Can I do anything with my new build pre-OS?

My Windows 8 won't arrive until next week but I think I will finally get my new system finished today.

I'm just wondering..is there anything interesting or fun to be had on the computer without it having an operating system? Any tweaking I can do? It's got an optical drive, hard drive, modem installed.

Since my case has a mounting for it, I was going to install the 30gb Hard Drive from a notebook that fried a year ago, (I think the HDD is ok). It's got XP loaded on it.

Will I maybe be able to use that OS for a few days? I know there are a multitude of conflicts but I was wondering what might happen if I tried to boot to it. Will it even boot up in a desktop? Could I possibly just see what's on it?

Thanks.

Brian

I'm thinking I really should just wait but I'm curious about that notebook hdd with xp on it.

 

Are you saying I can run a version of Linux from the optical drive or usb drive?

I have a working computer I could create one with, but is it difficult to do?

I would like to do something with it if I could but really don't want another OS on it's new HDD.

I'd be happy to just see what's on the 2.5" hard drive..(not using the xp) just too see what files are still there. I have the IDE adapter for it already.

If you can tell me what the process is called, I can do the searching. (The process being..temporarily running Linux from an optical drive (or usb drive) as opposed to a hard drive.) I get confused with the linux terminology.

Thanks

ps I think I have the bodhi downloaded..but that was to play with on a much much slower computer. It ran but didn't do much...but I never really got into seeing what it could actually do.

 

Hi,

It is very easy to run Linux from a CD or USB flash drive.

Both Puppy and Linux Mint are good choices. I tend to use USB now rather than CD but I can give instructions for CD if you want. I have noticed that Mint has gone beyond the 700mb threshold to fit on a CD recently. It may no longer be an option for running from CD but it can be run from a DVD.

If you want to see what is on your old HD then Puppy is sufficient. It has a good desktop. Mint will include an Office equivalent that is good but you may not need just to examine your HD.

I prefer to download the ISO file of my Linux distro and then write it to USB. The various USB writing utilities offer to download the ISO and write it automatically but I still like getting the ISO separately and then doing it manually.

So you could download Puppy(150mb) or Linux Mint (900mb) ISO and save to HD. Then install Lili (my favorite but Pendrive123 is good too and it is standalone and doesn't have to install).

In Lili there are 5 steps:

Insert USB flash BEFORE starting Lili.
Start Lili.
Step 1 select USB flash drive.
Step 2 Choose ISO and Browse to your Linux ISO
Step 3 Persistence ( if Live Mode is not displayed set to at least 800mmb)
Step 4 Tick first two boxes and untick the third.
Step 5 Hit the Thunderbolt to write the USB flash drive (Note: This erases the flash drive so make sure it contains nothing you want to save before starting the process.)

It is not complicated and boots to a Windows looking desktop. You don't have to learn any commands to do basic stuff like see what is on your old HD.

I don't want to over-explain so please ask if you need more details.

I hope your build is going well.

 

Sach2.

Thanks for the usb info. Very helpful.

I found an old 2GB usb and loaded bodhi (because I already had downloaded it's iso) onto it using Lili. It seemed to load ok but when I booted to it with my xp notebook it seemed to freeze at it's opening screen with no mouse or keyboard response. It did show it's opening screen though with ongoing animations of little flecks drifting left to right, which seemed to be as designed.

Still waiting for my ide cable to attach my old 2.5" hdd into the new case so I'm in no big rush. I'll play around with the Bodhi USB on the new computer later today.

 

Hi,

I find some Linux distros just won't boot (easily) on certain computers. It has nothing to do with the age of the computer just pickiness. I'd give Puppy a try as it is relatively small and very easy to navigate. (Puppy doesn't use Persistence so not relevant if you try Puppy next, but on a 2gb drive you would use less than the 800mb for persistence that I suggested earlier. 200-500mb would be fine. Puppy will offer to save your settings when you shut down the first time. It uses a small amount of space for saving settings, by default, which is fine.)

I'll give Bodhi a try and see how it works for me.

 

I got Bodhi running on the new desktop (still without an OS) when I used another USB drive. The first one had a loose connection.

It looks pretty slick but not much I could do with it without an internet connection or programs. I'm not even sure if linux can be used with dial-up. The iso dates back to 2009 (I think). I recall seeing Casper and v 1.2.0, for what's that's worth.

At least everything seems to be working so far.

 

Yeah. That's what I found out a while ago when I was trying to possibly revive an old Compaq desktop that had WinME on it by running a simple version of Linux. (Bodhi). I got the Bodhi running on it but lost interest in the project.

My new question is: Since my Win 8 will get here in the next day or so, I'm wondering how I can still keep myself in the Linux game. It seems like something I'd like to eventually become knowledgeable about.

I know there is a Linux forum but I'll ask here anyway. When I set up Win 8 and the new hard drive (1TB) is there something I should do initially? As in partitioning?

1TB is massive for my needs (probably double what I'll use).

Can you get by by running a version of Linux Live off a dedicated USB?

Initially, I wasn't interested in Linux on this new desktop, but now I'm thinking why not? I just don't want conflicts with the Windows 8.

Thanks.

Brian