TEMPORARY BOOT-UP OF PUPPY 2.10 LINUX

The following instructions are provided to supply some details of how to run Puppy Linux on a PC.

Of course the question is, "Why in the world would I want to run Puppy Linux on my (Windows) PC?"

Answer: Any Windows user must devote major, frequent, continuing and yet frequently unsuccessful efforts to exclude/disarm the various sorts of malware which constantly are being written to exploit known weaknesses in the Windows operating system , as well as others which are continuously being discovered. The Linux operating system is used by perhaps 5% of all PC users; so malware creators find it not worth their efforts to write stuff which attacks it. More fundamentally, Linux is robust, and has a design less easily attacked by the outside world and is constantly and immediately updated if a weakness is descovered. Finally, as Puppy runs only in RAM. When it is shut down, it completely disappears from the PC. A new boot and it starts afresh from the CD. In short, you are "almost" completely guaranteed immunity from malware without resort to additional software or firewalls. The above comments apply to Linux, in general. But installing Linux is something many (most?) Windows users don't want to do, and *shouldn't* want to do. They, rightfully enough, don't want to be deprived from their Windows applications. But there is no need to install Linux. Linux can be used in a way that Windows cannot -- via a "live CD". This is a CD put into the CD-ROM drive from which a computer boots and which contains the Linux operating system as well as a whole pile of applications. The computer utilizes the installed Windows system in no way. And no changes whatsoever are made in the Windows installation. The next time that the computer is booted, this time with no "live CD" in the CD-ROM drive, Windows boots normally, and never knows that it has had an alien operating system running on it. There is one shortcoming to this approach: none of the applications that Linux runs from the live CD have been put onto the hard drive; so any applications that one wants to use must be loaded from the CD -- typically a slow process. This Puppy Linux distribution (i.e., variety, or flavor of Linux) is small; so it can't do as much as the more complete distros, which easily can be ten times as large. But, because of its small size, it can run completely in RAM memory. The entire CD, only about 70 MB in size, gets loaded into RAM. Thereafter, there is no need for the system to access the CD-ROM. So Puppy accesses its applications almost without delay. Perhaps foremost, in spite of its small size, its designers opted to include a state-of-the-art, iindustrial strength web browser and e-mail client. These are entirely equivalent to what you might run on WIN-XP or a Mac. No compromise.

In summary, Puppy Linux provides a quickly-loaded, secure, user-friendly environment for e-mail and web browsing that in no way affects the installed Windows operating system. Windows, completely unchanged, is available on the next boot. You can achieve better security than you can ever attain on your Windows computer. without paying a large price in money, effort, or time.

HOW TO BOOT PUPPY LINUX FROM A LIVE CD.

Note: If you are running Win XP AND using the NTFS file system, be sure to use version 2.10 or later. Earlier versions work fine, but some extra steps are required if you want to save your configuration and files.

Another Note: If you use dialup Internet access, you are in trouble: Linux has trouble with dialup modems. Using Wi-Fi presents a different set of problems.

To boot Puppy linux from the "live" CD, Your PC must be configured to boot on CD-ROM *before* it boots on the hard drive. How to do this is a separate subject!

To start: Turn on the PC and *immediately* get the Puppy 2.10 CD into the CD-ROM drive. (This is a race against time. You want to get the CD in place before the boot-up process needs it to boot.)

If you win the race, there will be a screen full of writing in pretty colors. It will go away in about 5 seconds.

the "Select Keyboard Map" screen appears. Down-arrow to the " us " line, and hit <Enter> , get the

"Puppy Video Wizard". Read. Choose the server you want. Hit <Enter> (or <right-arrow>, then <Enter>)

Next: the "Puppy Video Wizard Current Mode". Read. The mouse works! L-click on "1024x768x16" If the display is OK, L-click on the "OK" in the lower RH corner of the panel. Done! Boot complete!

Get rid of "Welcome, woof, woof!" by L-clicking on "X" in URH corner (per Windows).

You don't have an Internet connection, yet. Obviously, you need one. I have set up only ethernet. Whether ethernet, or wireless, L-click on MENU in the lower LH corner of the screen

L-click on SETUP -- the third-from-top choice on the menu which appears

L-click on ETHERNET/NETWORK WIZARD (sixth choice from bottom) (if ethernet is what applies to you.)

(If you want to learn about what it takes to use wireless, click on the "Wireless Network Wizard")

Puppy_Network_Setup screen appears. Read. Invariably, for me, there is an entry on the line after

".........Here they are: " In which case you can click, right now, on the "eth0" button.

A new screen, The " Configure eth0" screen, tells you to "Test eth0"

The next screen is a " REPORT ON TEST ...." and the next line says "Puppy was able ..." (hopefully)

L-click on the " Auto DHCP " button. After a delay, you get a SUCCESSFUL message.

L-click on " Yes " to keep the configuration. Read the next screen, and L-click EXIT

You should see a clean desktop. L-click (single click!) on BROWSE (row 3, column 1 icon)

Read about Puppy. Having had success in completing the previous group of instructions, you should be able to go anywhere on the Internet using the SeaMonkey browser (very closely related to Firefox!) by L-click on the small icon above the right ear of the Puppy. This should give you a new blank screen, with the cursor blinking on an empty address panel. Type in " google ", or " yahoo ", or any valid URL. [ Don't bother typing the "www" or the "com". If the extension is *not* " .com ", but, say, ".gov" or ".net", you must type it. And sometimes the URL that you want doesn't have a " www. "; accordingly you may have to type in the entire address. These are not Puppy, but SeaMonkey (nee Mozilla) rules, q.v.

To set up an e-mail account, L-click on the second icon in row 4 of icons. You will be asked to set up an account, for which you need to supply the name of the POP server (pop.west.cox.net ?), the SMTP server (smtp.west.cox.net ?) and your e-mail password. Then you are in business. If you go through the "saving" step when you exit Puppy, your e-mail files will be saved. Ditto addresses. You can import your address book. SeaMonkey is highly configurable. Topic for another day.

To exit Puppy Linux, L-click on MENU in lower L-hand corner of the desktop. On the list, choose the bottom one, "Shut Down" then "Power off computer". You now have to make some choices. If you have no further interest in Puppy, choose the "Don't Save" options. If you want to save your configuration, your e-mail, etc, etc, all this information can be stored in a single file on your Windows C: drive. It won't affect the operation of Windows in any way. Puppy accesses this file on subsequent boot-ups and incorporates the information in it. So you don't have to go through the network setup again, etc.

If you like the way Puppy works for you, leave the CD in the CD-ROM drive on a semi-permanent basis -- so that the PC will boot on it and bring up Puppy. If/When you want to run Windows, remove the CD from its drive as soon as possible after power-ON, and Windows will boot up, unchanged, as always.

Call Hu Bath, 399-9541, or bathhm@alumni.uchicago.edu.

2006 Aug 17, Rev 2006 Oct 11.