[NTLUG:Discuss] Install Fest Instructions

[Steve Baker]

One rather elegant way to do this is to install Linux onto a bootable 
flash drive.  It's better than a live-CD because you can customize it 
and set up drivers and such - but it means that the victim can just 
unplug the flash drive and be back to normal in no time flat.   Dunno 
how much capacity we'd need but bulk 1Gb flash drives (with a cool Tux 
logo and the club's URL on it) come in at maybe $10 each in 100-up 
quantities...the manufacturers can even pre-load content onto them so we 
could put our default distro on them and do a basic "Linux install" with 
nothing much more than plugging in the gizmo and hitting the reset 
button.  (Some machines need a BIOS tweak to get them to boot from flash 
- but it's a super-safe change.)

I guess the big problem would be how to get $1k together to order a 
bunch of them at discount prices...sponsorship?

  -- Steve

Wayne Walker wrote:
> Instead of taking newbies straight into dual boot, why not set them up
> with a virtual Machine (VMware Player on Windows, or something else)?
> Then they can experiment totheir heart's content with linux, including
> in full screen mode where it's "just like the real thing" without ever
> endangering their needed Windows install and with the added benefit of
> being able to run both OS's at the same time and share files between them
> (via SMB).
>
> This would also be MUCH easier to install in most cases.  Then after
> they've decided they really want to take the plunge, help them go dual
> boot or switch to linux with a windows VM.
>
> Wayne
>
> On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 06:52:50PM -0500, Chuck Graf wrote:
>   
>> Hi.  I am Chuck; the guy that usually shows up for the 9AM InstallFest.
>> Lately we have been seeing allot of dial-boot installs on recent model
>> laptops.  Frequently these systems will not boot into the MS system after
>> the install.  Sometimes this is related to the process of shrinking the NTFS
>> partition, and sometimes it is a product of writing to the MBR.  In some
>> cases it can take allot of work to fix.
>>
>> The typical attitude is "Here is my pristine laptop that I just bought.
>> Lets install an entirely new OS on it, but whatever you do, DON'T mess up my
>> precious XP system.  All my financial records are in Quicken, and all the
>> kids pictures for the last 10 years.  I never back anything up. I must have
>> the laptop for work on Monday, so don't mess it up!!".
>>
>> This gets old after a while.  And if you feel that recovering a hosed MS
>> partition is always trivial, please come see us some Saturday morning.
>>
>> One thing that would help is if the person knows what to expect when they
>> arrive at the InstallFest, and a few facts about dual booting.  I wrote a
>> tutorial that help.  Maybe it could go on the NTLUG LIP webpage at
>> http://www.ntlug.org/Main/LIP.  The tutorial is here:
>> http://cfgraf.com/Linux/InstallFest.html
>>
>> The tutorial is probably way too long.  People may not read it.  It is not
>> great HTML (I did it in OpenOffice.org).  But we can refer to it when
>> someone shows up with the "Attitude", as in "Didn't you read the webpage?".
>> There are some boxes we really should not touch.
>>
>> What do you think?  Add?  Delete?  And thank you for listening to my rant.
>> Returning to lurk mode now, awaiting input.
>>
>> Chuck
>> _______________________________________________
>> http://www.ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>     
>
>