Quote:
Originally Posted by ThePhanastasio
I have two laptops at present which both refuse to work. Getting the BSoD on both, with the same error message. A disk check on the laptop I've had since 05 yielded unsettling results: The hard drive has an error in port 1 and is not functioning.
Now, I'm assuming that the laptop running Vista is very much in the same boat, as the BSoD messages are identical as to what the perceived problem is. I would really like both laptops to function, but I really don't want to take it into a repair shop, and would like to somewhat "fix it myself".
I have a shared laptop on which I don't download music or anything of the sort, and my budget (as I've got plans for the summer and need to really watch my cash flow) is right about where I'd be able to purchase a single external hard drive of 2TB.
If I were to get this, I'd really like to be able to run Linux in lieu of Windows, with which I strongly wish to part ways.
Is there any feasible way I could download Linux onto an external drive and boot the laptops via Firewire or USB using that OS, completely disregarding the internal drives as lost causes?
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If your hard drives are recognized in the BIOS, you might want to load an OS disk and wipe them out, and try a reinstall, seeing if you get a similar problem. If so, you know it's hardware related and likely not worth salvaging.
I don't know why you wouldn't just get two 2.5 inch replacement drives... they're cheap as hell, and you don't have to worry about going through the process of making your external drive bootable for linux (and that's assuming your BIOS supports booting from USB to begin with)... not to mention the portability issue of having another box to lug around.
Removing the hard drive from laptops is usually an easy affair, with the drive port being underneath the laptop and accessible by removing a few screws.
If you go that route, you can still go with Linux, and it will be less of a headache in the short, and longrun.