from a very basic DOS. It was suggested that I might install a small linux distro which might fit onto a floppy. To be honest, it was one of those things I always meant to do but never did. Now someone needs to use my laptop. I've found this: sourceforge.net/projects/smalllinux/supportThe file is less than 400k. Sadly, there isn't much documentation. It is called smallforward.tar.gz Should I use this? How do I run a .gz file? I need a basic OS which I can connect to the net and download some other stuff. The laptop is an Advent 6521 www.uktsupport.co.uk/advent/laptop/6521.htm
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Post by mikkh on Aug 2, 2009 13:18:57 GMT
A tar.gz file is basically an archive file like a zip file i.e it's a larger file or files that need extracting first
Linux compression rates are usually far higher than a Windows zip, so it's probably close to filling a floppy disk, or may even require two
I wouldn't bother with such a tiny 'distro' though. It's obviously meant for real ancient beasts and can't possibly contain a GUI in that amount of space, so it will be a geeky text only last resort for people hanging on to 286 (20 Ghz or less) type piles of garbage.
Yours is a 1200 with 512 MB RAM, so it will run virtually any version of Linux - or even XP at a push.
You have several options, the first being get a replacement CD/DVD drive. A new one is probably more than you want to pay, but there's good old Ebay, Car Boot sales, flea markets etc where you could pick up a spares or repair type laptop and use that CD. Faulty screens or dead motherboards is usually what's wrong with them.
You could remove the HD, put the contents of the Windows XP /386 folder on the HD via another machine and then download the set of 6 XP installation floppies to install XP - once you've put the HD back in, that is
You have a USB port, so you could try an external optical drive and hope the BIOS supports booting from it. Try and borrow someone elses to check.
Lot's of Linux versions support installation to a USB stick and Puppy lets you make a boot floppy for machines that don't support USB booting - that's probably your best option if you don't want to spend anything on it
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Post by jojo on Aug 2, 2009 14:10:54 GMT
Thanks mikkh. Some interesting ideas.
The option of a replacement cd drive I did consider, but don't know enough to get the right one. A replacement for the internal one is a bit too much for me now. When I was a bit younger, I was always fiddling with electronics, but as I've gotten older and had a number of disasters with static and such, I shy away now.
The machine won't recognise a USB pen drive sadly. If I knew where to get some software that would work on the DOS I would go for that
Firstly can I ask, where do I download these installation floppys for XP?
XP would be my first choice as I'm use to it. The XP I have for it is a PC World copy so I may need to buy another.
Puppy linux sounds interesting. The price is more to my liking as well. But how would I put the 100mb onto the HD?
Are you thinking of installing the laptop's HD into my big computer?
What is the procedure for creating a boot floppy to make this work?
Thanks for your efforts.
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Post by mikkh on Aug 2, 2009 16:41:50 GMT
Yes two of those options require you mounting the laptop HD in a desktop PC. You can get a converter lead from Maplins - like this one www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=28724Hopefully you have a floppy drive on the desktop PC to make the boot disks with You can get them here - they are self extracting, so you just need some blank floppies www.allbootdisks.com/I would normally use www.bootdisk.com, but they're now charging $4 to get downloads, when it was always free before. If you want to pay $4 you can get a single disk there which does a quicker job Another option, still needing the HD moving into the desktop though, would be to make the laptop HD the only HD available in the desktop and install Windows to it. This is a bit of a gamble though because XP in not so hot at picking up new hardware and may just simply crash when you try to boot it in the laptop. Installing Linux the same way has a much better chance of success because it copes better with finding new hardware. About 25% chance of success with Windows, but almost guaranteed with Linux. Puppy is definitely the easiest option. Burn the CD on the desktop machine, use the universal installer to install it to a USB pendrive (a 2 GB one should be ample (about a fiver to buy)) Make the boot floppy and boot the laptop with it - with the USB drive inserted of course - job done
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Post by jojo on Aug 2, 2009 17:51:12 GMT
It all sounds so easy when you explain it mikkh.
Thanks loads.
I promise I'll tell you how I get on.
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Post by jojo on Aug 2, 2009 18:55:34 GMT
mikkh. I've downloaded the floppy images. they each have an extension: .img The how to pages says I should run the exe file I downloaded to my desktop. www.allbootdisks.com/disk_creation.htmlBut I don't know anything about this .exe. Probably another simple explaination that I'm just missing. But will be grateful to be pointd in the right direction. Also, I'm presuming I will still need an XP home CD. If I buy should I download the floppy images for SP2? Also, should I copy the entire contents of the XP hone CD onto my HD? Sorry, think I'm in a muddle here.
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Post by mikkh on Aug 2, 2009 21:48:08 GMT
You downloaded the wrong ones, they're for the 'WinImage' program - you should have downloaded the ones in the "Automatic Boot Disk" section (they are the exe self extracting ones)
The PCworld CD should be OK, if you have the CD key to match on the machine and it's only the I386 folder you need, the rest is for booting the CD, which is what the floppies replace
I say it should be OK, but that depends if it's a real XP install CD ( you'll know by the contents and the presence of the I386 folder) because it might be a restore CD with the OS, drivers and everything else stored as an image or a collection of images.
Assuming it is the real thing, I would guess it's a normal (pre SP2 and SP1) copy judging by the size/age of the CPU
Buying XP (about £70) seems quite an expensive way of reusing an old laptop just to get a familiar OS, so I'd still favour the Puppy route myself. If the PCworld CD is the 'real thing' then all well and good, but you could probably pick up an old laptop complete with XP for the price of a new XP CD on Ebay and then sell yours for at least £20
You might be as well just to contact your local LUG (Linux User Group) and get one of the old hands to do a Linux install for you. Someone will probably do it for the price of a pint if you ask nicely
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Post by mikkh on Aug 2, 2009 21:51:48 GMT
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Post by jojo on Aug 4, 2009 17:20:42 GMT
Thanks again mikkh. And thank you for being so patient.
I will get on with this, this weekend.
I appreciate your point about buying another laptop, I kinda want this one to have another lease. But I won't be spending £70 or anyhting that I don't have to.
If the XP route doesn't work I'll probably go down the puppy route.
But I must warn you I will be nagging for more information. Once I've got something I tend to be a boring 'expert' type. But I frequently take time to pick things up, especially lately.
Thanks again.
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