Getting Started

This seminar includes a free Knoppix CD. I download and make copies of the latest version. You can freely make additional copies for others without infringing on any copyrights.

The computer that is going to run Knoppix should have at least 512kB of RAM. Interestingly, no hard disk is really required! As for the processor, any Pentium processor should work. To get reasonable performance, I recommand a Pentium II class processor or better.

One necessary feature on the computer is the ability to boot from CD. This is fairly common and usually enabled on modern PCs. However, older PCs may not have this feature. To check for this feature, let's do it the lazy way:

• insert the Knoppix CD into the CD drive
• reboot the computer
• if the computer boots to Knoppix-Linux, there is no need to do anything
• if the computer boots to the current operating system, follow these steps:
  • if you do not feel comfortable dealing with BIOS settings, stop here. Ask for help, or boot from floppy (see instruction below)
  • reboot the computer again
  • in the BIOS startup screen, see how you can get into the BIOS settings screens
    • some BIOSes use the delete key
    • other BIOSes use the function key F2
    • yet other BIOSes do not even indicate how to get into the BIOS configuration screens
  • press whatever key is necessary to get into the configuration screens; if you press the key too late, just reboot again and press the key sooner
  • go to the advanced CMOS setting screen
  • check the order of bootstrapping
  • if the CD drive is on the list but after HD (hard disk), change the order so that the BIOS tries to boot from CD before the HD
  • if the CD drive is not on the list, go to a particular spot, and see if you can change it to the CD drive. I suggest that you try the floppy disk spot
  • save the changed BIOS settings
  • reboot the computer

If you cannot get your computer to boot from CD, Knoppix can boot from two floppy disks. Give me two blank floppy disks, and I'll return the boot floppy disks. Insert the first bootable floppy disk, and insert the Knoppix CD. Then reboot the computer. This time, the computer boots from the floppy disk, and the bootstrap software should read the rest from the CD.