Install without CD drive or floppy

[Steve Scrimpshire]

I thought I'd write up how I installed 2008 without being able to burn the DVD image and not having a floppy drive. I already had 2007.1 One installed, so I extracted the ISO to the root directory of my external drive and added this to /boot/grub/menu.lst:

 

title install

kernel (hd1,0)/i586/isolinux/alt0/vmlinuz

initrd (hd1,0)/i586/isolinux/alt0/all.rdz

 

When I chose 'install' from the boot menu, it started the installer and asked how I wished to install. I chose Hard disk and it asked me for the location and I pointed it to the root of the HD and off I went.

 

The (hd1,0) means the second disk (hd1), first partition(0). You could also extract the files to your regular harddrive and change where that points. Without linux already installed, you can get a version of grub for Windows (I forget the one I have used before).

 

I hope this is clear enough. If clarification is needed, please feel free to ask for it. :D

[Guest phinger]

:thumbs: Quite brilliant - and extremely useful as my DVD R/W has just blown up

10 out of 10 for elegance and simplicity !

 

P

[tyme]

as an FYI, you can use this method with the iso on an internal disk also - simply point grub to the right place. Of course, you will need to be sure not to format the partition that the iso is on.

Edited October 13, 2008 by tyme

[SilverSurfer60]

The magic brush has been at work here as well.

Edited July 8, 2010 by SilverSurfer60