# Installation on laptop with no OS



## LesterL (Dec 4, 2014)

My apologies for asking what may seem like an easy question.

Can I install the latest (or a particular level of) FreeBSD on a laptop with no OS by first downloading the product to a CD on a Windows 7 system, then booting up using BIOS control on the laptop with no OS?

_I'm n_ot interested in using VM/partitioning/etc. on my Windows 7 laptop. _I w_ould like to have FreeBSD running standalone.

Thanks for your time.


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## wblock@ (Dec 4, 2014)

Yes.  If you identify the make and model of the laptop, we might be able to help with specifics.


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## LesterL (Dec 4, 2014)

wblock@, thanks for your response. I have not yet purchased an OS-free laptop. It sounds like it's a can-do. I'll queue back up when I know the make/model.


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## wblock@ (Dec 5, 2014)

Just so you know, some newer hardware is not fully supported yet.  The most important of these:

Intel Haswell graphics: not supported yet, only console text or vesa X drivers for now.
Optimus graphics (dual Intel and Nvidia): some of these can be made to work by disabling the Nvidia chip, but not all.
AMD video cards in the 7000- and 8000-range (and possibly some of the 6000-series), including those built-in as APUs, are not yet supported by the radeon driver.
Work is at various stages on all of these, but none have an expected completion date yet.


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## lme@ (Dec 10, 2014)

wblock@ said:


> Intel Haswell graphics: not supported yet, only console text or vesa X drivers for now.



VESA seems to work pretty well with this xorg.conf tweak: http://bsdforen.de/threads/probleme-mit-vesa-solved.31497/


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