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View Full Version : Reinstalling windows from knopper/Uinux, help?



rodneyjm
08-16-2008, 01:17 AM
I work for a new company and we have a few Dell Inspiron's 5100 laptops. There all installed with Knopper on a Linux system I believe. Anyways the computers wont do anything without the Knopper Cd in the drive at startup. I have been trying for 8 hours to install Windows XP but can't do a damn thing.

Someone please help and tell me what I need to do in order to install Windows on these systems???? Can only boot from the Linux cd's and not the windows as if I was installing a new install of windows. Anyone have any Idea what to do?

It's Knopper 3.9 cd that i have to start with

Harry Kuhman
08-16-2008, 01:59 AM
1. Don't keep posting the same thing in multiple forums or in response to multiple threads in a forum. Duplicate copies are not appreciated and will be removed by moderators.

2. Still no such thing as Knopper 3.9

3. This isn't really a Knoppix problem, but I'll make a few guesses. Is this a genuine Windows install CD, or some dubious copy, perhaps something bought from the Evil Bay of thieves? If you maintain it's legitimate, is it really a Microsoft install CD, or is it something provided by the OEM (in this case Dell) to reload an already installed copy of Windows to a system? I ask this because many large OEMs don't provide true install discs at all, they provide something they call "recovery discs" and these are designed to reload a new system as the OEM configured it to a hard disk. Because the OEMs not only sell you a computer but then turn around an take money from software companies to install crapware and demoware on your system (wasting your disk space, memory, and generally making your system less stable), they often put all this crap on a DVD rather than a CD, and if your computer only reads CDs and not DVDs that would explain any boot problems. Of course, the proper legal recovery disc for a system would be on a media that it could read, so a DVD would never be provided for a computer with only a CD drive, and I'm sure you're not trying to do anything funny, but something is wrong here so I though I would mention this.

4. If the above have not pointed you to the problem, I suggest that you use linux to look at the "install disc" that you are trying to boot. Normally with Knoppix the drive is in use with the Knoppix CD itself. But if you have a gig of memory or more, try booting with the toram cheat code. This will copy the entire CD to memory and free up the drive. Then after booting you can remove the knoppix CD and put in the supposed Windows CD. Use Linux to look at the disc and confirm that it's readable and has what you would expect to find out there. If your systems don't have enough memory to support the Knoppix toram option, I suggest trying the same with some smaller Linux Live CD distro such as Puppy Linux or DSL. Hint: if you examine the "Windows Install disc" and there is only one file out there titled "thanks sucker from your friends at ebay" then it might not be a genuine Windows install disc.

ckamin
08-16-2008, 08:47 AM
In order for you to install Windows on these machines, you need several things. A bootable Windows install disk or the Dell Recovery disks for your system. A valid Windows serial number. A working hard drive to install it to. Sufficient memory and adequate reources to run the version of Windows you are installing. A working knowledge of the windows installation process. A good power supply and a good battery are a plus as well as the latest bios updates for the system.

If windows is already installed on the drives, you need to ensure that the bios is properly configured to boot from the drive.

Documentation for the 5100 can be found here:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/i5100-om.pdf

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/5100mat/AMF_EMF/5U275am2.pdf

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/SIG/EMF/P1521A00.pdf

You can contact Dell for support, or go to their support site and access more information. You should be able to install a valid version of Windows on these laptops, no matter what operating system is currently installed. The fact that they only boot with the CD in the drive tells me that the hard drives may not be there, or there may be some other issue preventing drive access. I have seen some companies use old machines for an internet kiosk with a linux live disk. They frequently remove or disable the hard drives.