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  • From: James Miller <jamtat AT mailsnare.net>
  • To: baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [BL] BL3 and XP
  • Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 10:56:19 -0600 (CST)

On Thu, 3 Nov 2005, sindi keesan wrote:

Will 2-FD BL3 access an XP hard drive?
If not, is there a small kernel I can use that will fit into the 2-FD
system (assuming I can figure out how to change it and there is space)?
Or will DamnSmallLinux work?

If the drive is formatted FAT 32, any of the BL's should be able to read it. But most "factory" (or OEM) Win XP installs are NTFS. Linux has developed ways of reading--and even writing--to NTFS partitions. On older versions of the kernel such as will be found in BL, the least you'd need to do is probably insert a module for NTFS support. I've never tried it myself, but I would think you could get NTFS read ability that way. But I'd say the ideal solution to this problem would be to use a newer bootable Linux CD: DSL is an option, but Mepis and Knoppix would also be good choices if there is sufficient RAM (256MB or >). If you get newer versions of any of these, they will have all the latest greatest NTFS capabilities. They will also include CD burning programs to transfer files to CD, if the machine has a separate burner. They will also have Parted or QTParted, which might help straighten out, or at least identify, boot sector problems. If the drive is simply unresponsive, you might try the primitive-Pete approach--said to actually work--of sticking the drive in the freezer for a few hours, then trying it out again after "thawing."

A friend is hoping to at least get the files off his hard drive in a
computer which stopped booting and has Windows on it. Best Buy repair
people gave up on it. We don't have an XP boot disk - should we try to
get one from a friend or don't they use boot disks any more.

You can download XP bootdisk images form the 'net (www.bootdisk.com). Then there's BartPE, using which you create a CD that boots you into a Windows environment for repair and so forth. It can be rather involved creating that CD though, and requires using a newer Windows machine with, of course, a CD burner.

James




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