[K12OSN] using really old PCs as clients

[Rob Owens]

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 10:37:01PM +0530, raju VK wrote:
> Thanks for all the replies. But even now my question is not properly
> answered. It is simply,  if I use a new network card with boot ROM,
> whether I can boot in to a network even if the boot options does not have an
> entry for network card as boot device.
> 
> >From the replies I assume the answer is negative and the only option is to
> use a boot floppy.
> 
The boot floppy (or boot CD) does allow you to boot over the network.
The boot floppy only contains instructions for the computer to boot from
the network -- it does not contain a local operating system or even a
kernel.  It will work functionally the same as a network card with a
boot ROM, except that you need to have the floppy installed.

-Rob