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I know you guys won't like this buuuuut... can you help anyways?

post #1 of 17
2/7/07 at 9:25pm
Thread Starter 
Scenario: bought a shuttle PC from a guy of good reputation, so I'm sure it's workable. He installed Ubuntu linux (which I know .0001% about) and it boots to ubuntu just fine. The machine is for my dad, who does not have the brain power to learn even as little as I know about linux. Thus, I want to use the included CD to reinstall Windows. So, I insert the CD, boot from the CD, and it loads all the preliminary drivers and whatnot. Then it says "Setup is Starting Microsoft Windows" for the first time. Then it reboots. Every time. I have reseated graphics and memory, I have reset all the BIOS options to "optimized defaults". I don't know if Linux is the culprit or not, and I'm running out of ideas as to why this machine won't allow me to install anything. It was a cheap machine, for a cheap old man, and I think we could easily get around all this by getting a new HD, but that seems rather... expensive for the problem at hand. Should I get a USB floppy drive, Win98 boot disk, and Fdisk the HD? Any ideas?

Please don't say "stay with linux" or "linux is cool, microsoft sucks, thats why you have problems" ok? Thanks.
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post #2 of 17
2/7/07 at 9:46pm
Tis wouldn't happen to be house's desktop would it be?
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post #3 of 17
2/7/07 at 11:23pm
linux has absolutely nothing to do with your problem. its your hardware / windows cd thats defunct.
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post #4 of 17
2/7/07 at 11:44pm
So since you have gotten to the starting for the first time, I am going to ask the obvious but stupid question...

Did you remove the CD?

Now on to the question you won't like...

Did you give linux a chance?

Seablade
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post #5 of 17
2/8/07 at 8:48am
one day i just converted my dad's computer from Win2K to Ubuntu... he did notice the change but the complaints stopped in a week. its just that much more intuitive and user-friendly than windows after you get used to the fact that its NOT WINDOWS
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post #6 of 17
2/8/07 at 2:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by abf
one day i just converted my dad's computer from Win2K to Ubuntu... he did notice the change but the complaints stopped in a week. its just that much more intuitive and user-friendly than windows after you get used to the fact that its NOT WINDOWS

My dad is 52 and can barely handle using internet explorer... The main problems are: a> he used computers way back in the day on a server/workstation environment where everything was done on different "screens" and b> he had a traumatic head injury about 19 years ago that limits him from learning very fast... Put those two together, and there's no way I would be able to teach him how to play a DVD in Linux.

Quote:
Originally Posted by abf
linux has absolutely nothing to do with your problem. its your hardware / windows cd thats defunct.

So, you're saying I may need a different CD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by kaltek
Tis wouldn't happen to be house's desktop would it be?

Why yes it is. Did you ever have any problems with it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by seablade
So since you have gotten to the starting for the first time, I am going to ask the obvious but stupid question...

Did you remove the CD?

Now on to the question you won't like...

Did you give linux a chance?

Seablade

No, I didn't remove the CD. I have taken it out and reinserted it and tried again, but thats it. And no, I didn't really give Linux a chance. If it were for me, I would be stoked to have one already set up that I could play with and see how it worked, but it's not for me.
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post #7 of 17
2/8/07 at 5:38pm

restoring a Shuttle PC from Linux

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevineugenius
Scenario: bought a shuttle PC from a guy of good reputation, so I'm sure it's workable. He installed Ubuntu linux (which I know .0001% about) and it boots to ubuntu just fine. The machine is for my dad, who does not have the brain power to learn even as little as I know about linux. Thus, I want to use the included CD to reinstall Windows. So, I insert the CD, boot from the CD, and it loads all the preliminary drivers and whatnot. Then it says "Setup is Starting Microsoft Windows" for the first time. Then it reboots. Every time. I have reseated graphics and memory, I have reset all the BIOS options to "optimized defaults". I don't know if Linux is the culprit or not, and I'm running out of ideas as to why this machine won't allow me to install anything. It was a cheap machine, for a cheap old man, and I think we could easily get around all this by getting a new HD, but that seems rather... expensive for the problem at hand. Should I get a USB floppy drive, Win98 boot disk, and Fdisk the HD? Any ideas? Please don't say "stay with linux" or "linux is cool, microsoft sucks, thats why you have problems" ok? Thanks.
Do you know what kind of hard drive it has? If not, look it up when ubuntu is running. Then if possible try get an install disk for that brand of hard drive and reformat the hard drive. You might also want to remove whatever partitions were installed too. A commercial rescue disk might also work to do this. You might be able to do something with a Linux Live CD disk too if it will boot up the machine. Most will work as a good rescue disk to save files when a Windows PC won't boot up but the HD is stil accessible. A CD won't boot up the machine unless your bios is set to boot from a CD first before the internal hard drive. Do you hve a floppy disk drive on it? You might also be able to reformat the hard drive from it. Another solution is to take out the hard drive and put it into another PC and then format the hard drive. Once you reformat the hard drive you should be able to re-install a windows OS unless the hard drive quit working on you. Good luck!
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post #8 of 17
2/8/07 at 5:38pm
give it a change. configure ubuntu real nice and everything will take care of itself. hell, playing a dvd involves putting the disk in and you'll get a pop on on the screen asking you if you'd like to look at the files in an explorer window or to play it in a media player. click the play button and you're on!
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post #9 of 17
2/8/07 at 5:45pm

Upgrade to Kubuntu Vista?

Quote:
Originally Posted by abf
one day i just converted my dad's computer from Win2K to Ubuntu... he did notice the change but the complaints stopped in a week. its just that much more intuitive and user-friendly than windows after you get used to the fact that its NOT WINDOWS

I love the joke one guy posted about putting Kubuntu on his Dad's computer after telling him he was going to upgrade it to Vista. He said his Dad really liked the Vista upgrade cause it was easier to use and looked a lot better too. The son said he would probably tell him in a week or two he was now using Linux.
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post #10 of 17
2/8/07 at 5:45pm
Thread Starter 
@@Peg

The computer boots from the CD, but after pre-loading a bunch of stuff, it just reboots.

I have a USB floppy drive... someplace. I have a win98 boot disk... somplace. Lol

@@abf

I'll give linux a chance on a different system...
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post #11 of 17
2/8/07 at 5:55pm
did you try a low level format on the drive prior to installing windows? I've had trouble with random 'crap' on a drive messing up clean installs, a low level format preceding the install has always fixed this for me.
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post #12 of 17
2/8/07 at 11:47pm
Thread Starter 
Well, now that I know for certain Linux isn't the problem, this is likely in the wrong section.

I wiped the whole HD down to zeroes using killdisk, and upon booting from the XP CD, it did the same thing. It struggled a little, like it was going to work for like 15 seconds, then rebooted...

Any other ideas?
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post #13 of 17
2/9/07 at 12:07am
Thread Starter 
I used a different CD, and it worked..... The Shuttle CD was flawless, maybe one tiny scratch. I can't imagine they'd ship a CD with some sort of built-in incompatibility, but perhaps...
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post #14 of 17
2/9/07 at 12:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevineugenius
Well, now that I know for certain Linux isn't the problem, this is likely in the wrong section.

I wiped the whole HD down to zeroes using killdisk, and upon booting from the XP CD, it did the same thing. It struggled a little, like it was going to work for like 15 seconds, then rebooted...

Any other ideas?

Some ideas I would consider for whatever they are worth:
Do you have any diagnostic fix it CD's you can try? Can you try replace the CD unit with another one from another computer? Can you try boot up with an Linux Live CD and see if you get any messages before it quits? This wouldn't install anything as it would only run in ram from the CD if it booted up for you. Last---Did it come with any warranty that allows return or repair?
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post #15 of 17
2/9/07 at 2:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevineugenius
I used a different CD, and it worked..... The Shuttle CD was flawless, maybe one tiny scratch. I can't imagine they'd ship a CD with some sort of built-in incompatibility, but perhaps...


While some places do ship with OEM versions that have a small program to check your hardware before it launches setup, it does not sound like the case here.

Likely you just got a bad press of the CD.

Next time give Linux a shot first Youd be amazed how simple it can be for some of the basic tasks like office and internet sometimes.

Anyways have fun.

Seablade
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post #16 of 17
2/9/07 at 6:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevineugenius
I used a different CD, and it worked..... The Shuttle CD was flawless, maybe one tiny scratch. I can't imagine they'd ship a CD with some sort of built-in incompatibility, but perhaps...
Glad you got it figured out. And one tiny scratch if it's in the wrong spot could totally screw things up.

Come on back when you're ready to give linux a chance.
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post #17 of 17
2/10/07 at 1:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by drlouis
Glad you got it figured out. And one tiny scratch if it's in the wrong spot could totally screw things up.

Come on back when you're ready to give linux a chance.

I shall. Indeed I shall.
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