SuSEers I still have a clobbered system, but I was able to 'boot installed system' by going thru 'manual install' process on CD1. So what I know now is: this process doesn't REALLY boot the installed system in the traditional sense; it is booted on the kerkel on the CD and it has 'started' the installed system on top of the booted kernel. I can't tell for sure but I think my "vmlinuz" in /boot is bad but I don't know how to tell. When I reconfigure LILO and tell it to use that file the boot fails. If that "vmlinuz" is bad where can I get another one? Is it the kernel? Where on the CDs do the SuSE kernels reside? I have tried to do 'install-update and it runs to completion, but the systems still won't boot from HD. How does one recover a blown SuSE 8 system? In my researches I have come to wonder about LILO. I have created a LILO boot floppy but booting that fails also. Is there any reason to use it if SuSE is the only OS on the box? Would the alternative be 'writing the boot record' to the MBR on my HD? How does one do this. Does my confusion show? I am missing a 'big-picture' concept level understanding of the SuSE booting procedure, so I am not able to visualize what has gone bad here and what is needed to get it running again. In Windows (M$) in this situation you just re-install and those files that are corrupted are re-written and your old settings are kept; (usually :<) .Is there a process of equilivent simplicity in SuSE? All replies welcome and appreciated........ PeterB