I work for a small computer store, repairing and building systems for small businesses and residential people.

A college student came in this past Thursday with her laptop, telling me how she somehow managed to forget her password to Windows XP. Of course she wanted the use of her laptop back, along with the files that were still on the hard drive.

Well, I could tell that this would be no easy feat as there was no floppy drive on this thing, and you can't install over XP Pro in an attempt to negate the password.

I stumbled across this program called Knoppix after I had wandered into a post on a different website where a guy was complaining about not being able to activate his installation of Windows XP anymore. Someone mentioned that he should try just using Knoppix instead of Windows at all.

Intrigued, I came here and I was immediately in awe. First of all, I have never really used any version of Linux to speak of, but with little effort I was able to get this latest version of Knoppix downloaded and burned to a CD. The best part is that one of the mirrors, Purdue University, is literally a stone throw away from here.

My initial intent was to send the files she wanted saved over the network, but I couldn't immediately figure out how to configure the network properties. On a whim I tried installing an external CD burner we have here. It supposedly only works for Windows, but it was detected without problem, and I was then able to burn a CD of everything she wanted.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I am overjoyed that this program/OS exists. I'm looking forward to reading more about it on this site to see what all it offers.

Thank you all so much!!!