Computer Trouble Can Anyone Help?

Don't try to upgrade from Windows 98. Start with XP and go from there.
1st rule of working with Microsoft:

Just because they say it will work doesn't mean it will.

Actually the 1st rule of working with microsoft is:

Don't 😉

Matt

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If you're interested in trying Linux, my fiancee told me that installing
Mandrake Linux is easier than installing Windows. (and Linux is free,
gratis, libre, etc)

I'm sure my personal bias is showing through here, I've been Linux-only
for several years.
But if any unicyclists here do have any Linux questions, feel free to
ask me.

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myocardial said:

*Don't try to upgrade from Windows 98. Start with XP and go from
there. *

I agree. Boot from the XP cd and reformat the harddrive. Remember that
you want to us NTFS instead of FAT32.

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shapr said:

*(and Linux is free, gratis, libre, etc)*

Free as in freedom, not as in price.
Or can you get me Fedora full-version for free?

'FreeBSD' (http://www.freebsd.org/) is pretty free.
From all OS installers I ever seen it is the most simple.
And once you know about the package system, you will love it and even
start hating .deb or .rpm's (if you ever had to work with them).
Even making your custom kernel is sooooo easy.
Give it a try!
'You can buy it here' (http://www.bsdmall.com/freebsd1.html), 'or here'
(http://www.freebsdmall.com/cgi-bin/fm), but a 'download'
(http://tinyurl.com/sw5) goes faster and cheaper.

(yes, I'm very enthousiast, I might host an *.nl.freebsd.org host begin
next year)

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We could suggest he try a Mac too, but I don't think that would be any
more helpful.

Why upgrade from Win98? That would have to give you an inferior version
of XP, even if it worked. Start from scratch. Buy the software if you
have to (if yours is only an upgrade version).

For further help, there is tons of stuff out there, starting with
Microsoft Tech Net, that's right on the topic. Unlike this place... :p

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johnfoss said:

*We could suggest he try a Mac too, but I don't think that would be
any more helpful.
*

Probably less helpful since he would have to buy new hardware. At least
it's *POSSIBLE* to install Linux his new system. Of course if I was
going to recommend a flavor it would be Gentoo. But I'm not going to do
that. I'm sticking with my first post.

This was written with a Mac,

matt

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myocardial said:

he would have to buy new hardware.

Yes.

There are rumours there is a i386 code for OS-X out somewhere in the
Apple labs.
Off course it wont be released. That will create big loss for Apple.

But I agree with shapr (and his financee) to give it a spin.
For example my lawer's office runs entirely on Mandrake with
OpenOffice.
And they're not really geek-like!

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Ben,

I have a Compaq Presario 2811CLT running Windows XP Home Edition. I
found a copy of cdrom.sys in:

c:\Windows\System32\Drivers

This seems to be a standard Microsoft driver file. I don't think it is
specific to the machine.

If you send me an e-mail, I'll send you back a copy of the cdrom.sys
from my XP, along with my ideas for how to get it onto your machine.

Tom Daniels

tadaniels AT usa DOT net

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I have been exploring LiveCD based operating systems.
I recommend that you download Knoppix 3.4 and burn it to CD rom.

You can use the CD to fix your windows system, or for daily use.
With transparent menus and many programs installed, it is impressive.

There are about 100+ variations on the LiveCD.
For example, if you want, you can get a Gentoo-based one called "Jollix
3" and avoid the relative pain of installing Gentoo.

Suse is also a great operating system, but I have been trying to move my
entire LAN to CD-based OSes for many reasons.

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ChangingLINKS.com said:

I recommend that you download Knoppix 3.4 and burn it to CD rom.

What about 'buying two HDD racks' (http://tinyurl.com/3w593) and a spare
HDD? One *nux, one WIN.

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ChangingLINKS.com said:

I recommend that you download Knoppix 3.4 and burn it to CD rom.

What about 'buying two HDD racks' (http://tinyurl.com/3w593) and a spare
HDD? One *nux, one WIN.

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Don Marquis: "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love
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I use racks also.

Allows for testing, multi-OSes, and other backup solutions.
However, there are many benefits to running a CD-based OS,
rack or not.

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Linux is bloody easier in the long run. No virii to worry about, no
blue screens, free software upgrades, it rocks.

Mac OSX is based on Darwin, which in turn is based on one of the free
BSDs (I think FreeBSD, but it could be OpenBSD), and Darwin does run on
x86. The OSX gui probbaly does not (though there were rumors a couple
years ago that Apple was going to abandon their processors for x86
simply due to cost.)

However, if you've got your heart set on XP, just do a plain install
from scratch. Easiest most painless way. But upgrade to something else
when you can... Geeks have a saying: "Yesterday it worke, today it
doesn't. Windows is like that."

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evil-nick said:

Linux is bloody easier in the long run.

I hope that's true now. Last time I tried to run Linux (4 years ago)
it was a royal pain - every new package I wanted to run seemed to
require different (and incompatible) versions of other packages. The
new window managers/desktops weren't ready for prime time. Samba would not
configure properly in a Windows server environment.

Just so you know I'n no babe in the woods, I've used BSD, FreeBsd,
NetBSD, Irix, Mach (2.5 & 3.0), AIX, SunOS, Solaris, HPUX, ... That
includes stuff like writing network protocol stacks and kernel
patches. And I'm writing this using a proper newsreader, GNUS (in
Emacs).

Quoted message said:

Mac OSX is based on Darwin, which in turn is based on one of the free
BSDs (I think FreeBSD, but it could be OpenBSD)

Kind of. OSX is, at its core, Darwin. Darwin is based on OPENSTEP,
which included the Mach kernel, a BSD server, and a GUI (now Cocoa).
Maybe I'm being picky (and maybe not surprisingly so since I come from
CMU where Mach was developed), but I don't think of an operating
system using a completely different kernel should be though of as
primarily BSD based.

Ken

If you want a linux distro that 'just works' for installation and
upgrades, I'd suggest Debian.
I've been using Debian's unstable flavor for several years with great
results. (Details on request)
ObUni: I still haven't found a cycle computer that runs Debian :-)

I'd also be using Gnus to read this newsgroup if telia.se's nntp server
would get posts from the unicyclist.com forums in less than a week.

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This week I mistake a server to be IDE in stead of SCUSI. So I screw up
an kernelupgrade.
But *without any tools* like rescue-disks I just repaired it using the
bootloader to boot kernel.old, make another backup, and make the correct
kernel.

I thought OS-X was a spin off of FreeBSD 3.3.
There always use to be FreeBSD copyright notices everywhere.

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I sit corrected.
Maybe I just think Linux is easier now 'cause I've fiddled with it for
so long... But it's been over a year now since I've used Windows for
anything other than games for over a year now... No virii, no spyware,
it's all good 😄

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leo said:

I thought OS-X was a spin off of FreeBSD 3.3.
There always use to be FreeBSD copyright notices everywhere.

I'll say it again. OSX is derived from OpenSTEP, which includes a
Mach kernel with a BSD server (as well as what is now the Cocoa GUI).
The BSD server uses actual BSD code.

When I used Mach at CMU, the BSD server was Berkeley BSD based. At
some point the code was sanitized for distributuion to non AT&T
licensed sites, thus the switch FreeBSD. My question is: Does it make
sense to call OSX a "FreeBSD spinoff", when its roots predate the
royalty free distribution of BSD? To me the answer is no. If all you
care about is the behavior of the unix server then you might answer
yes.

Ken

FreeBSD, OSX, it's all better then Micro$oft (I'm not biased, honest!)

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