Because Windows blew itself up.

Well, not really, but perhaps i should start at the beginning.

Now, yesterday, i was doing nothing different from normal, i just had winamp playing in the background while i played Tales of Symphonia. Time for work came around, so i shut down and leave. i come back after work, start up my computer, and i get an error on my loading screen - "HArd Drive Has Changed. Press Del to enter Setup"

So i do, i check my hard drive settings, see that everything is perfectly fine, and then exit and the computer starts up[ again. Checking for IDE drives goes fine, and then the sceen flashes, and comes up:

"The windows file "WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM" is missing or currupted.

You can attempt to fix this problem by loading the Recovery Console. put in the Windows Boot CD and press 'r' at the first screen."

So i do this, run FixBOOT, FixMGR, and CHKDSK, nothign works, and CHKDSK comes up with unrecoverable problems, so i had my friend d/l and burn a knoppix disk, and here we are.

Now, i have a number of questions, and one request. First, the questions:

1. Does anyone know of a way to recover\fix\get a new one of the file i am missing, or otherwise fix this problem?

2. does anyone know how to get opera installed on this thing? i though i downloaded a linux version but i'm really lost, and i much prefer it to firefox (NO COMMENTING ON THIS!)

3. Does anyone know any good free programs i can use to burn CDs in linux, i may be reformatting and i need to back up by files. Also, help on installing if its not automatic.

4. Uh.. What linux build would you recommend, and where can i get it? Windows has pissed me off for just about the last time and i am seriously considering switching, though i still haven't totally made up my mind. Also, anything like a tutorial site or any degree of help with learing to to work in it would help.

Ok, an now for the request: NO EDITORIALS! NO "window's never caused me problems, you suck" or 'Winodws sucks, you should have switched earlier." none of that. the only debating i want in here is over the programs i should use (except in the case of opera) or the distros. debating is useful, but i do not want any comments on Windows or anything of that nature, no flame wars, no GBK dissing, he may be genually useful for once.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[edit]Oh, and if there is a way/program to get what windows programs i have installed to run, that would be all i need to back my stuff up.

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"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

[This message has been edited by Noble Outlaw (edited August 13, 2004).]

1. try reinstalling windows

2. Look for a shell script. That's usually how these things go, from my experience. Or, read the readme if all else fails.

3. k3b.

4. If you're new to linux, start with something easy like mandrake, and then move on to debian, suse, or slack.



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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

Reinstalling Wondows would involve me reforatting, though, and, although i didn't mention it above, i'm really loath to do that until i get a grip on knoppix and can back up my files. And uh... what's a shell script?

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"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

If you are running Knoppix, a lot of those programs (CD Burning etc.) are already built in. Knoppix uses KDE so it has all that stuff built in. The CD Burning tool is K3b, if I remember correctly. Just used it last night, it's pretty nice.

It has WINE, which is a windows emulator, so you could try running your Windows programs with that. It may not worked, because it sounds like your Windows isntallation is a bit crapped out.

http://www.opera.com/download/
Just download opera there, download the Debian pacakge (Sid and Sarge). Just run the .deb file and it shall install.

I'm using Knoppix right now, and I'm loving it. I still have XP on my machine, dual-booted, so I can play my games. But, good distros to start off with, this is in my opinion, are Knoppix or SuSE. If you want tutorials, google is your friend. Linuxquestions.org is a really good site for all the qustions you'd want answered.

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"His Will Was Set, And Only Death Would Break It"

"None knows what the new day shall bring him"

I downloaded that version, Buck, but all it does when i try to run it is open the archive and tell me its read-only.

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

My personal recommendation for a starter distro is SuSE. I personally like it a lot better than Fedora or Mandrake.

If you want to learn the down and dirty things, but don't mind being confused for a bit, jump right into Gentoo.

Edit: Oh, and I don't think you can install Opera while running Knoppix from the CD. Edit2: Well, maybe you could. It's just that your Knoppix 'hard drive' is only as big as your RAM.

[This message has been edited by fourwood (edited August 13, 2004).]

{EDIT}nm

GIVE US BACK DELETE!

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

[This message has been edited by Noble Outlaw (edited August 13, 2004).]

SuSE is okay, but the lack of a large RPM database kinda limits it as far as installing more apps.

I find a HD-install of knoppix more friendly, or if you want an even better starter OS (one that you can keep without feeling bad) is Gentoo.

Now before everyone yells at me for saying OMG GENTOO = HELL = HARD, listen completely.

If you use the Stage 3 Installation, it does nearly everything for you, no compiling or anything. Plus, Gentoo has a handbook that details every single step of the installation, whether you decide to do the easy Stage 3, or go through the grueling, although not difficult Stage 1.

If anything, that portage system makes Linux easier, not harder.

As for burning CDs, as everyone else said, Knoppix can burn cds. Just use k3b.


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"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
I am addicted to ellipses!!! AHHH!!! ...
Make Sorrowind Worthwhile... join it! http://sorrowind.net

How long have you had that, and why didn't you tell me?

I have some swiping to do. ¬_¬

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A little less conversation, a little more action
"This world is made of love and peace!"
"Let's live today, let's live tomorrow, and let's live the day after that, even if it means living in eternal pain."
- Vash the Stampede

Gentoo > *



Stage 1 install, reiser4 on / (160 gig IBM SATA), NPTL, ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" in /etc/make.conf, udev, and guess what... it's stable! Whew... it only took 36 hours.

Gentoo may be tought at first, but once you get hooked, you will truely appriciate it's excellent documentation and great community at forums.gentoo.org. And, it will turn you into an uber-HA><0R.
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Your humble opinion is wrong.

[This message has been edited by Mystic0 (edited August 13, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by Mystic0 (edited August 13, 2004).]

Stage 1 installs make you feel like you have a friend in your computar box.

Gentoo really is superior.

You know, I was planning on reading this thread, but SOMEBODY MADE ME SIDESCROLL!!! grrr...

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Four dimensions, four fundamental forces... coincidence?

1) No. That problem happened to a customer's computer the other day - I couldnt fix it without reinstalling.

2) `apt-get install opera`

3) k3b. It should be installed with KDE.

4) Debian or Gentoo. Debian if like convenience, or Gentoo if your time is worthless.

The reason? Dependencies. Debian's APT and Gentoo's . . whatever the hell they call it . . . handle dependencies for you. Theres no hunting down missing libraries, no conflicting versions, its all good. With RPM-based distros, you have to do all that manually.

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Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
:wq!

Try TestDisk.

It may help you out. It is an awesome program:

You may be able to un-delete some files with it.
Also use Active@'s stuff.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.html

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Founder of the Massassi Brute Squad (MBS)

B'tduz: A popular dwarfish game which consists of standing a few feet apart and throwing large rocks at one another's head.

"Yes, it's a bloody flying alligator setting fire to my city!" - His Grace His Excellency the Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes.

Morituri Nolumus Mori

FIXED.

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Your humble opinion is wrong.

Well, ok, i'll guess i'll go with Gentoo, assuming i switch, so, where can i get it, and can someone help me/ show we where to get help as far as the installation process and beginning in it? and what is this about Stages that CM is saying?

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

Hem.. well, my parents just shot down the idea of linux ("i need windows and excel!" "i can emulate them/find the same linux based in 10 minutes" "doesn't matter!" ) However, what happens in a duel-boot? Is there a way i can have both installed and then pick one to run when i starts up, or is that a duel boot? I'm almost definitly going to switch to linux when i go to college next year (it will be my computer, my parents won't be able to say a bloddy thing) so getting to know how to work it now would help alot.

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

[This message has been edited by Noble Outlaw (edited August 13, 2004).]

www.openoffice.org

Tell them you refuse to put Windows back on, and give them that. They'll adjust. If my dad didn't have a laptop, he'd be running Linux. The only reason I'm not is because I game.

knoppix--go into console, type in "su", hit enter, type in "apt-cache search opera", find the appropriate file (guesstimate if you must), apt-get opera or whatever the file name.

Seriously, take the time to teach them how to use it. I find that Linux is a lot more n00b friendly if you just know the absolute basics of what you're doing, and have people to help with all the big problems. It's the intermediate where it begins to stray from Windows.

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There is no signature

noi, the thing is, they love the 'my house, my rules' thing, at least my dad and sister know very well how to reformat, and they have gaurdianship of my accounts, and pay have my car insurace. they're never brought the last two to bear, but they very well could if they wanted to. no, i think a duel -boot or whatever would allow me to choose which to run would be the best, and i'll mait till ig et my comp for college.

{edit] and yes, i know about open office, its already part of knoppix. i refernced that, same result. my mom actually said "i need windows!" and got all huffy when i said she didn't.

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

[This message has been edited by Noble Outlaw (edited August 13, 2004).]

That is a dual boot. I currently dual boot between Win98Se and Suse 9 which works nicely. When I boot up the computer, right after POST, an option screen comes up and allows me to select whether I want to boot to windows or linux.

I'm not sure you should be trying Gentoo at this stage of your linux adventure (IMHO anyways). I've tried Mandrake (which I didn't like) and Suse (which I do) and both of their installation procedures are very windows-ish. A major benefit is that they partition your hard drive for you and Suse at least allows you to access your windows drive when working in Suse. The boot manager was also set up automatically (the option at the start that allows you to pick what OS to boot to).

While open office is nice bit of software, MS office files don't allows convert over properly and it might not be worth the hassle of your folks have a lot of important documents.

To get a linux distro you can head over to Linux.org and download a distro if you have a high end net connection or you could just buy it off ebay.

edit: helps if I type the link properly :-|

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Run: forgetting passwords on a regular basis.

[This message has been edited by Fade (edited August 13, 2004).]

parents suck. We are so much more sophisticated than their generation ever was that it isn't even funny.



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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

Page, a small pile of rocks has more sophistication than you.

------------------
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
:wq!

OMG GBK!

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Snail racing: (500 posts per line)

---------@%

The Massassi JO/JA Single Player contest info (or something of this matter. Just smile.)

Ok, now a few more questions.

1. How do i set up a duel boot?

2. How can i get this thing to recognise my CD-RW drive. it doesn't seem to be working, and if i select a new device i am completely and utterly lost.

3. Uh, Audigy drives for linuxm anyone? i think my speakers aren't working, so that would be why, but creative's site days there are none available.

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

From knoppix? Or just a linux distro in general? The more "graphical" ones like Mandrake, Suse, Red hat (I think) will do it for during the installation process. All you do is set how much space you want the partitions to take up.




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Run: forgetting passwords on a regular basis.

I've decided to go with gentoo for now, so advice on that is what i need. sorry i didn't specify.

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

Make sure you install windows first, or you will have to boot to your linux partition with a floppy to get your linux bootloader reinstalled.

Gentoo also has great docs on how to install LILO and GRUB, your choice, of course. I found those actually easier and faster than doing the GUI way.

------------------
"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
I am addicted to ellipses!!! AHHH!!! ...
Make Sorrowind Worthwhile... join it! http://sorrowind.net

Yeah, well you just better make sure it doesn't happen again

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Run: forgetting passwords on a regular basis.

So, what is Lilo and Grub, and where can i find these documents?

[edit] well, i'm eading some documentation on linux.org and i have a really good idea of what i'm going to be doing, so nm about the above question, but i have on e lsat one. when ever i attempt to write with K3b, i get an input-output error. this is relaly beginning to piss me off sicne i can't back up anything. anybody know what is going on/how to fix it?

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW
A Knight's Tail
Exile: A Tale of Light in Dark
The Never Ending Story²[/i]

[This message has been edited by Noble Outlaw (edited August 14, 2004).]

kanotix.com

Not the docs, but it is a perfected version of knoppix and it has a much better hd-install feature. It also uses GRUB instead of LILO, which Knoppix normally sets up.

I'm running Gentoo dual-booted with XP on my laptop now, and I'M LOVING IT! But I think I would've been screwed installing it if I was still a n00b.

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"Windows [n.]
A thirty-two bit extension and GUI shell to a sixteen bit patch to an eight bit operating system originally coded for a four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition."

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/

Everything you need to know about installing Gentoo.

http://forums.gentoo.org.

Gentoo forums.

Sound works fine with an audigy in linux. As of 2.6.x kernels, the driver is part of the kernel.

I can help you with everything, IM me at Mystic0 Mass on AIM.

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Your humble opinion is wrong.

[This message has been edited by Mystic0 (edited August 14, 2004).]