Will a Puppy CD boot if Windows won't?
Will a Puppy CD boot if Windows won't?
I have a message on my Windows computer that the Windows operating system is missing or corrupted. My computer at the moment is a dud-won't do anything. My question is about the live Puppy Linux CD. Since it by passes the operating system will it boot up on my computer with a defunct Windows operating system sitting there or is this just wishfull thinking on my part? Thanks in advance for your reply/replies
Yes, you should be able to boot Puppy from the LiveCD, or for that matter any other Linux that can run as a LiveCD. I mention this because other distros, such as Knoppix, may offer a larger set of tools for fixing PCs.
You may have to tinker with your BIOS settings to allow the computer to boot from the CD/DVD drive.
You may have to tinker with your BIOS settings to allow the computer to boot from the CD/DVD drive.
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takingawalk
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Fri 05 Jul 2013, 07:08
Hello there. I hope someone will correct me or back me up on this, since I'm also a 'beginner'. I've made the description as easily understandable as I could. You probably think that I think you're an idiot 
but I only did it so that anyone should be able to follow it and not get confused. Maybe it's a really bad way to describe it, going so much into details. It's a very simple procedure, that could also have been described with a "Puppy will be able to access your HDD and copy/backup any important files to other media, etc. But it will not load/run Windows. It will not run any Windows programs".
The live-Puppy will look the same way on all computers (that can run it). On mine, what it does is, instead of loading Windows from the hard disk, my PC can load Puppy Linux directly from a CD or other media. It might sound like magic, but on my PC the Linux desktop is really fast, even though nothing is installed (except to RAM memory, which gets 'deleted' when you power off the PC).
When you've booted to Puppy Linux, it'll be the same desktop as anyone else would see booting into that version. So, no influence from your hard disk with Windows. It'll be Puppy Linux.
The thing Puppy can do for your hard drive with Windows, is to browse the files and even copy them to other media. That could be useful to you if you can't find other ways to get to those files (but I bet you can in some way). When the Puppy desktop has loaded, there'll be a bunch of icons on the desktop. The icon I think is useful here is called 'mnt'. If you click that icon, a little program opens up that lists all media it can see. One of those will definitely be your hard drive, and another will definitely be the CD drive. When you click 'MOUNT' at the hard drive, a folder should pop up showing you all contents of the hard drive. Now Puppy has accessed your hard drive and you can see if Windows is still there. You can also mark files you want to copy, and drag and drop them to for example an USB drive (search or ask for guides if you need it, but it seems intuitive to me, just drag-n-drop to another folder, like one would do in Windows). Just don't copy them to the RAM or the CD, because that won't work.
Making your computer check the CD before it checks hard disk:
Many computers do this from their 'birth'. So it's only if yours ignores the Puppy CD, in which case you have to manually make your computer check CDs before it checks the hard disk. For your PC to load from the burned Puppy CD, it has to check the CD drive for any operating systems just when it turns on, before it checks and finds Windows on your hard disk. These checks happen just when you turn it on and the screen is black with a logo or something like that. In the bottom of that screen, there should be the name of a shortcut, that you can type to enter the 'boot options'. Pressing that button instantly would open a new menu where you can tell the computer the order in which to look for an operating system. Here, you'd want CDs to be looked at first, so it checks and finds Puppy Linux before it even looks at your hard drive.
Hope I didn't waste your time.
but I only did it so that anyone should be able to follow it and not get confused. Maybe it's a really bad way to describe it, going so much into details. It's a very simple procedure, that could also have been described with a "Puppy will be able to access your HDD and copy/backup any important files to other media, etc. But it will not load/run Windows. It will not run any Windows programs".The live-Puppy will look the same way on all computers (that can run it). On mine, what it does is, instead of loading Windows from the hard disk, my PC can load Puppy Linux directly from a CD or other media. It might sound like magic, but on my PC the Linux desktop is really fast, even though nothing is installed (except to RAM memory, which gets 'deleted' when you power off the PC).
When you've booted to Puppy Linux, it'll be the same desktop as anyone else would see booting into that version. So, no influence from your hard disk with Windows. It'll be Puppy Linux.
The thing Puppy can do for your hard drive with Windows, is to browse the files and even copy them to other media. That could be useful to you if you can't find other ways to get to those files (but I bet you can in some way). When the Puppy desktop has loaded, there'll be a bunch of icons on the desktop. The icon I think is useful here is called 'mnt'. If you click that icon, a little program opens up that lists all media it can see. One of those will definitely be your hard drive, and another will definitely be the CD drive. When you click 'MOUNT' at the hard drive, a folder should pop up showing you all contents of the hard drive. Now Puppy has accessed your hard drive and you can see if Windows is still there. You can also mark files you want to copy, and drag and drop them to for example an USB drive (search or ask for guides if you need it, but it seems intuitive to me, just drag-n-drop to another folder, like one would do in Windows). Just don't copy them to the RAM or the CD, because that won't work.
Making your computer check the CD before it checks hard disk:
Many computers do this from their 'birth'. So it's only if yours ignores the Puppy CD, in which case you have to manually make your computer check CDs before it checks the hard disk. For your PC to load from the burned Puppy CD, it has to check the CD drive for any operating systems just when it turns on, before it checks and finds Windows on your hard disk. These checks happen just when you turn it on and the screen is black with a logo or something like that. In the bottom of that screen, there should be the name of a shortcut, that you can type to enter the 'boot options'. Pressing that button instantly would open a new menu where you can tell the computer the order in which to look for an operating system. Here, you'd want CDs to be looked at first, so it checks and finds Puppy Linux before it even looks at your hard drive.
Hope I didn't waste your time.
Welcome to Puppy oleander and takingawalk.
I have a fix Windows with Puppy post.
A bit longish but it might help.
Plenty of links to other good forums and help.
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=58305
:::::::
Here is a How to on recovering files with Puppy.
Recover files from Windows hard disk using Puppy Linux
http://www.winhelp.us/recover-files-usi ... dd6G4GrmuI
Non-destructive reinstall of Windows XP
http://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-r ... dd6wYGrmuI
Non-destructive reinstall of Windows 7
http://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-r ... dd7DoGrmuI
Chris.
I have a fix Windows with Puppy post.
A bit longish but it might help.
Plenty of links to other good forums and help.
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=58305
:::::::
Here is a How to on recovering files with Puppy.
Recover files from Windows hard disk using Puppy Linux
http://www.winhelp.us/recover-files-usi ... dd6G4GrmuI
Non-destructive reinstall of Windows XP
http://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-r ... dd6wYGrmuI
Non-destructive reinstall of Windows 7
http://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-r ... dd7DoGrmuI
Chris.
While Puppy is good for recovering data from a broken Windows, there are tools that are more useful for repairing broken Windows.
Your machine will boot from any bootable CD and there is a very useful one that contains MANY Windows repair tools.
Whilst some tools on it are "strictly" illegal unless you have an XP licence, Hiren's Boot CD is a well known and much liked addition to many Windows support people.
Your machine will boot from any bootable CD and there is a very useful one that contains MANY Windows repair tools.
Whilst some tools on it are "strictly" illegal unless you have an XP licence, Hiren's Boot CD is a well known and much liked addition to many Windows support people.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett
A thankyou
Thank you so much everyone for your replies to my question. I have printed them out at the library and will take them home and study them and then take action. I am not very tech savy but this situation is educating me a bit 
I have another question. How is puppy linux if you install it and download and use a a graphics intense virtual life game like secondlife?
I have another question. How is puppy linux if you install it and download and use a a graphics intense virtual life game like secondlife?