Laptop Probs

[Diablo]

My mom recently bought a used laptop without my knowledge. The problem is that it's running Windows 3.1 for some reason, but a sticker on the laptop itself says that it's made for windows95. Anyhow, it came w/ a portable cd-rom, only its not configured. Also, the a: isn't working. The cd-rom came w/ a disk to set it up, but i obviously cant get that to work since a: isnt working. I was thinking, i could get a link that transfers info from my pc to my laptop, upgrade windows, and maybe the hardware detection would fix it itself. I did take the laptop apart & inspected it, it does try to read the disk, im not sure what the problem is. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, anyone know what the link for transporting data from pc-laptop is called?....thanx

[BADFlSH]

What kind of laptop is it? A thinkpad maybe? Also what model?

------------------
<*{{{{<( ßÅÐfϧH )>}}}}*>

[CluelessSi]

Link? hmm well depends on what you have there to begin with... i mean any "link" will do safest one i guess is parellel to parellel but both comps have network card you can use that amoung other things.

[haven]

PC Card and Socket Services may get the CD-ROM to work.

CluelessSI is correct with the ethernet connection. You can also use the serial ports (very slow).

If you have a Windows 98 boot disk, use that to install drivers for the CD-ROM (depending upon how you wanted to do the upgrade).

[BADFlSH]

Diablo??? Are you still looking at this thread??? What kind of laptop. If it is a thinkpad the probalem may be that it was connected to a ditto drive at some point. That will kill the floppy. All you have to do to fix it is change the extension on a file in with windos\system32 folder. Let me know what model the laptop is and if that might be the problem I will try to remember what file it is.

------------------
<*{{{{<( ßÅÐfϧH )>}}}}*>

[Diablo]

DELL Latitude XPi P120ST

24meg ram, 2 gig hard drive, no cd rom

Anyhow...any specific help would be appreciated, since i know little to nothing about laptops....i also wanted to know how to connect my pc to my laptop w/ some sort of link or cable

(sorry about the late reply, i've been really busy & havent been online much)

thanx again!

[BADFlSH]

That's ok, I just wasnt sure if you were still around. Anyway, I have no idea what the floppy problem might be. As far as connecting it to another computer, like the other guys said, if both the laptop and the other computer have network cards the best thing to do is to get a crossover cable and run it between the two. If not the next fastest thing would be usb if both comps have usb ports. I have never done usb so I dont really know how it works but I am sure you could find some info on the net. The other thing you can try is either comm or parallel port, just got to the store and get a cable that is the same on both ends, I believe it has to be female but check the back of the computer. Then once they are connected you just go to start > Programs > Accessories > communications and then there is an option for something like cable connect or direct connect. If it isnt there then you have to put in the win cd and add it, in which case you would be in big trouble on the laptop since you can use the cd-rom. Hope that helps.

------------------
<*{{{{<( ßÅÐfϧH )>}}}}*>

[BatmanBeyond]

Another option is to get a 2.5 to 3.5 hard drive bracket, install Windows 95/98/NT/2K onto the hard drive, perhaps copy the whole CD onto the hard drive if there's room (in case you need new drivers or something), and then stick it back in the laptop. <A HREF="http://www.compgeeks.com/">Computer Geeks</A> has these for $4 plus shipping.