newb question about making BackTrack CD

[rikomu]

UPDATE: please answer question at bottom (Can someone confirm that you don't need to be able to go into BIOS settings in order to dual boot????)

Hi, READ THIS OUT BEFORE YOU ACCUSE ME OF LAZINESS ... yes I HAVE searched the forums, the FAQ's and the tuts, I have googled like crazy, but it seems that my problem is so basic that no one has bothered to make a thread about it.

I already know how to properly burn an iso to a CD / USB drive, BUT my problem is the actual CD .. do you have to get a 2gb+ CD / DVD for BT4? because I only have 700mb max CD's ... I read somewhere you can split it up and use 2 CD's somehow but it was very confusing for me because I'm very new at this (but I learn fast [; ) is this possible and if so, how?

USB drive is out of the question for me due to problems with the BIOS on my lappy, but I was told that dual boot up was possible without having to go into BIOS and change settings (can someone confirm?)

If one does need a 2gb+ cd/dvd for BT4 then I plan on installing the older versions which are a lot smaller than BT4.

Thanks to anybody who takes the time to read this and/or reply

UPDATE: I've found some 4 gb DVDs lying around my house so that's solved

Can someone confirm that you don't need to be able to go into BIOS settings in order to dual boot????

[lupin]

You need to burn BackTrack 4 to a blank DVD.

[rikomu]

You need to burn BackTrack 4 to a blank DVD.

Um, okay .. so basically I have to go out and buy those special CD's made for DVD if I wanna burn BT4 to a CD? (I'm using the term CD generically, as describing those shiny iridescent plastic discs with a hole in the middle. like a donut )

[lupin]

Um, okay .. so basically I have to go out and buy those special CD's made for DVD if I wanna burn BT4 to a CD? (I'm using the term CD generically, as describing those shiny iridescent plastic discs with a hole in the middle. like a donut )

If you want serious answers here then don't use terms like CD "generically", or to put it in my terms "incorrectly". We don't have a hope of communicating properly if you intend to make up your own meaning for words that already have an accepted definition in the English language. CDs and DVDs are different technology, so use the proper terms to refer to them so we can understand you please.

Now, to answer your question, if you want a bootable "shiny disc" version of BackTrack 4 you need a DVD burner and a blank DVD. To boot from it you will need at minimum a DVD reader. The products that you need to obtain will mention the term "DVD" somewhere on the box.

Read this if you require more information.

[p0kp4k]

Hi,
basycly the cd rom can support a maximum size of 700Mo.
Now the b4 iso is around 1go so you have to burn it on a DVD ROM (+ or - ) then boot from your cd/dvd rom (you can choose the boot priority on bios or directly when the computer start by pressing F12 --> it depends of your computer look at the boot screen).

[rikomu]

If you want serious answers here then don't use terms like CD "generically", or to put it in my terms "incorrectly". We don't have a hope of communicating properly if you intend to make up your own meaning for words that already have an accepted definition in the English language. CDs and DVDs are different technology, so use the proper terms to refer to them so we can understand you please.

Now, to answer your question, if you want a bootable "shiny disc" version of BackTrack 4 you need a DVD burner and a blank DVD. To boot from it you will need at minimum a DVD reader. The products that you need to obtain will mention the term "DVD" somewhere on the box.

I wasn't sure if CD was the correct term hence my explaining what I meant by it. No need to be nasty like this. Thanks for the concise if rather unhelpful answer

Hi,
basycly the cd rom can support a maximum size of 700Mo.
Now the b4 iso is around 1go so you have to burn it on a DVD ROM (+ or - ) then boot from your cd/dvd rom (you can choose the boot priority on bios or directly when the computer start by pressing F12 --> it depends of your computer look at the boot screen).

Like I put in my original post, I CANNOT access BIOS on my computer, this is why I looked into dual booting in the first place, as someone told me dual boot did not need access to bios settings at all. I highly doubt this is getting fixed any time soon as it is a manufacturers problem

[lupin]

I wasn't sure if CD was the correct term hence my explaining what I meant by it. No need to be nasty like this. Thanks for the concise if rather unhelpful answer

You are welcome.

Like I put in my original post, I CANNOT access BIOS on my computer, this is why I looked into dual booting in the first place, as someone told me dual boot did not need access to bios settings at all. I highly doubt this is getting fixed any time soon as it is a manufacturers problem

It depends on the current boot order configured in your BIOS - in other words the order in which your BIOS will check other devices to determine which should be used to boot the Operating System. If your hard drive is first in the list, and you cant boot from anything else (e.g. a USB drive or a CD/DVD drive) then you are going to have a hard time in actually installing BackTrack, since you need to boot into its live environment in order to install it.

In that case you would need to remove the hard drive, put it in another computer that can boot BackTrack, install to that hard drive, making sure you keep the existing Windows install intact by resizing, and then move it back.

[rikomu]

This problem has been solved (no thanks to 'Lupin' LOL), and I want to say how it was fixed in case a newbie with the same problem finds this thread!

I'm still not sure what the problem is, later I found out about HWsetup in Toshiba which lets you change the boot order around, however I still could NOT boot from the COUGH DVD HAPPY NOW LUPIN? it would just show a black screen until I force shut down. Resetting the computer to factory settings, taking battery out etc did not work either

What DID work was that I found out Toshiba laptops have a SECOND key config, pressing C to boot directly from whatever's in the CD/DVD drive. LOL. It was almost magical for me. I feel very lucky!

So if anyone has a problem like this in the future I hope I helped.

[Snayler]

(no thanks to 'Lupin' LOL)
COUGH DVD HAPPY NOW LUPIN?

Oh, those were really nice words to say to someone who tried to help you... Maybe next time Lupin should just say 'go google', as it seems you like that answer so much... Grow up, dude.

[lupin]

This problem has been solved (no thanks to 'Lupin' LOL), and I want to say how it was fixed in case a newbie with the same problem finds this thread!

No thanks to me huh? Well I guess I DO have to take the blame here, because it had obviously escaped my attention that I was responsible for solving all of your computer problems for you.</sarcasm>

Being serious for a moment though, I was the only one responding to your last question here, and I was giving you some accurate and relevant advice, even though it was rather generic (as necessitated by the lack of information in your question). Apparently the sting from my taking you to task for using dreadful terminology made you overlook this fact. Never mind.

Lets also overlook the fact that the solution you found to your problem was not related to the question you asked (dual booting), which would of course make providing you with helpful assistance difficult.

Or have we actually run into another terminology problem here? Dual booting refers to the installation of two different Operating Systems on the same hard drive, in order that either one can be used to boot the system. That's the goal I was focusing on when I gave my response. Judging from your last post, you seem to believe that it means "being able to boot from a removable media like a DVD or USB drive". So a bad question results in an irrelevant answer. Maybe now you see why I think using the correct terminology is so important.

I'm still not sure what the problem is, later I found out about HWsetup in Toshiba which lets you change the boot order around, however I still could NOT boot from the COUGH DVD HAPPY NOW LUPIN?

Yes. Im always happy. See the big smile?

it would just show a black screen until I force shut down. Resetting the computer to factory settings, taking battery out etc did not work either

What DID work was that I found out Toshiba laptops have a SECOND key config, pressing C to boot directly from whatever's in the CD/DVD drive. LOL. It was almost magical for me. I feel very lucky!

So if anyone has a problem like this in the future I hope I helped.

Well done. See the good results that occur when you put the appropriate amount of effort into a problem?