Well first, what symptoms are you having with the cdrom in the old system? Is it that you are unable to boot the Linux install disk?
 
Once we know this, and look at this issue, then we can get to installing it on the new system, if you must, then using it as the primary OS on the old system? This is a bit more involved.

Gosh,
 
Agreed, what does it mean when you say CDROM does not work?
 
If the device itself is defective, replace it. CDROM readers are very inexpensive these days.
 
If you try to install Linux on a significantly different system than the one in which the disk is to be installed, you may be asking for a LOT of problems. It can be done by experienced people, but I would not recomend trying this if you are new to Linux.
 
When Linux is installed, a huge number of services and drivers are configured to support the system on which Linux is installed. When you move the disk to a system substantially different and boot, Linux will start telling you about all the new stuff it found, the stuff that is missing, etc.. Sometimes in the course of removing and adding devices the system gets confused and you end up with a system which requires a number of iterations to get running correctly. Remember, the pc consists of more than the few devices you see with the eye. There are HOST-PCI bridges, PCI-SLAVE bridges, a few flavors of IDE controller interfaces, DMA controllers, etc, etc.,
 
Trust me, it is less expensive to buy a CDROM drive and simply install.
 
HTH
 

hey!!
thx both BSchindler and danleff
well Im not sure if my CDROM itself is defective.
cause when I tried to put all sorts of bootable cd-rom-disks like linux-os (burned to discs) or a restore disk for my old OS(win 98) non had booted allthough my bios was set to boot first from CDROM.
also' when I booted from floppy (a command prompt) I couldnt refer to my CDROM. I tried all the lables A to Z.
 
so I guess my cdrom is indeed defective.
so the only realistic solution I understand is to buy a new cdrom
the problem is this computer is not my computer it belongs to some orfanisation so I tried to avoid any money-investment in this computer.
 
any way thx very much for the help

First of all, I would not attempt to install Linux on a computer that is not yours. It belons to an organization? If you install Linux (not a live cd version) then it will want to over-write the bootloader. If you are the only one using the system and don't care if you accidently trash something, then i guess it's OK, if you have permission to do so. Otherwise, you will confuse other users when they boot the system.
 
The question is, does the cdrom read disks fine? If so, you probably did not burn the iso as an image. Open at the cd that you burned in Windows. Do you see just one iso file, or a bunch of directories and files?
 
Finally, are you sure the bios is set to boot from cdrom? Some organizations have their systems set up so this is not so, just for the reason of preventing people from installing another OS in the system.

hey! thx again for the quick reply!!!
Originally posted by danleff:

Quote:First of all, I would not attempt to install Linux on a computer that is not yours. It belons to an organization? If you install Linux (not a live cd version) then it will want to over-write the bootloader. If you are the only one using the system and don't care if you accidently trash something, then i guess it's OK, if you have permission to do so. Otherwise, you will confuse other users when they boot the system.
well, the computer (was before:win98-pent3) belongs to a company but I and my dad r the only ppl who use it. the computer is borrowed to my dad for "work" from the company.
but since Ive ruined the win98 OS Ive decided to install linux on the 6GB-HDD it has.I moved the 6GB-HDD of the old computer to our new computer (which also belongs to the company)
and erased the entire 6GB-HDD!!!
 

Quote:The question is, does the cdrom read disks fine? If so, you probably did not burn the iso as an image. Open at the cd that you burned in Windows. Do you see just one iso file, or a bunch of directories and files?Finally, are you sure the bios is set to boot from cdrom? Some organizations have their systems set up so this is not so, just for the reason of preventing people from installing another OS in the system.
 
I did set the bios to first boot from CD-ROM
and the fact that the yellow light of CD-ROM flashes for a miniute or so before it gave up and booted from HDD indeed indicated that it tried to read my CD-ROM.
also there was nothing wrong with my cd cause I tried several cd's like live cd-knoppix and my restore cd of win 98
and both didnt boot from cd-rom however the same live-cd knoppix booted fine my new computer (pentium 4-winxp)
 
so I guess the cd-rom is defected in some way or at least lost the ability to boot from.
 
oh,by the way, you mentiond before ,i think, that the installation of OS varries largly from one computer to another depending on the hardware of a computer.
however,it accoured to me that if there is a non live-cd version (HDD-installed-OS) of some live-cd OS then this HDD-installed-OS does not varry at all from one computer to another because a live-cd is independent of a hardware.
but I guess live-cd OS are very basic OS.
 
any way thanks
[Edited by jokop on 2005-02-21 18:01:27]
 

OK, then two possible issues. The cdrom is not compliant with home made bootable cdrw or cdr disks. Or, the bios is not compliant with booting the same.
 
I would replace the cdrom, as it is probably the culprit. They are inexpensive enough.
 
Good luck!

thanks very much
oh is there a program (wich I can save on a floppy) which boots my computer and checks weather my CD_ROM is ok?
I want a last check before I buy a new CD-ROM because ,allthough I can not boot from the CD-ROM ,Im not sure the CD-ROM is TOTALLY defected.)