ZoOp
Group: Members
Posts: 218
Joined: Sep. 2005 |
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Posted: Sep. 23 2005,10:08 |
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This topic is an extension of a precedent discussion falsly posted at http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....47;st=5
Please, just go to this link in order to get in touch with the context of my problem and the answer by B@se and cbagger01 . Here a short summary of the discussion:
context: students working on middle-ranged computers (1,5 GoHZ, 512 Mo to 1 Go Ram, barebones, strong boot limitations) in a school with network support and winxp locally installed; I=linux and dsl enthusiastic newbie, would like to work with DSL_E.
problem: because of hardware limitation for usb-boot (no usbzip and even no usbhdd boot possibility on any machines), cd-rom and floppy boot (no cd-rom, no floppy as well) and in order to get my students using dsl without knowledge of it and of linux, I want them to use dsl-E prepared on a usb-flash drive (with other extensions as abiword, etc.).
Advantage in my view: security (no virus), mobility and reliability (=possibility to work on every win system recognizing usb and to use your usb-key as normal storage device at the same time).
Inconveniant: I don't want them to start dsl-E from within winxp (reasons detailed in the other thread, please visit link above); I just want to use winxp in order to mount the hardware and to start dsl-windows.bat; so, I basically just want to plug a usb-key with dsl-E on that drive, starting the computer, starting then winxp until I arrive *in front of* the window logon of winxp with pictures of your profile and the guest profile; once there, I would like to make dsl-windows.bat running without going *inside* windows.
questions-answers: Why not going inside xp (my students always have and will have the possibility to login as guest and to go inside xp)? Because I want them to know the advantages of mobile computing and encourage in that way the use and development of dsl. Second, if my students go *inside* windows in order to start dsl-E, they better would like to use windows, because they always work with billy stuff and feel the environnement more familiar (less complexe in their view). So, why don't you make a dsl-HDD install? Because my students are new to linux and after first tests, they feel insecure if they cannot switch to winxp, so that I have to let xp installed on computers.
B@se solution was to boot on the usb-key as separate device, configuring the bios for that. Unfortunatly, I have strong bios limitations, so that this is not a viable solution for me. cbagger01 sees no other possibility than running dsl with cd-rom; the problem is that our computers don't have cd-rom or a floppy.
My trying (without success): 1) I made a *.bat file to be launch at login in win xp starting dsl-windows.bat; it works, but when login, winxp first opens before dsl starts, so it is not the solution I'm looking for; 2) another idea would be to add a line in the boot script of windows in order to tell to windows to start dsl-windows.bat at the end of windows boot procedure; but I don't know if it is possible to do that and how; 3) a variation on a analogous solution could be to make dsl-windows.bat starting after typing the login (and not the password) in the winlogon window; but here also, I don't know if it is possible to do that and how. 4) other solutions: dual-boot possibility with dsl-HDD-install doesn't fit my requirments, because the students will probably switch on xp; reversing the problem, installing dsl on HDD and installing Win4Lin Pro 6 in order to work with linux and to access winxp from within linux also doesn't totally fit my requirements, but could be an interesting solution; however, I don't know if dsl support win4Lin Pro.
Why this all? We want to get rid of windows and we want to bring our students working with dsl (in the basic or extend version, i.e. installed extensions). That is the ideological reason. Naturally, we don't want that our students loose time or feel uncomfortable with linux; not anybody has knowledge enough, time or interest enough in order to solve a problem or read a thread when something is not going on as expected. This is the pedagogical reason why we would like to keep winxp in order to give our students a base secure and also a comparative standpoint in the possibility to use both of win and dsl systems. Finally, I ask this for fun and in order to extend the use of dsl and linux based systems.
I am quiet new to linux and dsl (I apologize for possible non sens in my thread to whom of us who knows it all better than I) but I find the project incredibly interesting and your work on dsl is a very powerful one, that I try to support in order to make our students working with your system. Just go ahead! yours sincerely Z
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