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installing Linux

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by blueisle7

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I bought a used PC that supposedly had the OS removed, but when I boot it up I get the Win98 splash screen and it goes directly to the c: prompt. I need to wipe the disk to load linux, but it won't recognize the D drive (had new cdrom/dvd installed) I'm sure I just need to install the driver for that. how can I get to a drive that will allow me to run wipedisk?

4 replies

by wordmaster1

Use a Windows 98 startup floppy to boot the machine. It will have the drivers to make the CD available. Hope this helps

by nimmo

Check in the BIOS that the CD is detected and enabled in your boot order as a boot device before the hard drive.

by jdclyde

After you boot to the c:, can you type "d:" and then a "dir" to look at the cd?

That will tell you if the drive is working in the first place. If the drive is dead, it will not be available and you know what needs to be replaced.

If it does NOT work, pop the case off to confirm that it has both the IDE ribbon and power. (does it eject when you push the button?)

Confirm the slave/master setting.

THEN, as mentioned, go into the bios and make sure the CD is set as a boot device before the hard drive.

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