Update 11-20-2012

Ok, so I messed around a little more and found a very straightforward way that worked for me. Before the steps, this is assuming you already have all the necessary files download: puppy linux distro of your choice (I chose puppy linux wary 5.3) and Universal USB Installer v.1.9.1.6 and the neccesary hardware: IDE/Sata USB adapter and USB flashdrive/stick. Also, a few specs about my laptop:

Toshiba Portege 3480ct
192mb of ram
Intel Pentium 2 processor
12GB HDD

The Portege 3480ct does have one usb drive and a port for a PCIMCIA CD drive however cannot boot directly from these two therefore, depending on what hdd you have, you will need an adapter to connect it as an external source, my hdd drive for the 3480ct has an IDE connection and so I just bought a very basic IDE USB adapter. So if you have an older laptop like my 3480ct that doesn’t allow for a straight boot from CD or USB, this process should work for you. CAUTION BEFORE ATTEMPTING, MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP ALL DATA ON HDD AND OR AM WILLING TO RISK LOSING ALL DATA ON HDD THAT YOU ARE LOOKING TO INSTALL DISTRO ON AS THINGS CAN GO VERY WRONG

Procedure: If you believe your laptop can boot from USB as a USB-FDD, then skip to step 6 as you won’t have to worry about the HDD step. If it cannot boot from USB-FDD, then start with step 1.

1) Plug in hdd drive to IDE adapter then into computer/laptop you will be using to transfer files to. Format hdd to Fat32 and give it a drive letter. MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER DRIVE LETTER!!

2) Run Universal USB Installer and select linux distribution from dropbox. (Must select exact distro that you will be putting on hdd)

3) Browse for where you saved .iso of puppy linux and open.

4) Then select usb flash drive letter, AGAIN, MAKE SURE CORRECT DRIVE LETTER Another box will pop up saying “Format X:Drive (Erases Content) and click on box. Hit create, it’s going to say something about erasing data and stuff just click ok.

5) After done, unplug and place back into laptop as internal.

6) Now plug in usb drive/stick and follow same procedure as you did with the hdd, making sure drive letter on usb drive/stick matches when choosing where to put puppy linux distro in USB Installer. After complete, plug into old laptop USB Drive.

7) Now boot laptop and click on F2 or whatever F button you have to get to Boot Bios and choose boot from interal hdd. (If booting from USB, choose boot from USB-FDD option)
8) Let puppy linux boot and then click on F3 for advanced commands. Next you’re going to want to type in “puppy pmedia=usbflash” (without quotations). I found that this allows puppy linux to directly boot from your flash drive which the laptop Bios doesn’t allow.

9) Wait for puppy linux to boot and then follow setup instructions. Depending on your laptop, you might have different choices, just read instructions carefully.

10) Once puppy linux desktop is up, go Menu>System>GParted Partition manager and HAVE IT SEARCH YOUR INTERNAL HDD. Format and partition to ext2.

11) Then go to Menu>Setup>puppy universal installer and click on Internal (IDE or SATA) hard drive. Follow instructions and let puppy universal installer complete the install on your internal hdd, it might ask you some questions just choose all the default choices.

12) Once complete, a screen will popup and talk about Grub install, if you want to, read it and make note of it. Then go to Menu>System>Grub Legacy bootloader config. Choose simple install, then standard. Next a window will pop up asking you where you want Grub file to go, just type in “/dev/xxx” without quotations (xxx meaning whatever your hdd is named in linux, mine was sda, might be called hda, make sure its correct!)

13) After that is done, reboot and it will ask you if you want to save a warysave file. Just click yes and choose the recommended choices they offer. Then it will create and whatever it needs. Wait for it to finish and reboot and THE MINUTE IT REBOOTS, PULL OUT USB FLASH DRIVE/STICK! This will allow the laptop to boot from the Grub bootloader and it will also say booting from Grub. Let it load and then a screen will pop up possibly giving you a few choices to choose from. Just choose the LINUX option and press Enter.

14) Now it’ll take you back to the beginning of the puppy linux boot loading screen and just let it install. After it’s done, you’ll then be brought back to the inital puppy linux setup screen where you choose your keyboard etc. and go through it again.

15) After you are done, it’ll boot to Puppy Linux desktop and you are pretty much DONE!! Mess around with it if you want to and get a feel oft desktop. After you are done messing around with it, go to Menu>Shutdown>Reboot and let the laptop reboot again. While booting down, it should say something like, “internal hddinstalled, save file already saved" or something of that nature. Don’t worry, it just means that the warysave file has already been saved because it reads that it’s an interl hdd. Again when reached to screen of options, click Linux again and it should load up and take you straight to Puppy Linux Desktop. Always just choose the Linux option as thats the OS, all other options I did not mess with SO CHOOSE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Am looking forward to installing UBUNTU 12.10 on my desktop, can’t wait to mess around with that! Any questions, please ask and I will do my best to help. Again, am very new to Linux and have gone through many trials and errors to get this to install on my 3480ct, which is one of the hardest laptops to install any OS from forums I’ve read. Hopefully this one helped.

Thanks to JOSH for directing me to the Frugal Install which eventually led me to this long and gruesome process of getting it working on my laptop.