External DVD to boot i910?
in [Dell]
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From: WSZsr on 26 Dec 2009 16:58 he is asking about a mini 9 not some older system. "BillW50" <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote in message news:hh5cld$av2$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > In news:hh4sci$6if$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, > WSZsr typed on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:35:19 -0600: >> Not necessary. Just hit F12 at post and pick your USB boot flash >> device from the list. > > That was the point. Some BIOS older than 2003 or so, doesn't support > booting from USB ever! And this includes USB floppy drives and USB CD/DVD > drives as well. > > -- > Bill > Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2 >
From: BillW50 on 26 Dec 2009 17:29 In news:hh60sr$lif$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, WSZsr typed on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:58:25 -0600: > he is asking about a mini 9 not some older system. D'oh! <smacks forehead> Thanks! -- Bill Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2
From: Timothy Daniels on 27 Dec 2009 20:32 "BillW50" wrote: > Timothy Daniels typed: >> And: "The first hurdle is having a PC in which the BIOS will allow >> you to configure the USB port to act as a bootable device." >> >> Hmmm... It sounds like it's all dependent on the BIOS. Since that >> seems to be so, for booting from an external rotational HD, I'd >> rather just buy a desktop with an eSATA port on the motherboard. > > Hi Tim! Why does it have to be a desktop? As some laptops already > come with eSATA port(s). And for the ones that doesn't, you can > buy CardBus or ExpressCard ones for under 20 bucks. I haven't been in the market for a laptop for a year and a half, but when I bought my XPS M1330 laptop, there weren't any laptops that had eSATA ports (that I could find). I did buy an eSATA ExpressCard, hoping that I could boot from it, but I couldn't, and the inability to boot with an eSATA HD on an ExpressCard was confirmed by 2 tech reps at SIIG. When I called Dell about a month ago, several sales reps AND tech reps denied that Dell desktops with eSATA on the motherboard could boot from an external eSATA HD, but when pressed, they admitted that they officially "didn't know" because booting from an external eSATA HD was unsupported by Dell. I expect that the machines with eSATA boot just fine from external HDs, but Dell's attorneys have advised that Dell not to make it an acknow- ledged "feature". *TimDaniels*
From: Timothy Daniels on 27 Dec 2009 20:48 "WSZsr" wrote: > > "BillW50" wrote: >> WSZsr typed: >>> Not necessary. Just hit F12 at post and pick your USB boot flash >>> device from the list. >> >> That was the point. Some BIOS older than 2003 or so, doesn't support booting from USB ever! And this includes USB >> floppy drives and USB CD/DVD drives as well. > > he is asking about a mini 9 not some older system. Maybe the OP was asking about a mini 9, but I butted in as the discussion drifted toward general PCs. I'm still of the opinion that unless the manufacturer, by way of a cooperative BIOS, hasn't enabled booting from a USB device, and you want to boot a "big" OS such as WinXP/Pro, Vista Biz, or Win7, you're SOL unless you can do major hacking. Bart'sPE or whatever it's called or some cut-down version of Linux might be handy for diagnostics or limited rescucitation after a HD failure, but my interests lie in archiving away an immediately bootable full- bore OS with installed apps. So far, I've been satisfied with clones on a removable HD tray or clones on a 2nd or 3rd HD inside the PC's case, but being able to boot from an external HD containing such clones would be the most convenient way to recover quickly from a HD failure. *TimDaniels*
From: Timothy Daniels on 27 Dec 2009 20:50
"BillW50" wrote: > .... some laptops are already coming with eSATA ports. <grin> That is quite interesting to me. Which laptops are these? *TimDaniels* |