One of your entries in grub's configuration looks like this:
I have to admit that I have never seen a config like this before - especially the changes=/dev/hdc1 part.

Looks like your system is running in a ram-disk.
To save anything you would need to mount some external device (?) - or is this what the "changes=/dev/hdc1" is for (?).

I admit that I have no clue about this and have not found it in a quick manual and info lookup.
It seems you where editing the right config-file (...it seems...) and I don't know why changes are not working.
Sorry if I caused confusion! - I'll be out and just watching now :/
Someone will know...

Hmm, could be a knoppix beginner type hd install, which is basically a live-cd installed to your hd. Every time you boot it, it overwrites your changes from a skeleton file set.

it says no such file or directory

thanks for all the help jomen, makuyl

any other suggestions are welcome

Your distro could have menu.lst file then.
Type this and see if this is available:

cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

Preferably an "ls -l /boot/ /boot/grub/"

no such file or directory



[linpus@LINPUS ~]$ ls -l /boot/ /boot/grub/
ls: /boot/grub/: No such file or directory
/boot/:
total 72
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Jun 3 07:54 boot
drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4096 Jul 18 18:20 changes
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 704 Mar 21 04:46 COPYRIGHT
drwxrwxrwt 6 linpus linpus 4096 Jul 12 21:01 data
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 17992 Jul 23 2007 GPL
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Jun 3 08:01 images
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 389 Jul 23 2007 LICENSE
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 243 Jul 23 2007 livecd.sgn
drwx------ 2 root root 16384 Jun 3 07:52 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 10 23:50 manual
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 232 Mar 21 05:01 README

This is not a real hd install, is it? That would explain all the problems editing grub and such.
Is this like knoppix can be installed, a live-cd like setup running from your hd with an extra partition so save data to?
If so, and you like linux, I would suggest installing a real hd install, not a live-cd like thingy you cannot customize.
Or have you by chance booted from the cd again? If yes, show the output of those commands when running the hd install.

its a real hd install, and its impossible for me to boot from the cd by chance since ive got a mini laptop and it doesnt have a cdrom, im only using an external cdrom and its not plug in, besides i dont have a livecd of linpus. like i said i got this pre installed

naah - it is not a "real hd install" in the sense that is normally understood...

They made it somehow possible to boot a thing which looks like an image - like a live-cd - from harddisk.
A real hd install would look different.

Can you even save files, make changes which will be there next time you boot?
...plugging in a usb thumb-drive or similar for that purpose does not count

I'm afraid you will have to install a real distribution - even linpus if you must - or you will have to ask them to explain to you how this thing works (and lets not forget: how it is kept up to date/how it is upgraded).

At this stage, my advise is to wipe the hd. Make three partitions, five if you want a separate home and a FAT partition to move data between windows and linux.
1:st partition: windows
2:nd partition: linux /
3:rd partition: linux swap
4:th partition: linux home
5:th partition: FAT for moving stuff. Nowadays not needed with large usb thumbdrives and external disks.

Get a nice and easy distro to start out with: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mandriva or some such. If someone says get Debian, Slackware or Gentoo, ignore him .
A good distro to start out with has good documentation, like this: http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Hardy
Give us the specs of your laptop and well see what it should run on.

heres my specs
Processor VIA C7-M 1.0 GHz
Memory 1GB DDR2
motherboard qci il1
Harddisk 40GB
64mb vc


i just installed puppy linux on another pc, looks easy to use and fast. with my specs i dont think i can run some of the other distribution

Puppy is based on debian, so you can install also packages from debian. No quite as straightforwardly as with pure debian, but doable. If that's what you want to install, do it. You can always install something else when you grow tired of it. Most people install a forked distro like puppy first, and eventually move on towards the mother distro. I dare say yours will be debian in a year or two.
Those are not bad specs, you can run almost any linux, even with gnome or kde although they might not "fly". If you want something lighter, try this http://www.xubuntu.org/ . Full blown distro with large package repositories running a light window manager.
Another one with kde or xfce is http://sidux.com/ . They have an active support forum with bug warnings and such, and easy to use package installing/upgrading scripts. Also works as a live-cd so you can try it out.

I have not followed all of this post but beware those laptops....so have a recovery partition linked to bios and any change to partition table attempts a restore from the recovery partition.

use a live cd to check your true partitions before wiping the mbr please.

good luck

What I have told you was login as root.
Then edit /etc/grub.conf
The reason behind it is that its a softlink ,so its as good as editing actual file.
If anyone knows any issues regarding it post it with proof.