Hackszine.com: Knoppix Archives

Archive: Knoppix

February 22, 2008

Knoppix Hacks: Install Windows patches securely

Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition Cover

Here's Hack #94, Download Windows Patches Securely, from Kyle Rankin's Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition. Knoppix Hacks offers a collection of tips and techniques for using the enormous amount of software Knoppix offers--not just to work and play, but also to troubleshoot, repair, upgrade, and disinfect your system without having to install a thing. The book includes scores of hacks covering both the standard Knoppix live CD and the feature-rich DVD "Maxi" distribution (included with this book). In this book, you'll learn how to:

Investigate features of the KDE desktop and its Internet applications
Save settings and data between reboots with persistent storage
Use Knoppix as a system administration multitool to replace failed servers and more
Use the CD/DVD as a rescue disc to repair filesystems or a system that won't boot
Rescue Windows systems with Knoppix to back up files and settings, hack the registry, and more
Explore other live CDs based on Knoppix
Use Knoppix to automatically detect and configure hardware
Remaster Knoppix to include favorite software and custom branding

Hack #94: Download Windows Patches Securely - Link

Related:

Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition @ the Maker Store - Buy now
Knoppix Hacks, Second Edition--New from O'Reilly Media: Using the Linux Live CD to Hack, Repair, and Enjoy Your PC - Press Release

February 21, 2008

Knoppix Hacks: Wipe a hard drive

Here's Hack #59, Wipe a Hard Drive, from Kyle Rankin's Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition. Knoppix Hacks offers a collection of tips and techniques for using the enormous amount of software Knoppix offers--not just to work and play, but also to troubleshoot, repair, upgrade, and disinfect your system without having to install a thing. The book includes scores of hacks covering both the standard Knoppix live CD and the feature-rich DVD "Maxi" distribution (included with this book). In this book, you'll learn how to:

Investigate features of the KDE desktop and its Internet applications
Save settings and data between reboots with persistent storage
Use Knoppix as a system administration multitool to replace failed servers and more
Use the CD/DVD as a rescue disc to repair filesystems or a system that won't boot
Rescue Windows systems with Knoppix to back up files and settings, hack the registry, and more
Explore other live CDs based on Knoppix
Use Knoppix to automatically detect and configure hardware
Remaster Knoppix to include favorite software and custom branding

Hack #59: Wipe a Hard Drive - Link

Related:

Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition @ the Maker Store - Buy now
Knoppix Hacks, Second Edition--New from O'Reilly Media: Using the Linux Live CD to Hack, Repair, and Enjoy Your PC - Press Release

February 20, 2008

Knoppix Hacks: Install multimedia codecs

Here's Hack #39, Install Multimedia Codecs, from Kyle Rankin's Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition. Knoppix Hacks offers a collection of tips and techniques for using the enormous amount of software Knoppix offers--not just to work and play, but also to troubleshoot, repair, upgrade, and disinfect your system without having to install a thing. The book includes scores of hacks covering both the standard Knoppix live CD and the feature-rich DVD "Maxi" distribution (included with this book). In this book, you'll learn how to:

Investigate features of the KDE desktop and its Internet applications
Save settings and data between reboots with persistent storage
Use Knoppix as a system administration multitool to replace failed servers and more
Use the CD/DVD as a rescue disc to repair filesystems or a system that won't boot
Rescue Windows systems with Knoppix to back up files and settings, hack the registry, and more
Explore other live CDs based on Knoppix
Use Knoppix to automatically detect and configure hardware
Remaster Knoppix to include favorite software and custom branding

Hack #39: Install Multimedia Codecs - Link

Related:

Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition @ the Maker Store - Buy now
Knoppix Hacks, Second Edition--New from O'Reilly Media: Using the Linux Live CD to Hack, Repair, and Enjoy Your PC - Press Release

February 19, 2008

Knoppix Hacks: Rock out with Knoppix multimedia

Here's Hack #18, Rock Out with Knoppix Multimedia, from Kyle Rankin's Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition. Knoppix Hacks offers a collection of tips and techniques for using the enormous amount of software Knoppix offers--not just to work and play, but also to troubleshoot, repair, upgrade, and disinfect your system without having to install a thing. The book includes scores of hacks covering both the standard Knoppix live CD and the feature-rich DVD "Maxi" distribution (included with this book). In this book, you'll learn how to:

Investigate features of the KDE desktop and its Internet applications
Save settings and data between reboots with persistent storage
Use Knoppix as a system administration multitool to replace failed servers and more
Use the CD/DVD as a rescue disc to repair filesystems or a system that won't boot
Rescue Windows systems with Knoppix to back up files and settings, hack the registry, and more
Explore other live CDs based on Knoppix
Use Knoppix to automatically detect and configure hardware
Remaster Knoppix to include favorite software and custom branding

Hack #18: Rock Out with Knoppix Multimedia - Link

Related:

Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition @ the Maker Store - Buy now
Knoppix Hacks, Second Edition--New from O'Reilly Media: Using the Linux Live CD to Hack, Repair, and Enjoy Your PC - Press Release

August 4, 2007

Knoppix Hacks needs your help: tech reviewers wanted

Kyle Rankin, author/coauthor of several O'Reilly books (Knoppix Hacks, Linux Multimedia Hacks, Knoppix Pocket Reference, and Ubuntu Hacks) has just turned in his draft for the second edition of Knoppix Hacks, and we need your help. Hackszine is looking for two good tech reviewers; even when we have an author who really knows his stuff like Kyle does, we always have someone check the manuscript for technical accuracy and suggest things the author might want to cover in the book. If you're interested, send

Related:

Knoppix Hacks - Link
Ubuntu Hacks - Link
Linux Multimedia Hacks - Link
Knoppix Pocket Reference - Link

February 1, 2007

Reader Request: Make Sure Your Antivirus is Working

Virus Warning.png
CWF wrote: "My students are all very innocent and naive users of Windows XP. What I have in mind is to leave them each with a Linux LiveCD or two that they'll be able to use as a rescue disc in case they get malware installing itself. So, the best way to teach this, I think, would be to purposely infect their machines and then go in a disinfect them.

But I'm not at all sure where I could get a virus or a trojan or other malware. Is it possible you could direct me to a source."

You can do this safely and easily with the EICAR test virus. If you download it to your computer, it should trigger a virus alert in most, if not all, virus software. I gave it a try with one of my Windows XP virtual machines, and it caught the file name eicar.com, but not eicar.com.txt. However, when I renamed the .txt file to eicar.com, avast! sprang into action.