[NBLUG/talk] How Low Can We Go?

Andrew argonaut at gmx.co.uk
Wed Apr 19 15:25:40 PDT 2006


Kyle Rankin wrote on Wed, 19 Apr 2006 12:44:35 -0700:

> On Wed, Apr 19, 2006 at 11:53:39AM -0700, Stephen Cilley wrote:
> > Thanks for all of your input.
> > I got back from HSC about 30 minutes ago, I got
> > floppies and a pcmcia 10/100 card (I needed one
> > anyway.)  I tried to get one of the bootdisks to run
> > the lappy and it turns out that the floppy drive is
> > bad.
[snip]
> > So how do I do it now, with just a network connection?
> > 
> > Stephen
> > 
> 
> The best way would be to drop back by HSC and check out their
> selection of used laptop floppy drives and see if you can find
> one that works. Otherwise you'll have to resort to the
> pull-laptop-hard-drive-and-install-from-other-computer method,
> which will require an adapter so you can hook up the 2.5"
> laptop IDE connection to a standard IDE port.

I got a 2.5-inch-to-standard IDE adapter at Cr at pUSA for about $8.
It's been *very* useful.

I'd also recommend, Stephen, that you stop by the Computer
Recycling Center on Saturday and pick up a larger hard drive.
Your current "almost 1 GB" drive is going to feel awfully
cramped. The CRC has boxes and boxes of 2 GB and smaller drives
for $2 or less apiece. Heck, at that price, grab five. If you
look hard enough, you might find some 3 GB drives. Don't forget
to check for a master/slave/cable-select jumper. They come in
handy, especially if you're going to use the above adapter to pop
the drive into a desktop. Pull one off another drive, if you need
to. Oh, and check how thick of a drive your Toshi can
accommodate. My P120 Toshi (a Satellite Pro 430CDT) can only take
a drive that is 1/2 inch thick or thinner. On mine, the drive is
accessed through the battery compartment.

As for getting into the BIOS, try the escape key.

Have fun.

A.



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