first off i should say that when it comes to being a newb with linux i was born this morning... i haven't used programing languages in over five years and i cant seem to recall any of them... i have always wanted to try a linux operating system... but first my father wouldn't let me install one on the family computer... ("it will ruin the computer") then when i went off to college the school wouldn't let me run it on my computer hooked up to the always on Ethernet... ("we don't want you to pass viruses along the Ethernet from shoddy security") but now I'm on my own... with my own laptop... its a gateway M350... i downloaded Knoppix live CD to a CD... and i am trying to boot it up... first off... i go into bios during start up and change the plug and play OS to no and the dos other thing to other for linux OS's then i save changes and exit to boot... next thing i know its telling me windows cant boot and there is no mention of any other boot options... what am i doing wrong... how can i get it to boot... I'm really exited about trying out a linux OS for the first time... i guess it just wont happen today...


Am I in over my head???

In your BIOS you should set the boot order like this, I don't know the exact names. Also there's a little bit of your own preference in it.

CDROM
Hard disk

You can put the floppy at any place depending on when you actually want to boot from a floppy. Just make sure CDROM loads earlier than your harddisk and knoppix should boot.

Another thing it wasn't neccessary to tell your bios no pnp os. Linux has come very far and has support for pnp. I use the ACPI pnp myself work great.

my computer is already set to boot from the cdrom/dvdrom first... and then an external drive... then the harddrive... dont know why... its just the way its set... but it still wont boot... even when i set it to boot from other...

just in case. try clearing your cmos. should be a bios setting in there that will "reset config now" or something. if it still doesn't boot and you set the hard drive to boot first then I can't imagine why. You said you didn't install anything yet so there in no chance that the mbr is gone?

what is cmos? and i dont want the hard drive to boot first... i want it to boot from a cd that has the knoppix os on it... but what i think is odd is that the cdrom/dvdrom was already set as the thing to boot first from... yet it always boots from the hard drive... i dont understand what i am doing wrong... i dont know if it matters but i have win XP Pro... with intel 4 will it matter? oh and i have been reading up on problems that other people have with linux systems... why is it that linux has issues with things like wireless cards and sound cards... are those made to be compatible specifically with windows and mac... iono i just need to know how to get it to boot up...

Well didn't you say that xp won't boot now?

Anyway.
The thing is your cdrom and DVD rom most likely share the same ide port and only one can be the master? When you tell the bios to boot of the removable media, it will only boot off the one that is the master. The other is the slave. You could put the slack disk in the DVD rom and see if that works. If you really want to boot of your cdrom then you will have to open up your case and either switch the DVD and CDROM ide cables, or set a jumper on each device and tell it to be the master or slave.

You did burn knoppix as an ISO cd did you?

ok look... i am on a LAPTOP... with only one drive... the cdrom/dvdrom drive is my ONLY drive... they are one and the same... i dont have a floppy drive... i do have usb ports... but nothing connected to them... so there is no external drive... when i look at the bios settings when i boot up my computer... the cdrom/dvdrom is the 1st boot and then the external drive is the second boot(there is no external drive connected) and THEN the hard drive is the third boot... but it ALWAYS boots from the hard drive... i found the boot loader on my system... this is exactly what it says...

[boot loader]
timeout=60
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

i dont know what that means... im guessing i need to make a partition and just dl the knoppix to the harddrive in a second partion since it wont boot from the cd... im so confused... can someone please tell me just how to boot the dang cd... its getting to the point where i just want to give up and stay with windows... this is becoming more trouble than its worth...

darkleaf has a point. i think you just burned the iso file to the cd. When you open up the cd does it say "some_name".iso. if so you have to reburn, becuase you have to burn the iso image to the cd not the iso file itself. google "burn iso".

It could be bad media. Reboot your laptop with the Knoppix cd in the CDROM drive. Pay close attention to the CDROM drive, does it sound like the cd is spinning up when booting? If it tries to spin up a couple of times and then tries to boot from the hard drive, I would be willing to bet the CD is either dirty, or it did not get burned correctly.

it doesnt do ANYTHING... i try to boot up... and it just goes to the "windows didnt shut down properly how do you want to start windows screen" IT DOESNT BOOT AT ALL... i just want to freaking know how to boot what i have on the cd... im starting to get really really frustrated... with this... i really am about to just give up on linux forever... and i dont want to do that... but i really am about to...

just relax dude. have you done anything anyone said so far. you just keep ranting about everything. you give no specefic replies like i tried that and it says ...
ever hear of google. how much simpiler do you want me fu&^&*ing make it.

step 1
start fu*^(ing windows xp.

step 2
look at your fu*^(ing cd.

step 3
is there just one fu(*&ing file in there with an iso extension.

step 4
if so reburn the cd... do a "google iso burn"

step 5
play with the fu*(&^ing boot order in your bios.

The boot order seems correct so I guess it's down to the CD being no ISO cd but a normal CD.

well first off my replys were specific to their replies... not a yes i did that.. but someone said something about my cdrom dvdroms being master/slave but i only have one... and the iso burn i didnt understand what they meant... someone latter clarified and i thank that... i am getting tired of just trying to boot this up... this has nothing to do with linux and doesnt put me off any linux OS but my computer is frustrating me keeping me from booting this up... and i dont appreciate people telling me im stuipd because i cant get something to boot... i have done everything that i have read to do... i am just trying to figure out how to boot this up when its not working...the only issue i had with trying linux was the users... not the program itself... i can learn the program... that wont be my issue... but trying to find people to help with the little issues like getting it to boot is a hard task... im sorry that i came here looking for help and apparently "wasted" your time with my meaningless questions... the reason people dont switch to linux os's is beacause of the users... not the programs themselves...