Slax is my favorite Live CD running Linux because it is so easy to customize into your own Live
CD Open Source PC tool kit. I have created several of these over the years and continue to enjoy creating customized Live CDs. I even have one, I call OS-PCTools, which I distribute to my students and discuss and employ each tool included on the CD as classroom lessons.
Slax is a Linux operating system based on Slackware. Slax was created and is under development by Tomas Matejicek of the Czech republic. There are many modules that include applications, which can be easily added to the operating system to make a powerful computer maintenance tool.
Knoppix is a Live CD with many compressed applications running Linux and based on Debian.
There is now two versions of Knoppix. One version that runs on a 700 megabyte CD and one that runs on a 4.7 gigabyte DVD. Knoppix decompresses on the fly an estimated 1 plus gigabytes of data on the CD and 8 plus gigabytes on the DVD. There is over 1000 software programs included on the CD version and over 2600 on the DVD version. The programs included are, Open Office, GIMP, MPlayer, and many more toold for data rescue and system restore and maintenance.
Knoppix also has the ability to store files and configuration information in a file either on the hard drive or in a flsh drive so that you can have a complete custom operating system that you can run on any computer that will boot from a CD and has a USB connecting.
The Live CDs website has additional information concerning Live Cds you might find helpful.
Insert is a bootable Linux operating system on a CD and is under 100 mega bytes. Its small size
allows it to boot quickly and perform very well. Insert comes with many great tools, such as, GParted, Partimage, ntfs-3g, Nmap, TCPdump, F-Prot, chkrootkit, Dillo, gFTP, and WLAN support. It is based on Knoppix 5.1.1 and uses Linux kernel 2.6.18.6.
The Live CDs website has some additional information concerning Live CDs you might find helpful.
A Live CD is a CD that has a bootable operating system, such as, Ubuntu that can run completely off a CD and independent of the hard drive. A Live CD distribution could also be used to troubleshoot, fix, or maintain
a Windows or Linux computer. Live CDs have become very important troubleshooting aids that can also be used to scan and remove viruses from hard drives. Because the operating system is on a read only CD medium, viruses cannot permanently infect the operating system. If a problem does occur you just simple reboot the computer to a fresh operating system. You could also use the Live CD to transfer important files from a nonfunctioning computer to other media or even a network drive. Live USB flash drives have the advantage of transferring files or configuration changes directly to its media making it an even more powerful tool.
I use Live CDs, bootable CDs and bootable USB flash drives daily for maintaining a lab of over 30 computers. I can quickly configure, repair, or image an entire hard drive in minutes. I can also use these tools to completely replace an operating system or change to a different operating system again in minutes. These tools have become a very import aid in maintaining large numbers of computers. The savings in work time using these tools is huge. What took me hours or days I can now accomplish in minutes. I image over 30 computers each morning in less than 10 minutes, which provides a fresh operating system for my students. I can even switch to a different operating system or configuration for a completely different class in minutes. Before using these tools I was a slave to my lab computers, but now the computers are the least of my problems.
