In a previous posting, http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2021, I spoke about how to boot KNOPPIX without a CD or boot floppy by saving the the KNOPPIX compressed image file from a burned CD and the vmlinuz + miniboot.gz files from a rawritten boot floppy to M$ WINDOZE partition like hda1. This was only good on a machine that supports real DOS mode and VFAT = WIN95, WIN98 and sort of on WINME where you still needed to boot the rescue disk, ouch....

However, I've found the following more convenient, especially when don't have the security to change such things on the WINDOZE PC you're using.... This works well on any PC that boots a floppy, even WINME. Also, you do not have to deal with the M$ WINDOSE desktop icons or a M$ DOZE batch file. In this method you use the boot floppy to find the KNOPPIX compressed image file on a partition, say hda1, instead of the CD and boot from there!

Sorry, I think I need the following 2 disclaimers based on some weird replies I got on the above posting.

Word of Warning #1: Use this HOWTO at your own risk. I take no responsibility for any problems you incure while experimenting with this HOWTO. I make no guarantees, neither explicit nor implied as to any application you may use this HOWTO for.

Word of Warning #2: I have not tested this on any other partitions nor have I tested this on NTFS. So, if you want to experiment with those options, caveat emptor! Please note that this HOWTO is just "my 2 cents" and you get what you pay for....

Step0:
You still need to burn a KNOPPIX ISO to a CD and rawrite the corresponding boot IMG to a floppy.

Step1:
Boot your KNOPPIX CD normally.

Step2:
Mount hda1 = click the hda1 icon on the KNOPPIX desktop.

Step3:
Open a root shell = click the <K> kogwheel, then <KNOPPIX> and then <root shell>.

Step4:
Make hda1 read-write = issue the following command line in the root shell.
mount -o remount,rw /mnt/hda1

*or*
Step4:
Make hda1 read-write = right click the hda1 icon on the KNOPPIX desktop and then click <change read write mode>.

Step5:
Make a new directory on hda1 to hold the KNOPPIX file = issue the following command line in the root shell.
mkdir /mnt/hda1/knoppix

Step6:
Copy the KNOPPIX file to the new directory = issue the following command line in the root shell.
cp /mnt/cdrom/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX /mnt/hda1/knoppix

Step7:
Wait 4-8 minutes, depending on how fast your CD drive is, for step6 to finish and shutdown KNOPPIX normally.

Step8:
Boot the PC with the boot floppy still in place, but without the CD. Now you won't need your CD ever again! The boot floppy is slow, which is not new unless you're used to booting with the CD only, but once the boot process switches to hda1 (not scd0 anymore), it goes faster than the CD.

What's nice about this approach is that you don't need to repartition anything, it still boots like KNOPPIX with all the autodetection and its still read only (its the same everytime you boot it, noone can mess it up running from a ramdisk). You don't get that from knx-hdinstall! Also running apps off hda1 is faster than doing so off the CD (unless, unlike me, you have an incredibly fast CD drive). This also helps me in when I upgrade to a new release on KNOPPIX, I don't have to burn 25 CDs and rawrite 25 boot disks for all my students anymore. All I'll do is burn 1 CD, delete /mnt/hda1/knoppix/KNOPPIX, copy the new /mnt/cdrom/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX there and rawrite 25 new boot disks. What a time saver!

Enjoy!

Regards,