How to move Puppy from USB HD to frugal on main Win drive?

[Marcel]

I have Puppy 4.3.1 on a USB hard drive - full install - works beautifully. I would like to transfer it, as a frugal install, to a my Vista PC hard drive. Can I do this and transfer everything, including stuff saved? If so, how? There's data I don't want to lose, and set-ups I don't want to have to re-set-up unless I really have to.
Advice will be gratefully received.
BTW, the reason I want to do this is to free up the USB device to use for backups.
Thanks, and especial thanks to all the brilliant Puppy developers.
Marcel

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
Marcel...Quick answer...Do a frugal install while running from the usb booted Puppy. (Please search the forum about installing Puppy on a Vista machine, as there are Drive Label and boot.ini issues with some OEM Vista installs..) Copy your pupsave from the usb drive to the folder you just installed Puppy to.. Reboot your computer..Do Not make a save when it asks..
Puppy will pick up the pupsave on reboot, and all your saved stuff should be there..Of course, check and make sure all works well before you wipe the thumbdrive..
If you have any questions, let us know...
Good Luck...

[mikeslr]

Sorry Marcel, but I think PuppyLuvr missed your reference to having a Full install on your USB. I've never done a Full install, but as far as I know it doesn't use a SAVE File, so there isn't one to copy over. If I'm correct, that leaves you only a couple of options, none easy:
1) Not what you want, but easiest: create a Full install on your HD, by first creating a Linux partition on your hard drive --follow Puppyluvr's Vista warnings see warning in (4) below-- and then copying your USB Full install to it, and creating a way to boot into it by (a) modifying menu.lst if you currently boot the USB from the harddrive, or, if necessary (b) installing Grub, Grub4Dos or some other bootmanager to your harddrive.
(2) Remaster your USB Install, making certain to copy ALL your folders to your Working Folder so that they're included in the Remaster. See
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 752e6095bb
and/or do a "well-minded" search on "Remaster Full Install":
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=0159956439 ... earch.html
Then use your Remastered disk to do a frugal hard-drive install.
(3) Not sure it will work but: Install Petmaker on your USB Install. Use it to create pets or sfses (maybe both) of all directories in which you've stored data and or settings. [I think I recall reading something about Petmaker having a problem with trying to handle very large directories, so several small is better than one large-everything]. Using the same disk you used for your USB install, do a frugal install, then reinstall any applications you've added. ONLY THEN install the pets you've created or load the sfses you've created. If going the sfs route, one of jrb's sfs-linker setups would be useful depending on which version of Puppy you're using. If your Puppy is a 4.2, use his 4.12 setup (the 4.3 setup doesn't work in 4.2) and while linker & unlinker works, you won't get a desktop "my-links" folder).
(4) Perhaps the easiest way to end up with a frugal install, but probably the method you've been trying to avoid: If necessary, use gparted to create a Linux partition on your hard drive --IMPORTANT first defrag the Windows partition if it's going to be resized to make room for the Linux partition. Boot your USB Puppy. Copy all data to the hard-drive Linux partition. Then, using your USB Puppy, install frugally to the hard-drive. You'll have to reinstall any added pets, and reset your setting and customizations, but your hard-drive frugal can access --and add to and modify-- the data already in your Linux partition.

mikesLr

[Béèm]

If you wan to re-size partitions in Vista, use a Windows program designed for it. Might cost something.
I am not sure, even after any defrag option in Vista, that gpart won't cut into important Vista files.

[Marcel]

Thanks folks for quick and useful replies. I'll think about which solution to try!