332Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionFor hardware (Web host music)
332Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionFor hardware that can t be detected, there are many boot options you can addto properly identify (or skip over) selected hardware devices. Some of themdeal with particularly sticky issues related to video cards and running on lap- top computers. (See Tables 11-1 through 11-3.) .Automatic desktop startup Instead of just dropping you to a command line, KNOPPIX does its best to start up a complete KDE desktop environment. Alongthe way, it adds some nice features, such as desktop icons giving you accessto your computer s hard disk partitions. .Configuration tools Some hardware either can t be perfectly detected orrequires some extra setup. You can access KNOPPIX-specific configuration toolsfor configuring your printer, TV card, sound card, network connections, andother features by clicking the desktop icon that looks like a squished penguin. .Save setup You don t have to lose the configuration you have done forKNOPPIX every time you reboot. Click the configuration icon to save yourconfiguration including your personal desktop configuration, files on thedesktop, network settings, and graphics setup (X) to floppy disk. .Persistent desktop You also can use the configuration icon to create a per- sistent KNOPPIX home directory on your hard disk or other medium so thatyou can store and reuse your desktop setup information and any data yousave from session to session. (See the Creating a Persistent Home Directory section later in this chapter for details on setting up a persistent desktop.) .Add swap If you are using KNOPPIX from a computer with Linux installed, itautomatically uses a swap partition that is set up there. On DOS and Windowssystems, KNOPPIX enables you to create an extra swap area if you have spaceon an available DOS partition. (The mkdosswapfilecommand is used for thispurpose.) .Work with Windows files KNOPPIX cannot include Microsoft Windowsdrivers for using Windows file systems (NTFS), but it provides a utility thatenables you to install those drivers (providing you have legal rights to usethem). The drivers enable you to safely read and write files from your harddisk if you are booting KNOPPIX from a PC with Windows installed. For example, say that you have your entire music collection, images down- loaded from your digital camera, and personal Web pages on your hard diskon a computer that was set up to be booted by Microsoft Windows XP. Youboot KNOPPIX instead (notice that Microsoft Windows is not running at all). Suddenly your hard disk is just a place that holds a lot of files. You can now useapplications that come with KNOPPIX to open the files on your hard disk toplay the music, view or manipulate images, and display or change Web pages. A testament to how well KNOPPIX is respected is how many other bootable Linux dis- tributions are based on it. The KNOPPIX project even provides a KNOPPIX-customizepackage that lets anyone make his own customized KNOPPIX. There are specializedKNOPPIX derivatives that can be used to rescue a broken computer, play a range ofmultimedia content, or run a specific application.