Check the BIOS settings on your old Gateway laptop. You can boot from a USB drive to access the setup options.
Check the BIOS settings on your old Gateway laptop. You can boot from a USB drive to access the setup options.
Hey there! I see you're working with an old laptop that's been gathering dust. The keyboard isn't working, but you're using a USB keyboard to try and access BIOS for installation. When you get a menu, it suggests booting from USB but then says the computer can't start from an external drive. Have you heard of this issue before? It sounds like a common problem when trying to recover or reinstall an OS on older hardware.
Not every computer supports booting from a USB drive. There could be limitations on the USB file type and how the boot manager is set up. I’m unsure if they provide documentation for older models, but the site https://www.gatewayusa.com might offer guidance on your device and USB setup.
Thanks, it seems they're making a big deal if they don't let me boot from USB. But honestly, that device still has a DVD drive, so maybe it can start from a disk. I've always suspected Gateway might have some consumer-minded behavior. For a bit of fun, it was a laptop my mom used. Over time, with her smoking habits and downloading suspicious software, plus the "tech guy" she hired to speed up her PC, things got pretty messy. Eventually, I got her an ASUS laptop that works fine, so she gave me the old one to recycle. I refused—can't throw it away! It still runs Linux decently. Now that it won't let me install Ubuntu in BIOS or via USB, I'm going to try installing it anyway. Sorry for the long message, and thanks for your tips!
Not always. Earlier systems couldn’t start from USB, particularly if they worked with optical media or floppy disks. Using USB often turned into a must with newer devices. To my knowledge, you can still get an Ubuntu image and burn it to a DVD. Windows 10/11 is too large for that, but I doubt you’d want such a heavy Windows version on your old setup.
No, I’m not okay with Windows on there. That 400$CAD laptop from the Windows 8 time feels too heavy for me. I get what you’re saying too. My plan is to burn the ISO onto a DVD. Plus, honestly, I might be a bit paranoid. Gateway is just a brand I dislike, so I tend to jump to conclusions about them restricting their products. I’ve always felt like they don’t want people to reuse their stuff—they want you to buy something new. I won’t get into a long discussion, but it just feels right because it was bought at Cosco, lol.
Gateway was a U.S.-based tech firm that operated until being bought by ACER in 2007. After its revival in 2020, it introduced a range of laptops available only through Walmart.