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On 23/04/13 14:01, Neil Winchurst wrote: > I have checked and my old computer dates from April 2006. I can't > believe it is 7 years old. So I guess you are right, it has the older > style fittings for the DVD drive. I have never tried booting from a > USB thumb drive, ever, so I don't know if it will work on this one, > but I have my doubts. I will have to learn how to do that and then > test it. > > I don't know how far away you live. > > The plan for the old computer was to get it up and running and then to > see if it would make a home server. I like to learn new skills. I also > have an old laptop, though not so old as the desktop, so perhaps it > would make more sense to try that instead. > > Thanks > > Neil That's not that old actually, some of us here on this list have got proper antiques in our garages! A 2006 vintage machine will quite possibly have both SATA and IDE ports on the mainboard and will in all likelihood boot from USB as well. Can we just clarify then, is the replacement DVD drive you have a SATA or an IDE unit? Does your motherboard have SATA, IDE or both types of connectors? I would have thought it would probably have both as it's from the time when machines were still transitioning from one standard to the next - you'll probably have SATA ports on the board and a legacy IDE connection as well. You might well only need to grub up an old IDE ribbon cable from somewhere to get it connected. Sidestepping that for a moment, do you know how to get into the BIOS on that old PC? It's usually achieved by hitting F2 in the moments after initial boot (I tend to just hammer it repeatedly to make sure I don't miss the window of opportunity). Manufacturers do have an annoying habit of changing hotkeys around though - DEL and ESC are both common alternatives. Either way, your PC probably displays a very brief BIOS flash screen which with any luck will include the relevant hotkey information so look out for that. Once you've accessed the BIOS, look for a section called "Boot". Have a rummage around in the settings and if you see either USB or "removable drive" listed as possible boot devices or in the boot priority list then your box supports USB booting. Have a little look around and get back. There are several other options for a machine without a working optical drive as well, but I think I've got a pretty good feel for your technical level by now and I suspect they might give you a bit of a headache. Nonetheless, if you have a spare HD around you can effectively dump an installer on to it in your main working PC, transfer it to your old PC, and use it to boot and install to your main drive. A much better option is to PXE boot your installer over the network but that is decidedly non-trivial and probably not a realistic solution for you. Cheers -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq