how to install onto a HDD from one machine to put into another

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[Mir]

The Wiki use to contain a walkthrough on how to do this but i belive that the page has long dissapeared after a hacker got into the wiki.  I was wondering if anyone here knows the steps to install DSL onto a drive in one computer (Full Install) and then put that drive into another computer. 

Here is an example of a scenario in which this would be useful in...

some one has an IBM thinkpad 560.  the issue is there is no optical drive or floppy built into the computer.  the Hard drive though is a standard IDE drive and could thus be removed and put in another IDE capable computer that has a functioning Optical drive.


Thank you in advance.

[John]

You basically outlined the process in this post.  I've done this on laptops too, its a little more challenging to disassemble but the process is the same.   I still have an old VAIO notebook I did this to, it had no floppy drive, no optical, had USB, but it wasn't bootable.  I took the drive out, hooked it up to a thin client and did a simple frugal install.  Then just replug in and reassemble.

[botdfismyaddiction]

The Wiki use to contain a walkthrough on how to do this but i belive that the page has long dissapeared after a hacker got into the wiki.  I was wondering if anyone here knows the steps to install DSL onto a drive in one computer (Full Install) and then put that drive into another computer. 

Here is an example of a scenario in which this would be useful in...

some one has an IBM thinkpad 560.  the issue is there is no optical drive or floppy built into the computer.  the Hard drive though is a standard IDE drive and could thus be removed and put in another IDE capable computer that has a functioning Optical drive.


Thank you in advance.

The walkthrough is still on the wiki

[zeiz]

some one has an IBM thinkpad 560...

The "some one" is me, hello everybody 
I have 560E (P166, 80Gb ram, 2Gb hdd, Trident video, Xircom (RE100) pcmcia nic)
It has nousb, nocdrom, nofloppy nofirewire configuration. I pulled the hdd, format /s it in my desktop with win95 CD, copied install files and then installed win98, then w2k on the original machine. I replaced obsolete IE with K-Meleon, installed ms office97 then office2k and the system is fully usable but...
But since I've tried Linux and BSD I'm their addict now so I just cannot be happy with only Windows.
The w2k install with 54 updates and office2k takes 1.5Gb out of 2Gb of my hdd. The current old bios v.1.04 is capable for 4-5Gb hdd but I simply couldn't find such a relict at local scrap yards so the smallest one I found is 30Gb and bios doesn't see it at all. I heard that latest bios v.1.13 is able to see 8Gb out of 20Gb hdd but I cannot update the bios because my battery is long dead but the utility refuses to flash without "fully charged battery".
I tried to install DSL with unetbootin. It boots but then "error 15: file not found". Not found menu.lst that is right there. Moreover it cannot find the hdd itself: "device doesn't exist". This is true for all dsl-4.4.10 "subversions" and all unetbootin versions.
With grub4dos I got DSL kernel booted but then "error 15: file not found" . This time not found "Knoppix" that is right there...

Well this thread is about to pull the hdd and put it into another machine, install DSL from liveCD and then place it back and enjoy.
As I know (but I tried anyway on my oldest P4 desktop) the trick never works: hardware is not the same so such "alien" installation won't boot on original machine. However...

I took the drive out, hooked it up to a thin client and did a simple frugal install.  Then just replug in and reassemble.

So the Admin (many thanks for your work, Sir!) knows how to do the trick and others here didn't complain. I went to wiki page but couldn't find there the case. I believe I understand "frugal install" (install beside Windows on fat/ntfs partition) but what does it mean "reassemble"? Or perhaps "thin client" is the key word?
Dear John, how did you do that in details?

If necessary I can backup my current win2k installation with parimage and totally free my "ultra thin" hdd, partition it with gparted (I use usb parted magic) and I "only" want to know how to proceed with installation itself.
In meantime I made liveUSB DSL booted it successfully on my desktop but couldn't even explore the installation 'cause it doesn't recognize my logitech usb mouse (expert install too). I tried then simply copy the usb content to the hdd and then boot it with grub4dos but no luck.
How to install DSL on my old "qt"?

[FerociousPenguin]

I just did this with and old Sony VAIO that had no floppy or optical.

1.- Pull the HDD out and stick it in another laptop that has a CD/DVD drive.
2.- Follow this guide:
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/f/topic-3-26-18529-0.html

[roguethunder]

Hi Mir,
i made this operation several times. As hdd installation ships with an automatic hardware detection (the one on the live-cd), there is no problem doing this! But no luck if you want to try this with Windows (must pay before each install)
Good luck!

Its actually not terribly hard with windows. The trick is not to install on the first machine, but to make the hdd the install media. DOS+WinXP installer on a small partition, or W7 installer on a small partition.

[Doc_152]

One question, mate. Did you ever get this sorted?

I'm also the (un)lucky owner of a Thinkpad 560 and I cant get X to work. I reckon its the DSTN screen that's making a fuss, but all i get is distorted colors. Mostly variations of blue or gray-ish green.  Running RC2 Frugal install atm. Install done from a maxed Tecra 550CDT.