I'd strongly recommend an external USB device. Many companies are giving away small USB sticks as swag. 16 MB is plenty for some simple file saving.

Quote Originally Posted by ugo
Question:
do you know how to avoid passing through Windows?
IIRC, you don't actually enter a full Windows session, but rather just it runs a chkdsk which then reboots.

But to answer your questions, try ntfsfix. I've never used it but it sounds like it might do the trick. The way this might work is to boot using the "-b" cheatcode (e.g. boot: knoppix -b) which drops you into emergency mode. Once there, type "ntfsfix /dev/hda1" assuming /dev/hda1 holds the ntfs partition. When it's done, type exit to continue booting Knoppix.

Give that a try and let us know how it goes.

Quote Originally Posted by ugo
P.S. Of course, I could suggest to the students to resize ntfs and create a new (vfat or something in
linux) partition, where they can safely out the persistent home; but I guess they would be scared
about resizing.....
IMHO, resizing is the best option if you don't have an external USB device. After resizing you should create a new ext2 partition to hold a persistent disk image (PDI). I used this method quite a bit in the internet cafes and kiosks while travelling in Argentina. I'd copy both the ISO from the CD and the PDI from my USB key to the disk. I'd also create a swapfile on the partition and booted using the "bootfrom=" cheatcode. When I was done I'd boot again and copy the PDI to my USB key. On slow machines this worked much faster than using the CD.

Good luck and let us know what works for you.

Regards,
- Robert
http://www.cwelug.org