What is Slax Slax is a Live operating system based on Linux. Live means it runs from an external media without any need for permanent installation. Slax boots from USB mass storage devices such as Flash Drive keys as well as from regular hard drives and CD/DVD discs.

Simply plug your device in and boot from it. Entire Slax operating system resides in a single directory /slax/ on your device, making it easier to organize with your other data. Slax provides FluxBox window manager already preconfigured for the most common tasks. Included is a Web browser chromium, Terminal emulator xterm and simple text editor leafpad and calculator qalculate. You can put Slax on wide range of different filesystems, including EXT (ext2,ext3,ext4), btrfs, and even FAT and NTFS. When Slax is started from a read-only media such as CD/DVD, it keeps all system modifications in memory only, and all the modifications are lost when you reboot.

On the other hand, if you run Slax from a writable device such as USB Flash Drive, it can store all changes there, so all your configurations and modifications are restored next time you boot, even if it is on a different computer. This feature is known as Persistent Changes and you can read more about it in a separate chapter. Choosing optimal Slax architecture (32bit or 64bit) You probably noticed that Slax is available for 32bit and 64bit processor architectures. The 32bit version is designed to run on very old computers (as old as Intel 586; that dates back to 1993).

It will run properly on brand new computers too, but it is somehow bigger download. Furthermore it has a limitation that single application can address only 4GB of RAM. On the other hand, the 64bit version is smaller, does not have such limitation, and it will run on most computers available nowadays. So in general, if you plan to use Slax on very old archaic computers, then choose 32bit. If your intention is to use Slax on machine made in this century, you better go for 64bit. And if you don't know what your target hardware is, go for 64bit too, because the chance you'll ever see a 32bit computer nowadays is almost zero.

Qed Symbol In Microsoft Word. Slax Linux is a LiveCD OS that can be run directly from a USB stick, CD drive, or even RAM, without needing to install it on your PC's hard drive. Install Slax on a Hard Drive Install on a Hard Drive Copy from URL: Download the Slax iso file. Get the latest version.

Slax on CD/DVD If you plan to run Slax from a CD or DVD disc then you need to download Slax as an ISO file. In fact, the ISO file is a complete image of a CD, so what you need to do is to burn it to a CD/DVD media. Actually it doesn't matter if you choose CD or DVD, both will just work.

The most important part is that you can't burn it as a regular file. That wouldn't work. Instead, you have to burn it as a disc image. In Windows 7 for example, just right-click the ISO file and select Burn disc image from the context menu. On older windowses, you'll need some special software for the task, for example you can try Free ISO Burner. When done, put Slax CD/DVD disc to your CD/DVD drive and reboot. You may need to press some key to show a boot menu while your computer starts and select to boot from CD/DVD.

That magic key which shows you the boot menu is usually F11, F9 or Esc, consult your BIOS documentation or watch onscreen instructions when your computer reboots to make sure. Slax on USB device or hard disk In order to run Slax from USB device or from hard drive, you need to copy the contents of the ISO file directly to your disk's root. There is just one folder called /slax/, which needs to be copied. For example Windows 8.1 will simply open the ISO file for you as like if it was a directory. You may need some special software for this task if your operating system can't access the contents of the ISO file. Alternatively, you can burn the ISO file to a CD/DVD disc and then copy it from there.

You should end up with /slax/ folder on your removable disk, for example like E: slax When done, one more step is required in order to make the drive bootable: navigate to /slax/boot/ directory on your USB device or hard disk and locate bootinst.bat file there. This file contains boot installer program, so just run it by double clicking at it, it will make all the necessary changes to your device's master boot record so your computer's BIOS could actually understand how to boot Slax from your disk. Next follow the same procedure like if you were booting from CD - reboot your computer and choose to boot from the USB drive or hard disk in your computer's boot menu. Again, you may need to consult your BIOS documentation to find out how to boot an operating system on your computer from your desired device. Slax boot options Before Slax itself starts loading, you can see a big clover image in the middle of your screen. This is the boot logo. It is displayed for a short while, and you have exactly four seconds to press Esc key during that time in order to fine tune the way how Slax is going to boot.