What I Have/ /done in the past is shop at brick and mortar stores. I take a live Linux cd such as Ubuntu with me. I make it a condition of purchase that I successfully boot Linux before purchase. I do run windows for a burn in time of a week or two. Including leaving the computer on for a 24 hr stretch and booting up several times and testing as many of the devices such as optical drives wi-fi etc, before loading Linux, to catch any potential problems when it is easier to return if there is a problem. This has worked at Circuit City and should work at Borders. If they won't allow a download version, Border's has several Linux magazines that usually contain a Linux cd. Check the bios before buying. Can you boot off the optical drive or a usb device? You may have to change a setting to do so. Bringing it to a euglug meeting where the group can look at it usually will find a solution to this type of problem. Try and find out a model number. Have you considered the possibility that your friend may not want to install linus and is using this as a polite way to say no? Jim K Lucifer Linux wrote: > 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 > >
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