Ninja my school computer!

[Third3ye]

Hey there folks. Here's one for ya:

I just got this new laptop from my school and I am extatic. Now I can finally work from afar and also avoid the distractions at home. But, theres only one problem: I have XP SP3, the BIOS is locked with a password I can't access, it won't boot CD/DVD/USB/Netwoork, and theres only one partition. But I desperately want Windows 7 to use on this laptop because I am to used to the splender that is seven. So with this, I have an idea:

Use a partition manager that delays the parition resizing untill Windows prelimenary boot when it hasn't mounted C: (Problem: I can't find such a program). Besides for this I don't know. Because XP has to be installed, it cannot be removed as I have to use it at school.

Thanks for any responce.

 

[Tews]

If the computer does not belong to you, then you should not try to mess with it...

 

[Jonathan_King]

The first step is to explain the situation to the school administration, and see if they know the password.
After that, well, if you are really intent, look up your motherboard info, and see if you can find a user manual for it. There is usually a jumper that will clear the CMOS.

 

[Third3ye]

Awww... did you have to get out the goodie two-shoes? Well I paid for it. And I will continue to pay for it. Within 2 years time it will be my computer... and if not then, then before, because you can STILL buy it even if you fail miserably And very cheap to.

But to my point, it's more a security measure because some people tend to install over the old operating system or who have completely wiped all network settings. This is the big no-no in question. As long as I do _NOT_ boot the OS in school, or try to add school network settings to Windows 7, it will be fine. But I guess thats not good enough. But thanks anyways, I understand the rules and guidelines. I can not get the network password because they don't want infections. I understand completely and will make any precaution to prevent any form of assault on the school network.

But still, thanks for the replies guys

 

[gregrocker]

If you get an itchy install finger and can't resist, just be sure to make a backup image of the XP installation you can reimage if you mess up.

I suggest Macrium Reflect free version. Save the image externally, then make the Linux Recovery CD it offers, try to boot from it and see if it will cue up the saved image to reimage the XP if ever needed to do so.

That BIOS block may deliberately stop you from booting from a CD? In that case, with no path back to the XP, I wouldn't get an itchy install finger until you own it outright when they need to unlock it for you anyway.

 

[Third3ye]

I did it!

Weew! I did it ^^ I installed Windows 7. And here's how :>

1: I used a Linux recovery CD (over network using PXE (tftpd32 in Windows kicks donkey) to first resize the XP NTFS partition. Bad idea. Because of a ntfs-3g bug the partition was resized but the actual size of the partition was reported to fill the harddrive. Soooo, I was in a panic! What to do?

2: I used TestDisk to fix the structure. Then I copied the partiton into a file (pcopy!), I then reinstalled the partition table, added partitons, extracted the partition on to the first of the partitions, and voila!

I learned a lot actually, about partitions and harddrives. So I failed, I succeeded, and I learned. The good old way of doing things! The fun way! ^^ Viva'la whitehatters!

DISCLAIMER: This could have gone horribly, horribly wrong. I could've destroyed data from the original disk partition and thus crippling my computer in the school environment. One should never attempt doing things like this without some extra expertize. I had a friend of mine who's actually an acomplished hacker. Without his help I would've been stuck (or atleast, I wouldn't have fixed it in the short span of 6 hours).

Thanks for all the replies