Installing Linux Distro Without CD-Rom Drive HELP

[Christian Darrall]

let me explain my perdicament.

I have an Aspire one laptop which has no CD-Rom and i dont have a USB Stick.

is there a way of installing a Linux Distro onto a partition directly from Windows 7 Starter.

My objective is to completly remove Windows and have linux as being the main OS

any suggestions?

 

[NyxCharon]

Here you go:
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Edit:nvm, you said no usb either. You're going to be hard pressed to install an OS without some kind of media. Only other thing I can think of is to PXE boot it.

 

[Christian Darrall]

i have a wireless router setup but weather the laptops capable of PXE i havnt a clue? is there anyway of running the setup under windows because then i can redirect it to an empty partition?

fter a bit of googling ive found this

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/171

will this do the job?

 

[AntimatterAsh]

Something like debian, if you download the ISO file you want, and then use something like WinRAR to extract it all to a folder on the C:\ Drive, then run setup...and follow that through may work.

Or you could read this.

I don't see why you don't just pick up a DVD drive, or an external DVD drive...they are not expensive, and are useful from day to day with everything. It would be worth the money.

 

[TrainTrackHack]

You can do that with Debian - all you need is a FAT32 partition on your hard disc (big enough to hold the contents of the image file, I'd say make it 10GB just in case, it might turn out to be useful later on). You can use a program like 7-zip to extract the contents of the installer image (don't need unetbootin or anything fancy, literally just unpack the contents to the FAT32 partition) and then run the Win32 installer. It sets up your Windows boot entries to either run the installer or start Windows - just pick the installer and you're good to go.

Mind you, I've only done this with Squeeze, which is the current stable version, but the software is somewhat out of date - getting testing (Wheezy) might be a better bet as it's close to release anyway so it's already mostly stable and has much newer software.

Another option is to simply chuck the HD into another computer, install Linux on it and then put it back in. Linux generally has no problem with being shuffled around on different machines like this.

 

[Christian Darrall]

Thanks for all the help folks. jobs a guden. debian installed fine. ive now managed to use G parted to remove the windows partition and merge it with the linux. Im now free from Billy Microsoft

 

[AntimatterAsh]

Is this your main PC may I ask?

No reason...if it is, I am just wondering what has pushed you away from Windows...I am curious as I am learning Linux at the moment

 

[Christian Darrall]

Windows is to much of a faff... updates, antivirus, firewalls all that stuff, this is my main PC but having the ability to do work on the move is alot better then sitting at home, linux has alot more freedom then windows i feel, and also most of its software is smaller in size compared to windows. making much better off on hard drive space.

Linux is much more lightweight in terms of processer power then windows 7 starter, and ive had alot more help and support in using linux then in windows (ubuntu irc channel etc)

I forgot to mention. microsoft has become more a devices company so updates for windows may be far and few between, i think its better to get used to another OS before the support runs out and the costs start rising

Just a quick update for all those who want a better walkthrough after a couple hours googling heres a more detailed decription

http://www.instantfundas.com/2007/08/install-any-linux-distro-directly-from.html