Jeiji

Okay guys, please bear with me as I am extremely frustrated here and not at all Linux savvy...
This is a laptop running OpenSUSE 10.0 given to me by a friend. I am not a coder. I do not know ANYTHING about programming, about how Linux works, and indeed had never even seen Linux in operation before this computer.
This laptop does not have a floppy drive.

OpenSUSE is a cute operating system but it just does not suit my needs at all, and I have no idea how to get anything working on this.
I am trying to install XP overtop of OpenSUSE but the CD will not boot.

I know that the partitions need to be deleted but I do not know how to do this in Linux. The GRUB loader just takes over everything before the CD can run. I have read something about changing the BIOS to allow the CD to be booted from first. I do not know even where to begin to make this happen.

Seriously, all I need is just to get the XP disc running. I can take care of it from there. I am so incredibly frustrated, I have tried several methods I found on Google and to no avail. I can't copy files to the boot/grub folder, I don't even know if I'm doing it right. It says access is denied. For the record, I do know the admin/root password. I do not know if my account is set as the administrator, but I do have the password and the permission to format this computer.

Please help me, I am capable of listening and willing to learn. I just need to be taught. Please try to be a simple and concise as you can, and try to tell me where the otions are, to use Windows as an example, "Start > Programs > System Tools > Calculator."
If I come of as angry it's only because I've sat here for the past four hours to no avail and have no idea what I'm doing.

Also, the CD is burned as an image, yes.
Please help me boot it, and thanks in advance.

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ozar

Welcome to the forums!

Download and burn the PartedMagic LiveCD ISO file to a blank CD:

http://www.partedmagic.com

Then you can used it to wipe your drive of all content by going to a terminal and issuing the following command:

You'll need to replace /dev/sda with your actual device name such as /dev/hda.

Using the dd command above will write zeros to the entire drive giving you a totally fresh start.

If needed, you can use the fdisk -l command to determine your device name:

Your Windows XP CD should work again after doing this.

Let us know how it goes.

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oz

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Jeiji

Thanks so much for your reply, but I should also mention: I do not have access to a CD burner.
Is there any way this can be done through some kind of Command Prompt-like program or within LInux's Visually based Interface?

ozar

From the LiveCD is better, but you can do it from SUSE if you open a terminal or konsole (look for it in your apps menu), su to root, then issue the same command:

You'll need to know the root password to do this.

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oz

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Jeiji

:3 Okay, I know the root password. After I did that, it said:

1+0 records in
1+0 records out
512 bytes (512 B) copied, 6.9e-05 seconds, 7.4MB/s

Did I do it right?
And now what?

Also thank you so much for your help.

ozar

That's it!

Reboot and you should have no OS on the machine and your WinXP disk should work if it's a good disk.

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