I have no hard drive - Can I run Windows 7?

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  1. WoodyWoodsta
    Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Ultimate X86
       New #1

    I have no hard drive - Can I run Windows 7?


    Hi there,

    I have a laptop which has everything except for a hard drive. It has no operating system (obviously) or anything that allows it to boot except for the BIOS. I also have a normal PC (which has a hard drive ... and an operating system ). A network connection is available between both.

    My question is...

    Can I run my laptop and install an operating system on the laptop (or for the laptop) somehow using the network between my laptop and the PC. I have heard of Windows Terminal Server or services or something like that (according to wikipedia it's changed to Remote Desktop Services).

    Would this work? If yes, how would I go about doing such a thing?

    If it wouldn't, what other way could I use to solving my dilemma?


    Thanks so much!!

    (P.S I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this thread in...)
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  3. WoodyWoodsta
    Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Ultimate X86
    Thread Starter
       New #2

    Just done some research and my laptop can be called a diskless node and can perform network booting (exactly exactly what I want). Any body know how to do this?

    Thanks in advance
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  4. osholt
    Posts : 1,241
    Windows 7 Profesional x86, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
       New #3

    WoodyWoodsta said:
    Hi there,

    I have a laptop which has everything except for a hard drive. It has no operating system (obviously) or anything that allows it to boot except for the BIOS. I also have a normal PC (which has a hard drive ... and an operating system ). A network connection is available between both.

    My question is...

    Can I run my laptop and install an operating system on the laptop (or for the laptop) somehow using the network between my laptop and the PC. I have heard of Windows Terminal Server or services or something like that (according to wikipedia it's changed to Remote Desktop Services).

    Would this work? If yes, how would I go about doing such a thing?

    If it wouldn't, what other way could I use to solving my dilemma?


    Thanks so much!!

    (P.S I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this thread in...)
    You in theory can but it will be more trouble, less reliable, more work and probably more money than buying a cheap HDD.

    I would recommend you buy a cheap a cheap 40GB+ HDD instead because it will make your life so much easier.

    I'm not an expert on this subject but I believe remote boot also requires a specialised server to boot from and not just any old PC.

    Oli
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  6. Thorsen
    Posts : 3,300
    Win7 Home Premium 64x
       New #4

    If you are Ok with running a fresh OS (i.e. no customizations) everytime, you can get Ubuntu it runs from a CD: Ubuntu homepage | Ubuntu
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  7. Thorsen
    Posts : 3,300
    Win7 Home Premium 64x
       New #5

    INfo on diskless nodes
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diskless_node

    And how to set one up:

    Cheapest and Hardest: Diskless Nodes

    Post here all of the info you can on the diskless node and the laptop you are planning to use.

    maybe we can find out if it is possible to set this up for you. ( :) :) I love a challenge !!!)
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  8. WoodyWoodsta
    Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Ultimate X86
    Thread Starter
       New #6

    osholt said:
    WoodyWoodsta said:
    Hi there,

    I have a laptop which has everything except for a hard drive. It has no operating system (obviously) or anything that allows it to boot except for the BIOS. I also have a normal PC (which has a hard drive ... and an operating system ). A network connection is available between both.

    My question is...

    Can I run my laptop and install an operating system on the laptop (or for the laptop) somehow using the network between my laptop and the PC. I have heard of Windows Terminal Server or services or something like that (according to wikipedia it's changed to Remote Desktop Services).

    Would this work? If yes, how would I go about doing such a thing?

    If it wouldn't, what other way could I use to solving my dilemma?


    Thanks so much!!

    (P.S I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this thread in...)
    You in theory can but it will be more trouble, less reliable, more work and probably more money than buying a cheap HDD.

    I would recommend you buy a cheap a cheap 40GB+ HDD instead because it will make your life so much easier.

    I'm not an expert on this subject but I believe remote boot also requires a specialised server to boot from and not just any old PC.

    Oli
    Yea I'm sure its hellish complicated. Is there any way to boot the operating system from a USB storage device? Once i get the operating system running then I can use Remote Desktop Services...

    I live in South Africa so buying anything hardware related cheap is a nightmare!!
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  10. WoodyWoodsta
    Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Ultimate X86
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    Thorsen said:
    If you are Ok with running a fresh OS (i.e. no customizations) everytime, you can get Ubuntu it runs from a CD: Ubuntu homepage | Ubuntu
    Uh... No (thanks for suggesting anyway)
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  11. Thorsen
    Posts : 3,300
    Win7 Home Premium 64x
       New #8

    :) ok well as for my other post on how to setup a diskless node, it says you will need to create a bootstrap for the program to launch the OS remotely. this will need a linux distro and Ubuntu is one of the easiest to start with.....

    good luck though. I dont think you can install a HDD in it as it is not designed as such. Is it? is there a place for the HDD?

    Maybe you can use an external HDD and boot from that?
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  12. osholt
    Posts : 1,241
    Windows 7 Profesional x86, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
       New #9

    WoodyWoodsta said:
    Thorsen said:
    If you are Ok with running a fresh OS (i.e. no customizations) everytime, you can get Ubuntu it runs from a CD: Ubuntu homepage | Ubuntu
    Uh... No (thanks for suggesting anyway)
    You could run a version of Linux on a small USB Pen Drive.

    This would allow you to have a fully functional operating system.

    The only way to go in your situation is Linux really, whether it be on a pen drive or as a remote OS (which is still massively complicated).

    Oli
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  13. Thorsen
    Posts : 3,300
    Win7 Home Premium 64x
       New #10

    well, there are small distro's of Linux that can run from flash drives, but I found something else that might interest you:

    Windows In Your Pocket : Introduction
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