[SOLVED] HD Crash - Can't boot Live Linux CD

[riancochran]

Hi. My HD has recently crashed and I'm trying to boot Puppy Linux to recover my lost files. I've burnt Puppy Linux as an ISO, changed my BIOS to boot CD/DVD first, but the computer still goes in to Windows Error Recovery first rather than booting the disk. Any suggestions how to get the disk to boot?

Thanks

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Have you Puppy Linux CD in other machine? Boot up from Windows OS installation CD, does machine detect and boot up from it?

[Rubberman]

Your system is probably configured to boot from hard disc. You either need to change the boot order in the bios, or if it is available, select the one-time-boot option when the bios splash screen comes up. On Dell systems, that is the F12 key, vs the F2 key to get into the bios itself.

[riancochran]

I've changed the BIOS and have even tried F12 boot CD/DVD, with no luck.

I tried to boot the disc using another computer and it didn't work either. I guess that means I've done something wrong when burning the ISO to a disk. I used Sonic to do the burn. Next move?

[devils casper]

Download ImgBurn ( ImageBurn ) in Windows OS and select Burn Iso Image option. Its a very good burning tool. iirc, its just a 2MB download.

[riancochran]

Ok, I've successfully booted in to Puppy Linux. Now I've gone through the various partitions (if they are the sdas) but can't find pictures or .xlsx files. Is there any way to search?

[MikeTbob]

Mount all the devices and issue this in a terminal with as root or with sudo.
updatedb &
Wait about 10 minutes then you can use the command line to search for anything.
locate *.jpg <-- this will probably bring a ton of hits.
locate filename.jpg
Try locate stuff by name, if you know any of them. You can also use the find command but I'm not too good with that yet.
UNIX man pages : find ()

[riancochran]

I've mounted the devices, but am unsure of the next steps. Can you be a little more clear and provide a step by step explanation of what I'm to do? Thanks for your help!

[MikeTbob]

Open a terminal window and issue those commands.
updatedb &
This will scan all mounted partitions so that you can search them.
after that command runs, you can use the locate command to find any type of file, if you know the name of it that helps.

[riancochran]

i've opened the terminal window and have entered the command 'updatedb' no more no less. i then get the message 'bash: updatedb: command not found'. i run xubuntu (very new and experimental) on a second computer and i can run the 'locate' command there...I just can't do it in Puppy Linux. Suggestions?