BIOS and Boot question.
Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 6:05 pm
I want to install LinuxMint onto a Dell computer but when I go into setup menu there is no option to set cdrom or cdrw in the boot sequence. I contacted Dell and tried several methods to reset the BIOS but none worked. In the boot sequence the only options are ; 1. Floppy, 2. Hard drive. I downloaded the startup files from Dell but it was 1.5Mb, so would not fit on 3.5" floppy 1.44Mb, so that method of booting is no longer an option. I tried it on a CD and Thumbdrive to see (hopefully) if it would boot but it didn', the lights lit up briefly but defaulted to the HD and loaded Windows 2000.
Currently there is Windows 2000 Professional, password protected (I don't have the password), Dell's Bios number listed as v.A06 and it also shows an Adaptec A1C-7899 BIOS v.25113 (SCSI). This has dual Intel Pentium lll 933Mhz processors (Intel). The primary drive is the SCSI Fujitsu MAJ3091MP Hard drive with a second drive being an EIDE Western Digital WD300 30GB Hard drive. The Fujitsu is connected through the LVD SCSI connector and the Western Digital through the Primary EIDE connector. That is about all the information I have about the computer that I gathered from a visual inspection and by accessing the BIOS Setup.
Now that all that is out of the way, my question is; If I were to format the HD (boot disk) and erase all the OS (Windows 2000) would the computer then seek a new OS bootup file (LinuxMint CD) and install it? I need to find a workaround to get Windows off this computer and put my OS of choice on. So Windows definitely will go no matter what.
Any help is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.
Currently there is Windows 2000 Professional, password protected (I don't have the password), Dell's Bios number listed as v.A06 and it also shows an Adaptec A1C-7899 BIOS v.25113 (SCSI). This has dual Intel Pentium lll 933Mhz processors (Intel). The primary drive is the SCSI Fujitsu MAJ3091MP Hard drive with a second drive being an EIDE Western Digital WD300 30GB Hard drive. The Fujitsu is connected through the LVD SCSI connector and the Western Digital through the Primary EIDE connector. That is about all the information I have about the computer that I gathered from a visual inspection and by accessing the BIOS Setup.
Now that all that is out of the way, my question is; If I were to format the HD (boot disk) and erase all the OS (Windows 2000) would the computer then seek a new OS bootup file (LinuxMint CD) and install it? I need to find a workaround to get Windows off this computer and put my OS of choice on. So Windows definitely will go no matter what.
Any help is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.