I would not attempt to remove the 5 1/4" drive from the compaq, at least not yet. Someone someplace must have a 5 1/4 DOS disk and simple terminal program like Smart Term that you can use with a modem to download files to your compaq. 1) Maybe you already tried this, but ....After the computer completes the memory check and spins the 5 1/4" diskette drive, just after the drive light stops flashing, hit CTRL+BREAK to halt the autoexec.bat file from initiating the Novell program. You may have to try more than once, but you should be able to break into a DOS prompt of some kind. Next, archive the programs that call the Novell program so that they will not be executed when you boot. 2) type this command at the DOS prompt : copy autoexec.bat autoexec.nov [enter] 3) type this command at the DOS prompt: del autoexec.bat [enter] 4) type this command at the DOS prompt : copy config.sys config.nov [enter] 5) type this command at the DOS prompt: del config.sys [enter] reboot the compaq. should end with a C> prompt only. 6) create a DOS boot disk for the Linux box (oldest OS you can find), and reboot linux box into DOS. 7) you can use the serial ports on both computers to transfer files (via modem or cable). Possibilities: a) There is a program called Laplink that you can use to copy files to the Compaq without using the diskette drive. You'll need a straight-through serial cable, or a parallel cable that's made specially for laplink. Using serial mode only (somehow) laplink can install itself on a target computer (compaq) through the serial port without having to install software via the disk drive. b) You can use Smart Term (or some modem program) to upload and download files from linux computer to the compaq. You'd need two modems and two phone lines. And you'd need a modem program (like smart term) on 5 1/4. you can download smart term to the linux box, and then copy to DOS formatted disks so that when you boot with DOS disk, you can swap out for the smart term disk. What I did for these situations was go to the Good will and find a PC with both 5 1/4 and 3.5" drives. Very useful! Every vintage computer hacker needs a system with multiple drive types. right... at 35LBS no one is crazy enough to carry this machine >around) II... with a hard drive and a 5.25 floppy disk drive. The hard drive apparently has MSDOS 3.2 and some Novell application. When >booted up it first checks the memory then it checks active partions... then it starts going in some kinda loop looking for a file server that >isn't there. I don't have any other 5.25 floppy drives so I am unable to create disks to transfer files to this box. I was wondering if it was >possible to connect the floppy drive to my linux box and copy the files to the disk(s) from there and retransfer the drive to the compaq to >use. Problem is that the Linux box is an RH9 platform on a PII (686) system. Would RH9 even have the needed drivers for a drive this >ancient? Can this be done or am I, for all intensive purposes, screwed?