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Thread ID: 107867 2010-03-04 09:20:00 Raising an old machine from the dead.... EFFIGY (12530) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
864080 2010-03-06 05:15:00 ok I have my head around this bit now.. I'll try each in sequence and see what happens
its the Abbreviations ... they are doing my head in.
EFFIGY (12530)
864081 2010-03-06 05:16:00 An USB CDRom might only need an ISO copied to it. Sweep (90)
864082 2010-03-06 05:58:00 OK... My BIOS is CMOS Setup-utility. Award Software I think 6 yrs old.
On my Stick (which is now recognised as a PENDRIVE) are the following
boot:Security Catalog (.cat)
boot:MSG File (.msg)
hrlp:MSG File (.msg)
imitrd:GZip archive (.gz)
isolinux.bin:BIN File (.bin)
isolinux:Microsoft Office Outlook Configuration File (.cfg) --- I'm sure thats wrong
logo.16:16 File (.16)
pup-431.stf:Microsoft Office Outlook Configuration File (.cfg)
Uni-USB-Installer-Copying
Uni-USB-Installer-Readme
vmlinnz
BIOS Has the following USB Options
1st, 2nd, 3rd Boot - options as follows
LS120
HDD-0
SCSI
CD ROM
HDD 1, 2,& 3
ZIP100
USB FDD
USB ZIP
USBCDROM
I have Boot other enabled

Where now? - Or is my bios too old to do this?
EFFIGY (12530)
864083 2010-03-06 06:22:00 Is there a reason you want to install to a flash drive
(I'm only doing it that way cos I'm lazy)
You may find a traditional HDD install to be simpler.
www.ehow.com

I used unetbootin http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
to set up my puppy on the flash drive.(I used the Windows version) It makes it easy.
It should boot using the USB floppy setting.
failing that the USB zip is worth trying.
On my old PIII machine which does not
support booting to a USB device I use a floppy
boot manager called plop
www.plop.at

Once you get it up and running, at the end of the first session
when you shut it down you will be asked if you want to make
a save file, you should do this if you want to save settings etc.
KarameaDave (15222)
864084 2010-03-06 07:14:00 There is little point if you are going to spend money on it.

Best option for used, is buy a working system with more RAM for maybe $100-150 and just use that.

You could spend under $200 and upgrade the PC ie., AMD Sempron, 1 or 2GB whatever you can get them for these days and a cheap all in one with builtin video motherboard by ASUS or GB. We normally get this kind of set up because we don't play games, and all the others need are internet, MS Office, watch a DVD and that's about it.

We have a old P3-600Mhz 320MB that runs Windows 2000 and it struggles. Sure, after installing it is not bad, over time with Service Packs it gets slow. We don't install all the stuff so it is manageable. Ie., don't install all the chat software, don't use AVG, don't install the latest IE, get a older Acrobat Reader, don't install .NET frameworks etc. The main issue we have now is that while it is not bad with those measures, once you fire up IE or Firefox a webpage may choke up 50MB and you've only got 256MB. Have 2 or 3 web tabs opened and it's depleted.
Nomad (952)
864085 2010-03-06 09:46:00 I'm doing this cas I like learning new stuff. Keeps the brain agile. Too many women my age just let it all go, if they haven't already.
As for the system; the extant XP is fine and I worked out that if I keep it in a perpetual 2005 mode its functional, just not quick. No tabs. 1 programme at a time, all that.
I just want to learn how to use a flash drive to boot a machine to Linux... purely so I can say I can =]
So there
EFFIGY (12530)
864086 2010-03-06 11:03:00 So have you booted off the usb drive yet?

Why not make a bootable CDRom drive and use it as a live CD until you decide to install Linux on the hard drive.
Sweep (90)
864087 2010-03-06 21:47:00 I'm fairly convinced the BIOS wont support it. It works on my Presario Laptop, just not the old comp. I think the old system will be fine as is. Anyway Its a beautiful day and I'm going to the beach. Thanks for all the suggestions. Was fun. EFFIGY (12530)
864088 2010-03-06 22:25:00 If the BIOS doesn't support USB booting, you could check to see if there's an update for it which adds support.

But if you don't want to do that, there's a sure-fire way to get it working: www.plop.at

Download the first file called "plpbt-5.0.8.zip" Inside this archive (among other things) is a ISO CD image and a floppy disk image.

Extract whichever one you prefer to use (I would go with the CD image) "plpbt.iso" or you can use the floppy image "plpbt.img" (You can write this to a floppy disk with Winimage or RawWriteWin)

Once you burn\write whichever version you want to use, boot the computer and start it from the CD or floppy you just made. This will in turn give you a menu where you can select USB disk to boot from. Use the Puppy USB you already have and it should be able to boot it.
Agent_24 (57)
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