Hi
I'm kinda new here and love gettin' free advice on my computer endeavors. This is a great resource to have.
This may be a stoopid [sic] question, but since my newest PC (4rth one)(yet to arrive, however) will be a Toshiba 2435 S255 laptop, I'm curious if I can run it with an outboard HDD or simulation until I get a replacement for the internal one? I was told there may be a way to do this. Even if my PC one ( first PC has Win ME, second has Win 98 SE)could connect via some sort of adapter to the internal connector. I have an SD and PC card slot along with 3 USB 2.0 for this model, but use Sony's Memory sticks in my camera. Thinking I can simulate a drive with this, however it's only 256 MB ProDuo Sandisc. I don't have Windows XP other then my latest desktop Presario, and the restore discs are paticular to that machine, as I understand it (Microsoft piracy protect?)
BILL

I don't understand exactly what you are wanting to know or what you are referring to by simulation.

• If you are asking about attaching additional storage with a USB HDD, you can do that.
• If you are asking about booting Windows XP off of a USB HDD, you cannot do that. Windows will not install itself onto removable media. You can install numerous distros of Linux to removable media however.
• I still don't understand what you mean by simulation. USB flash drives, USB harddrives, and flash media look like regular drives in Windows. They don't simulate anything; they are actual drives. You can use these drives for anything and use them as regular harddrives. You can't install Windows to them though.

If you can clarify what you are asking by asking some well-worded concise questions, I can offer you more assistance.

I don't mean to quote this, but oh, well... I'm trying to keep my posts brief. I mean to simulate the normal Laptop HDD with a desktop or memory-pen USB type device... in other words, Can I operate the laptop for testing or any other use without it's normally supplied drives...this is a barebones unit I'm told, but don't have yet to ascertain the full extent.
Can I link to my desktop PC's HDD, if I want to power up the laptop and it has no CD/DVD or HDD of it's own? Addendum: I have Windows 98 SE on CD ROM, and was installed on a fresh book PC with no OS... since this is an earlier version, I think I can actually install on more then one PC (for personal use, though I know Microsoft would frown on this), but would it work to power this PC designed for XP (which I won't have yet)
BILL

Hello Bill,

Your description of what you are trying to do is weak; that is why we cannot understand what you are saying.

Windows Will --
* Work with any internal installed Hard drive. IDE or SATA or SCSI, as long as all of the driver requirements are satisfied

Windows WON'T
* Boot and function from a CD-ROM. It requires write access for temp files,and you cannot write to a CD-ROM, and CD-ROM RW's aren't supported
* Boot from any device in the USB tree. This means thumb drives, USB external hard drives, or laptops pretending to be hard drives in some emulation mode (Macs can do this!)
* Boot from a Firewire device
* Boot from a Floppy Disk

OK, I hope I spelled it out better above... Forgot to mention the laptop I will be getting was sold as a bare, or barebones unit, so I have to buy accessories, likely to include AC, batt, drive and memory... If I get adapter and memory, if need be, can I run it w/o the drives...somehow, or in any fashion?
I'd like to test it out when I get it but can't afford all it needs at once
I was told I could link to a HDD by another computer, that disc having Windows and programs to run
BILL

I'll mention as an aside; I also picked up a used HP DAT drive, that is SCSI. I've never mated this to my modern PCs however, so not sure how to use it but would Windows (98SE for example) go onto this device?
...and what can I use to link it to a modern PC (mine are eMachine 700 eTower and Presario SR1220NX)?

Bill

If you want to run it without any drives other than what you can attach with a USB connection, start looking at Linux. There are many Live CD distros of Linux that can be installed to USB flash drives or run off of a CD from a USB drive.

Other than those options, there is not an OS that I can think of that will run on a machine without any harddrives attached with IDE, SATA, or SCSI.

No way to mate to a desktop HDD then? Seems there are a number of computer cables out there, but my knowledge of laptops is very small. I considered them out of my price range for years... not to mention not as expand friendly. Linux is another mystery to me, can it be had for free? (recall something in that regard, but could be wrong)
BILL

There are converters to convert a laptop harddrive into one that will function with full-sized IDE and power connections, but I have yet to see any converters that do the reverse. The problem is that full-sized harddrives require both 12v and 5v power connections. Laptops only produce 5v and not the 12v that these drives need.

Most distros of Linux are free, if you download them. You can find a number of links to these distros in the link I provided in my last post (Live CD). Damn Small Linux is a distro that is only 50MB. It can run off of any sized business CD or even flash media (Note: your system must support booting from a USB device in order to use flash media). If you use a USB CD drive with the system, I would recommend trying SLAX or Ubuntu. You can find more Live CD distros here.

Hi again,
I see what you are saying... Talking with someone today, they said I could configure the drive that get's priority to be the one with an OS or something to boot, perhaps. I may just need to get memory as well, installed, so looking at that. I just got back from eBay where an IDE to USB adapter located in UK/Hong Kong is being offered, via Paypal only, so I can't get one, but it looks to facilitate several interesting options, like powering DVD/CD drives, like the APEX home units that are computer IDE connected.
It's also noted a LAN system would require drivers installed to even get the info from an external source.

This is in the end, educational for me, however. I did also read Linux may not work with a majority of my Windows software, for example and needs a GUI to look similar to Windows, which if I'm correct in assuming Bill Gates adopted after producing initial products for Apple's first MacIntosh and Lisa systems in 84, circa

BILL