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5 Responses to How do you install linux on a computer that doesn’t have an OS on it?
no, you can install of a live CD, when you get the startup, choose install and not tryout.
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“. . . none of them seem to work . . .”
What exactly happens?
Does it not boot from the CD?
Does it boot from the CD but doesn’t recognize Sata HDD?
Don’t get video?
What?
Open another thread with as much detail as possible. You’ll get a better answer
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You’re o.k. – click on this address and everything you need is there!
http://www.linux.org/ Take your time and read-up on it.
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What you’ll need to do is first pick the flavor of Linux you want to install. Then go and download the CD images from the distributors website, preferably in an .ISO format. The install CDs will allow you to install on a blank system.
Next, burn the CDs using a “burn image to disk” option. Roxio and Nero both have this option. This is important because if you extra the files from the disk and try to burn the disk using lots of individual files (or download the OS as a .gz, .tar, or .zip) it won’t be bootable.
Next, you should end up with one (or most likely more than one) CDs. The first disk should be bootable. Boot the computer from the CD — the BIOS should in the absence of a OS on the hard disk check the CD drive, but if not, you may want to enter the computer’s BIOS setup (look for press F-something on boot for setup). The CDRom needs to be one of the boot options.
After booting from the CD, you will either get a boot prompt, or a setup wizard. If a boot prompt, press enter and setup should start.
Complete the wizard, and you should have a bootable OS.
Done this before.
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1. Start up your machine.
2. You should see the manufacturer’s logo appear (if it’s a ready made machine)
3. Before it gives you the little blinking underscore, hit F2, sometimes F10, you should be in your BIOS settings. Each BIOS is different, so the following directions may be a little vague.
4. Follow the directions-you want to be looking for a BOOT menu-this controls which device is read from first. It sounds like it’s your HDD currently, and since it doesn’t have an OS on it, it can’t read anything.
5. Once you’ve found it, you want to make your disc drive your primary boot drive. This can be as simple as moving the highlighted area over to the disc drive and pressing up or down until it becomes the first boot device.
6. Save and reboot! The BIOS will help you with how to do that.
7. Open your CD tray, pop in the live CD and let it roll.
8. Once you’ve logged in on your live CD, you should see an icon on your desktop that says “Install to hard drive” or something similar. Double click, and it should be fine and happy.
That should be it! If it still doesn’t boot, then you’ve either got the following: A) Bad BIOS B) Bad LiveCD. Although I doubt you’ll ever have a bad BIOS.
G’luck!
Computer Science student-I know my stuff!
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