is there any way to prep and install ubuntu onto a laptop that cant boot from usb and has no cd/dvd drive -its a dell c400

Do you have a floppy drive?

Have no clue. Will try to find out. Have you tried virtual box?

Well you can look around the device to see if you can see a floppy drive, or if you have the floppy you can plug into the PC this will make life a lot easier.

Jason, The Windows version is no longer supported so is a wise move to jump to Linux.

in theory, but i haven't tried it, this should work, provided you have a version of windoze installed.

unpack the iso onto a separate partition then invoke the autorun.inf file via the dos prompt. seeing that it's running under windoze, it will take longer to install than if you installed from a boot off the system.

I have 3 Dell C400s. They are good little machines. You can get an external floppy drive, external CD-Rom, external burner, external DVD etc to fit. Have a look at ebay. You need the external bit, a cable and - not really the caddy.

no, sorry, the c400 has a proprietary cable and optical/ floppy drive which
i dont have... any suggestions

On Sat, Jan 1, 2011 at 12:10 PM, actionparsnip <
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> Your question #139847 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/139847
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
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> actionparsnip requested for more information:
> Do you have a floppy drive?
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thanks...i was trying not to spend any more money on these... I have three
also... thanks

On Sat, Jan 1, 2011 at 1:11 PM, arochester <
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> Your question #139847 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/139847
>
> arochester proposed the following answer:
> I have 3 Dell C400s. They are good little machines. You can get an
> external floppy drive, external CD-Rom, external burner, external DVD
> etc to fit. Have a look at ebay. You need the external bit, a cable and
> - not really the caddy.
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
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not yet... was trying to get full version no winblowz....wanted just ubuntu
on board

On Sat, Jan 1, 2011 at 12:11 PM, Jason Odoom <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Your question #139847 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/139847
>
> Jason Odoom posted a new comment:
> Have no clue. Will try to find out. Have you tried virtual box?
>
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> You received this question notification because you are a direct
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Then you have 2 choices.

1. PXE boot the device, you will need to setup a PXE server on another system and you can install from that. This is assuming the laptop can PXE boot

2. Remove the internal drive and put it in a PC with an optical drive, install the OS then transfer the new install back to the laptop. You will need a laptop to desktop drive connector but you can buy them for super cheap.

Ok, I removed the hard drive and inserted it into an older sony vaio. I have tried installing the ubuntu netbook remix 10.10 ,ubuntu 10.10, kubuntu 10.10 and 10.04, and xubuntu 10.10 flavors and the only one that actually boots up is the xubuntu10.10. I would think that they should all be able to but the other installs hang on startup.
I even tried jolicloud but the only way it wants to run is if i install it onto a machine running winblowz.
Am i missing something?

What happens to the others which don't boot?

Did you try the alternate CD too?

yeah, all the alternate cd's were the same except the xubuntu....strange

Did you MD5 test the ISO before burning them?

yes, the iso's are complete, double checked them after burning them, and they work on a newer machine.
I just don't get it.....

Weird, could use the minimal and install the ubuntu-desktop using the web (I advise a wired connection for this). plus its only a 12mb download :)

how do I do that? the minimal over the web I mean

On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 1:15 AM, actionparsnip <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Your question #139847 on ubiquity in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/139847
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> actionparsnip proposed the following answer:
> Weird, could use the minimal and install the ubuntu-desktop using the
> web (I advise a wired connection for this). plus its only a 12mb
> download :)
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
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> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/139847/+confirm?answer_id=14
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https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD