newbie questions

[thrustan]

1. will knoppix run in a computer with no hdd?

2. can i download anything into knoppix? if yes, how is it possible when the cd is read-only?

3. is there a log or something that records all my tracks. everything from opening a text file to downloaded something?

4. if knoppix records anything at all from what i did, does it erase everything when i boot or take out the cd?

5. does knoppix access my hdd in anyway?

[UnderScore]

FYI: The link at the top of the screen Documentation has most of these questions answered.

>1. will knoppix run in a computer with no hdd?
Yes it will. I run a celeon 533 MHz & 256MB RAM & DVDDrive system with knoppix and it runs fine. On bootup, by default, Knoppix does TRY to scan the hard drive to see if it has files on it or to see if there is virtual memory swap space but again it will run fine. I can not run too many programs because I do not have much RAM and since there is no hard drive -> there is no virtual memory swap space.

> 2. can i download anything into knoppix? if yes, how is it possible when the cd is read-only?
Yes. You can view/open/edit/save MP3s, JPGs, videos, OpenOffice.org documents etc. Knoppix uses a portion of your system's RAM to hold the new files & documents. If you wish to save those files then you will need either a hard drive, CDRW drive, or USB flash memory drive in that system. Or you could try to save the files to another computer's hard drive via a local network.

> 3. is there a log or something that records all my tracks. everything from opening a text file to downloaded something?
As in most systems, yes there are logs and history files. The logs do not record absolutely everything, but the logs can be used to get a good idea of how & what happened. To my knowledge, Knoppix does NOT include a keyboard logger to catpure keystrokes.

>4. if knoppix records anything at all from what i did, does it erase everything when i boot or take out the cd?
Since Knoppix does not require nor need to access a hard drive, the logs & maybe some MP3s file you listened to are stored in the system's RAM. If you shut the system down or reboot, the RAM contents are flushed and the logs and any other files you might have saved are gone.

> 5. does knoppix access my hdd in anyway?
On bootup, by default, Knoppix does TRY to scan the hard drive. This scan is very gentle (Knoppix does not write to the HD) to see if it has files on it or to see if there is virtual memory swap space. You can disable this behavior by entering the following cheat code at boot up.
knoppix noswap nofstab

I hope this helps.
James

[Markus]

3. You can type history to see the last commands or if you want to see the output as well use script:
markus@mrk-fujibox:~$ script -a afilename
Script started, file is afilename
sh-3.00$ pwd
/home/markus
sh-3.00$ cd tmp
sh-3.00$ ls -l
total 164
-rwx------ 1 markus markus 153088 Feb 27 16:23 GLB1a2b.EXE
-rw------- 1 markus markus 1976 Feb 27 17:07 PT_script.txt
drwx------ 2 markus markus 4096 Feb 27 15:12 temp
sh-3.00$ exit
Script done, file is afilename

markus@mrk-fujibox:~$ cat afilename
Script started on Wed Mar 9 22:30:50 2005
sh-3.00$ pwd
/home/markus
sh-3.00$ cd tmp
sh-3.00$ ls -l
total 164
-rwx------ 1 markus markus 153088 Feb 27 16:23 GLB1a2b.EXE
-rw------- 1 markus markus 1976 Feb 27 17:07 PT_script.txt
drwx------ 2 markus markus 4096 Feb 27 15:12 temp
sh-3.00$ exit

Script done on Wed Mar 9 22:31:01 2005
markus@mrk-fujibox:~$

[thrustan]

thank you for answering. it helped a lot!

but... where can i get the older versions of knoppix? the new versions are all 700 mb. i only have 650 cd-r(w).

i live in a small town, and there are no computer stores here. it is going to take a while before i head to the big city. but i am itching to try a knoppix.

[UnderScore]

> thank you for answering. it helped a lot!
no problem.

>but... where can i get the older versions of knoppix? the new versions are all 700 mb. i only have 650 cd-r(w).
I am quite sure that practically all knoppix released in that last 2 years has been 700MB.
Maybe a friend of a friend has spare a 700MB CDR?