Confused

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jimscafe
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Confused

Post#1 by jimscafe » 28 Dec 2014, 03:50

I have downloaded porteus and burned to CD. It works fine, but I am confused what the installation options are. I know there is an option to store a .dat file on my ntfs partition, but what then would be the preferred method of booting?

I would prefer a quick cd booting, like puppy, with the main files stored on a windows partition. But anything is possible.

I would like to see the various installation options with pros and cons for each if that of possible. I sometimes get a little nervous using existing partition as I have lots of data there, so hence my ultra-cautious approach.

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Ed_P
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Re: Confused

Post#2 by Ed_P » 28 Dec 2014, 06:22

jimscafe wrote:I know there is an option to store a .dat file on my ntfs partition, but what then would be the preferred method of booting?
I would think booting from the CD would still be an option.

You could also boot the ISO file from the harddrive. We could talk about that approach if your interested. What OS does your machine normally boot to?
jimscafe wrote:I sometimes get a little nervous using existing partition as I have lots of data there, so hence my ultra-cautious approach.
And it's a very wise approach. One that I hope has brought you to the point of backing up your data partition. For that purpose I use a USB harddrive.
Ed

jimscafe
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Re: Confused

Post#3 by jimscafe » 28 Dec 2014, 07:22

I normally boot to Windows 7. But I use something called BootIT Bare metal to provide many boot options. This allows me to set boot options by replacing the MBR depending upon which menu option I choose. This way I can have a booting partition for work, one for games, one for trying new software - they all share a couple of large data partitions. I also have a backup partition in case any of my main partitions are messed up.

I have just made a linux partition also and could boot into that - while still having access the windows data partitions.

If I boot from CD and store data in a dat file, the documentation says I need to edit a config file to store the location of the dat file, but if I boot from CD where does this config file reside? (Unless the CD is writeable).

I have never tried booting from usb, but that might be an option also.

If I understand the documentation correctly, I could copy the files from the iso to a linux partition, then direct BootIt BM to boot from that partition - just like a normal linux boot process?

Not sure how I would boot from an iso on a Windows partition.

So many options I guess its good.

However, when I booted the live cd I made, proteus found all my hardware and the setup was exactly right, very impressed so far.

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Ed_P
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Re: Confused

Post#4 by Ed_P » 28 Dec 2014, 15:07

I remember BootIT but it was BootIT NG I think. A free utility at that point. I haven't used it in a very long time though.
If I boot from CD and store data in a dat file, the documentation says I need to edit a config file to store the location of the dat file, but if I boot from CD where does this config file reside? (Unless the CD is writeable).
Oh it wouldn't be that easy on a CD, even a writable CD. Consider using a USB drive. And it doesn't have to be a very large one. 4 GB will do just fine. Then you can tweak the config file directly.

But if you have created a partition already run the Porteus Install from the CD to the partition and change the config file there. You don't have to manually copy files, the Install app takes care of it.
Ed

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Re: Confused

Post#5 by tome » 28 Dec 2014, 19:21

You can try NeoGrub (or similar name) - it adds easily grub4dos to your boot menu and grub4dos allows to boot iso images. You can find more info about boot configurations at this forum.
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