On 06-Nov-05 Robert Grant (DEV) wrote:
Here are some experiences/thoughts from an ordinary 'user' who just wants a laptop on which to use office and other applications rather than any kind of developer work [...]
Thanks for a breath of fresh air, Rob! May it all go well.
Just one comment (which doubles as a query on my own behalf).
I've encountered laptops where the BIOS utilities live on a "hidden" partition on the HDD (these were Compaqs; I don't know how general the practice is).
In shrinking the Windows partition and installing Linux I wiped this partition (or maybe it wasn't there to start with, since I bought them second-hand with Windows re-installed on a drive which has been wiped clean from its previous owner).
Fortunately I was able to locate on the Compaq web-site versions of these utilities which fitted on floppies, so you could boot from the floppy and do the BIOS setup (the Compaq default of pressing F2 during POST no longer working).
So
a) This may be a point to watch out for.
b) Does anyone have informed comments on this kind of situation?
Best wishes to all, Ted.
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