Hello all, I've got a quick question regarding the bootup process. I've got a usb key with DSL on it and would like to be able to boot it. But the problem is that my bios doesn't boot on usb drive (Although I have a recent laptop, not even a year old). I would like to know if there's a way I could get my computer to boot on my usb key Thanks very much

if your computer is less than a year old it is likely that it can boot from usb. This can be enable in the bios like you said. So when your computer boots up enter the bios and search the menus for an option such as "boot device priority". You can then change the order of devices from which your computer will look for software to boot. Just set USB to be ahead (a higher priority than) the harddisk. If you need more assistance then let us know the make of the bios your computer has.

I looked around my BIOS and didn't find that kind of option. Only Floppy, CDROM, HD, and network. My BIOS is 3C22 from Phoenix. My updates are given by ACER america. My laptop is a Travelmate 8104. Thanks a bunch, looking forward hearing from you.

You are going to have to create a boot floppy with the correct kernel/modules on it to allow it to boot the USB device.

You can just install grub on the hard drive (if it's not there already), then add this to your menu.lst file: title Boot from USB drive root (hd1,0) chainloader +1 The fact is that the Travelmate 8100's BIOS doesn't have a menu entry for booting from USB. However the BIOS recognizes the USB drive and makes it available to grub as a second hard drive.