Simple question on sys disk

[eaglestrike7339]

Ok, slightly confused here.
In the byopc ste 1 guide on the main sight (http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/step/1/)
it mentions that you must have a system disk.

What exactly is this? How would i obtain one?

[haggard21]

to get up and running, if you are using Windows XP all you need is the OS discs themselves.

[eaglestrike7339]

Originally Posted by haggard21 to get up and running, if you are using Windows XP all you need is the OS discs themselves.

What i was realy hoping to do was use any version of free linux. Long story short, my orig xp comp died by BIOS corruption (dunno how, just did). I want to reuse the main parts, (basicly the processor and ram), to make a new cheap working system.

[haggard21]

I'm not too familiar with Linux, but I would assume the free version would have a boot file or files that you could then copy to a floppy or cd. If so, then set you floppy or cd drive as the primary boot device in the BIOS and insert the disk. The system disk just allows you to boot from somewhere other than the hard drive and is used if there is no OS present on the hard drive to boot from or if the OS fails to load from the hard drive.

[eaglestrike7339]

Originally Posted by haggard21 I'm not too familiar with Linux, but I would assume the free version would have a boot file or files that you could then copy to a floppy or cd. If so, then set you floppy or cd drive as the primary boot device in the BIOS and insert the disc. The system disc just allows you to boot from somewhere other than the hard drive and is used if there is no OS present on the hard drive to boot from or if the OS fails to load from the hard drive.

ok, thats pretty much what i was hoping for. for linux, freespire and ubuntu at least, it gives you the ISO on disk, so install is the same as the system disk or w/e.

ty

[haggard21]

I would ask around on the software forums and double check as I have never personally used or installed Linux so I don't know if it is the same procedure as Windows, someone will know though.

[LeftyAce]

This thread may get moved to the "Alternative operating systems" forum, but for now I'll reply here.

If you're going the linux route, I'd recommend Ubuntu; it's got a very firendly installer, and a good selection of software installed. There's also a good package manager which basically lets you look at a list of programs people have written for Ubuntu and download what you want. It'll grab any dependencies (other progs that the one you're after relies on) and is, overall, a breeze.

Download the installation iso, and burn it to a disk . YOU CAN'T DO THIS IN WINDOWS by default...it'll give you a CD with an ISO file on it...useless :-)
Check this out for burning instructions: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

Once you've got it, the procedure is the same as for a windows install.