can live cd be run w/o hdd?

[Dswissmiss]

my friends hard drive broke on his dell inspiron, and i was wondering whether i can run a linux live cd without the hard drive installed (it wont boot with the hard drive in). i'm using mepis linux btw, similar to knoppix

thanx
dswissmiss

[trickster]

Yes, it should.

[CP]

I live CD shouldn't use any HD unless you make it. They are designed to run totally in memory
CP

[Dswissmiss]

the cd hangs when it tries to search for hardware...i tried booting using legacy, but still no luck....anyone familiar with the mepis disk? or could someone give me any ideas on what else to try (boot options)?

thanx for the fast replys btw
dswissmiss

[mojo jojo]

push f2 at the boot screen there whould be a few options there.

[Dswissmiss]

The BIOS? I tried selecting so that it wont boot into the hard drive at all, but still no luck.
Maybe a different distro?

[mojo jojo]

disconnet the HDD ;D also knoppix is nice ;D

[Dswissmiss]

yeah, the hard drive was always disconected... for some reason the laptop wont even power up when the hard drive is in it

[mojo jojo]

why dont you just plug it in and boot from the cd ???

[Dswissmiss]

when the hard drive is connected to the laptop, the computer wont power up (coke spilled on it and fried it). now when the hard drive is removed, and the laptop booted, i can get in to BIOS. my idea was to run a live cd on the laptop, so he can use the pc for a few days untill his new hard drive arrives from dell. but when i boot into the live cd, while its loading, it hangs once it looks for hardware, so now im trying to find a way for it not to look for the hardware or something.

sorry for being vague...havent slept in a while
thanx for your help