Knoppix (please read)

Knoppix - Linux on the fly

This is a service announcement. Knoppix is a Linux distribution which can run "on the fly" from a CD or DVD. What this means for you is, it is an invaluable resource if your computer ever fails or begins to slow down and you need to determine whether the problem is with the hardware or with Windows (e.g. viruses). It is an invaluable resource when the problem is that your system has been infected by a virus because it allows you to bypass the virus completely. Let's look at the following scenario:

You've downloaded a virus which prevents your computer from getting past the initial BIOS screen, i.e. you never make it to the Windows logo. If you put the Knoppix CD into your CD drive, most computers will read from the CD before reading from the hard drive (and you can configure your computer to do this if it doesn't already). This means that Knoppix will be read preferentially before Windows ever gets a chance to be read; and so if you choose to start your machine in Knoppix, you can. Having bypassed the virus, you now have full access to your hard drive. You can do one of two things, or even both: (1) transfer your files from this hard drive to another hard drive, or (2) try to find the infected file or files and purge them from your hard drive, rectifying the entire situation.

As you can see, Knoppix is to a computer user what a fire extinguisher is to a home owner -- it can take an unpleasant situation down several notches and prevent the total loss of everything you own. Just as a fire consumes baby pictures, family videos, and a wedding gown stored away in the attic, so too does a malicious virus cause computer users distress over the loss of their songs, pictures, and text files. Knoppix offers to be your fire extinguisher.

Yet just like a fire extinguisher, many people never bother to look into Knoppix until it is too late. After all, you can't burn Linux to a CD if your computer won't even let you log in, now can you!? The key to success with Knoppix is being pro-active. Download Knoppix today, burn it as an .iso to a CD-R (or to a DVD±R if you prefer the larger DVD bundle), and then put it somewhere safe where it can (hopefully) gather dust for many years to come. The idea with Knoppix, of course, is that hopefully you'll never need to use it for the situations I've described; but that if you do, Knoppix is here to help you out.

Why am I pushing Knoppix so hard? Because I am one of the many survivor stories that Knoppix has made possible. In Fall 2005, a malicious virus installed itself on my computer despite my Windows firewall (useless) and Norton Anti-Virus both running. Because I had a friend who knew about Knoppix, we were able to transfer my files to one of his 5 computers and then to erase my hard drive and re-install Windows. If Knoppix hadn't been there for me, I would have lost all of my music, pictures, and text files. Because we had to wipe the machine to get rid of the virus (there was no other way; it was a new virus whose location was not known at the time of infection). I would have lost all the files that I had collected or created from 1999 until 2005. Six years' worth of files, six years of memories, gone. In some cases, gone forever.

Don't wait until it's too late. Download the CD distro of Knoppix, burn it as an .iso to a CD-R, and put it away.

Knoppix BT Tracker - click on "DL" next to "KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN" (the 4th one down). EN means English, DE means German, so be sure to click on an EN distribution!