WHOA!! Stop right there. There is NOT ONE "PC" maker that has a BIOS so locked out you can't boot from another device. As long as you can boot from another device you are free to run whatever you want. How well you can run it depends on the hardware at hand what what support there is for the operating system you intend to run.
These days "most" devices will work with linux. Your real challenge would be getting everything on a laptop "designed for Vista" to work with XP. As for laptops with 2 drives, typically (not always) you'll find that on 17" models. Very very few 15.4" models have 2 bays and I've not see anything smaller with more than one drive bay. Size and space become a limitation. You can boot some operating systems off of other media as well such as a CD/DVD or USB flash drive. It's just as easy to partition a drive to run dual (or more) operating systems. Only thing to keep in mind, you generally want to install any Microsoft OS first. That be all, Mr O. --- On Mon, 11/3/08, Lucifer Linux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Lucifer Linux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [Eug-lug] Laptops with BIOS rigged for Windows Vista > To: [email protected] > Date: Monday, November 3, 2008, 9:37 PM > Laptops with BIOS rigged only for Windows Vista (Gateway PCS > & others) > > A friend of mine who knows very little about Linux > discovered his > laptop Gateway Wifi computer, his source to the internet, > is has a > BIOS program rigged so it's nearly impossible to > install another > operating system. > > I could only recommend that he finds some kind of BIOS > flash program > or tweak online or pull out and put back the CMOS battery. > > I've never owned a laptop with a Wifi in my entire > life, but was > planning to buy one real soon. > > He raised some very important questions about a situation > that any > rational person wants to avoid. > > I'm sorry that I don't know the make and model and > specs of his > Gateway laptop. I'm linking this post to an email which > is entirely up > to him to read and volunteer any other information. > > So my questions are as follows: > > What can he do to modify the BIOS firmware so he can > install either > some better version of Windows or Ubuntu or some other > distribution if > anything? > > What are some better laptop shopping recommendations? > > Personally, I'd prefer a laptop with at least 2 hard > dirves, where I > wipe the Vista clean like the baby's dirty diaper that > it is and clean > install Ubuntu & a modified Windows XP, or dual boot > the single hard > drive with Ubuntu & a modified Windows XP. > _______________________________________________ > EUGLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug _______________________________________________ EUGLUG mailing list [email protected] http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
