Baslinux mailing list

[James Miller <jamtat AT mailsnare.net>]

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