Windows vista how to boot linux .iso (no cd burner or USB)
 

Hi!
I currently have windows Vista SP1. I was interested in installing the newest release of opensolaris on my computer (2008.11). I download the iso, however, i dont have a cd burner. Is there any other way or program that can make a iso image bootable? thank you!
~~~Infasoft~~~

with NO cd /dvd drive or NO usb then the only way is a network install from another computer on your lan
with no lan then you don't install it . some *nix distros do have dvd's you can buy and have mailed to you or are in computer books "linux / red hat bible" ( fedora 6,7,8,or 9 depending on how old it is

Install it in a virtual machine rather than to bare metal?

Yes, i have already tryed this on virtualbox, but it is very very slow. Are you sure there isnt any program out there that can boot a .iso?

Yes, I am quite sure. Some Linux distros can be installed entirely off a hard drive using a bootloader and a few edits to the iso - but I doubt whether this would work for solaris. Then again, I have never looked too closely at the solaris iso. All I am saying is that I am throwing up an idea but I can't help you any further in this case.

As for the reported slowness, that might be just a configuration issue. I installed xp in a virtual machine some time ago and it was extremely slow, too. Then I went over the configuration file and that was enough to make it as fast as a native install.

That's a surprise - I do that on my laptop when I bother to fire up Vista (home). Runs o.k. for me - 4 Gig of RAM probably helps.

I think that there is a way that you can install it in a virtual machine, then make a disk dump of the virtual disk file to an actual hard drive partition. This could potentially pose some configuration problems, but might be worth a try if you feel like experimenting.

Another thought:
Ask a friend, do it at work or school, or many public libraries have CD burners. You can buy a 5 pack of CD-Rs for a couple bucks.