<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Hi Phil:<div><br></div><div>I've got a Dell from about 2009 or so, perhaps a 3000-series (?), running XP. At the time it was a workstation-class laptop, capable of running 3D CAD software. I don't use it much anymore, but it definitely comes in handy sometimes. Nothing important is stored on it. Hard drive has given me a few scares over the last several years, but it comes back every time (on it's own; I have not done anything heroic). This bootable thumb drive thing is intriguing because you don't need any hard drive at all with it. In your scenario, with the hidden partition, you still need a functional hard drive. Plus, there's been enough discussion of Linux here on ATIS (and elsewhere) that I'm curious.</div><div><br></div><div>SO</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>On Mon, Feb 17, 2020 at 5:08 AM Phil Auten <<a href="mailto:pga2@basicisp.net">pga2@basicisp.net</a>> wrote:</div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Hi, Stephen,</p>
<p>I don't remember what brand of PC you have, but several
manufacturers provide a "hidden partition" on the hard drive that
can be used to restore the PC back to factory settings. On both of
my Acer laptops the <Alt-F10> keys are pressed together
during boot. This enables the restore function. That would,
however, wipe out your files. But if there is no other alternative
it would be worth a try. The laptop I am using to type this
suffered a hard drive crash a couple of years ago. The hard drive
was no longer recognized. Using the Acer part number, I was able
to find the exact same hard drive on eBay. I had to completely
rebuild my setup, but still much less expensive than a new laptop.</p>
<p>If that $35 thumb drive is bootable, that would still be a good
option for me.</p>
<p>My 2¢</p>
<p>Phil in TX<br>
</p>
<br>
<div>On 2/16/2020 5:44 AM, Stephen Offiler
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Hi farmer: When you say no reason to buy anything,
I assume you refer to that $35 thumb drive device I mentioned.
As I understand it, the thumb drive is bootable, circumventing
the hard drive and whatever OS is on the machine. The sales
pitch is that it will take a machine that's bricked and bring it
back to life. Do you have a way to accomplish that for free?
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Feb 15, 2020 at 10:39
PM Indiana Robinson <<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>No reason to buy anything, Most distributions of Linux
will read Windows files. You can copy, paste move etc. and
you can download anything for free. I don't putter with
old stuff as much as I used to but I've used Knoppix for
such things for many years. I don't know if Windows 10 can
read Linux files yet or not but I once read that it was
soon to be an option. If you install Linux as a dual boot
with Windows you can just access your Windows files
without having to reboot back into Windows to find them or
work with them.</div>
<div>Half of the Linux learning curve is terminology... If
you have become comfortable using Android you are half way
there. Android is just a mobile (and tablet) version of
Linux. Android is built on and running the Linux Kernel
but your desktop box won't run Android.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>.<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Feb 15, 2020 at
9:33 AM cgs <<a href="mailto:oxygenfarm@gmail.com" target="_blank">oxygenfarm@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div> <font size="+1">Look at <u><a href="http://www.linuxandubuntu.com/home/5-best-data-recovery-tools-for-linux-to-recover-data-or-deleted-partitions" target="_blank">http://www.linuxandubuntu.com/home/5-best-data-recovery-tools-for-linux-to-recover-data-or-deleted-partitions</a></u></font><br>
<br>
<div>On 2/15/20 7:12 AM, Stephen Offiler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Good to hear it's all set. I've been
seeing ad's for a device called "XtraPC" which, it
turns out, is some flavor of Linux burned onto a
thumb drive for something like $35. You can bring
back most troublesome old machines from the grave
(assuming the problem is hard drive/boot software,
not some hardware failure of course). What I do not
know is whether you can access your Windows files
under Linux. Curious about that.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>SO</div>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre cols="72">--
Charlie</pre>
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-- <br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>-- <br>
<br>
Francis Robinson<br>
aka "farmer"<br>
Central Indiana USA<br>
<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>
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