Installing to a USB Drive without a HD and not making it a "live CD".

[Knapp]

On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 4:06 PM, Karl F. Larsen <klarsen1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Knapp wrote:
>> Hello,  I have a computer with a dead HD.
>
>        How do you know the hard drive is bad? Please explain.

It is a lap top with win EX that was tossed off a table by a kid. The
HD has all the baby pics etc. It will not boot and Win says it is bad.
I hope to be able to get some pics off it but I know nothing about
doing that but have found some good web sites on the subject. Booting
with the drive in is a real pain because it gives out all sorts of
errors. I don't have them handy but it keeps saying 132 not readable
or something like that for 10 minutes and then goes on. I took the
drive out so that I could get some better boot and install times (10
min VS 120 min or something like that)


>  I can boot it with the live
>> Xubuntu CD (other don't work, to big).
>
>
>        Please explain how you boot a bad hard drive. Could the hard
> drive be just fine?

You boot off the CD or the USB with a live disk in it.


>  I can make the USB 8mb drive
>> into a copy of the CD and boot it just fine but when I try to install
>> to the USB Drive, the computer will not boot. How do I make the
>> computer boot from the USB drive as if it were a HD with a normal
>> install on it? I hope this is clear. Maybe I need to make my own
>> bootalble ISO with the files I need? For example an ISO with all the
>> updates? Don't know how to do that ether. In any case I have a
>> complete system installed to the USB; if only I could get it to boot.
>> Thanks all.
>>
>
>        Kind of a guess but it sounds like your hard drive is good
> and you have a problem with Grub. You do have Grub?

Grub? on the HD? No. Naturally it is on the CD or USB.

> 73 Karl

> --
>
>        Karl F. Larsen, AKA K5DI
>        Linux User
>        #450462   http://counter.li.org.
>         Key ID = 3951B48D




-- 
Douglas E Knapp

Open Source Sci-Fi mmoRPG Game project.
http://sf-journey-creations.wikispot.org/Front_Page
http://code.google.com/p/perspectiveproject/