Installing Linux Basic Question

[travellerwill]

I'm a refugee from XP and I'm trying to install Linux on my Samsung NC10 Netbook, and I can't even get past the first paragraph.

"Start your computer, and go into your system Bios and check that the boot order is set so that DVD and USB devices are set to boot first. This varies from bios to bios. Refer to your motherboard documentation for more information."

What are Bios and how do check them on XP, where would I find the motherboard documentation?

Hope some can help, Many thanks.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Welcome to Linux Lite. My Samsung is a laptop and not a netbook, but from what I've seen, the procedure is the same.

The BIOS (Buffered Input/Output System) is burned into a chip on the motherboard of the computer. If, at power up, you press the ESC key ONLY ONCE, you get a menu asking which drive you want to boot from, or if you want to enter the BIOS setup.

This is a one-time change. If you want to change this setting permanently, at the screen you see when you first power up, pressing the F2 key a time or few should get you into the BIOS settings.

At the top left of the BIOS home screen, there are several menu choices. Using the RIGHT ARROW key, scroll over to 'Boot', and press the ENTER key to select. This will take you to the Boot menu.

At the Boot Menu, you SHOULD see instructions on how to select USB KEY as the default. Once you select what you want, the F10 saves these changes into the BIOS.

73 DE N4RPS
Rob