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LivePC Engine User Guide - Windows

Running a LivePC

Starting a LivePC

To start-up a LivePC™, double-click on the LivePC icon. There will be a few second delay, and then your LivePC will start running.

Stopping a LivePC

While you are running a LivePC, you can use it just like you would use a normal computer. If you want to stop using the LivePC and return to the LivePC Engine™ main menu, use your operating system's standard shutdown option. In Windows, go to the Start menu, and select 'Turn Off Computer'. For Windows XP LivePCs, use the suspend option in Windows.

If the LivePC is displayed on the full screen, select the 'Control' and Alt' keys. This will restore the Windows environment and put the LivePC in a smaller window on the screen. You can then go to the Windows 'Start' menu, and turn off your computer.

If the LivePC hangs, you can use the VMWare Player Menu Bar to shut it down. Select 'Troubleshoot', then click on 'Power off and exit.' If you wish to Hibernate the LivePC, go the VMPlayer Menu Bar, and choose 'Exit.' Do not use the Hibernate command in the Windows Task Manager!

Unplugging an external device running a LivePC

When you are done using a LivePC Engine running from an external device, you must be sure to shutdown our software as described above. The splash screen will close and flash a message that says it is safe to unplug the device. To ensure that the unplug is clean,we recommend that you go to the 'Safely Remove Hardware' task icon in the lower right hand of the Windows desktop, left click on it and select the USB drive you want to unplug. Windows XP should notify you if it also thinks it is safe or unsafe to unplug. At this point you can safely unplug the device.

If the device is not unplugged cleanly, it will clean up the host and the LivePC Engine should function normally the next time it runs. A LivePC may be left in an unclean state if it is running when the unclean unplug occurs. In this case, it is best to restore the LivePC back to its clean state.

Making system changes to a LivePC

When you run a LivePC, the LivePC Engine can keep track of the local system changes such as installing new applications that you make to your LivePC.

When you shutdown the LivePC, any system changes that you have made to the computer are stored in the LivePC Engine. The next time that LivePC is started, the LivePC Engine can either delete these system changes and boot up with a clean copy of the original LivePC system that automatically includes any updates made by the LivePC's creator, or it can boot up the LivePC with all of the system changes you have made.

The default behavior is for the LivePC Engine to delete all of your system changes and boot up with a clean copy of the original LivePC system that includes any system changes that have been made to the LivePC by its creator. This ensures that you get a fresh and up-to-date LivePC every time you do a full shutdown and start the LivePC again from the LivePC Engine menu. Viruses, spyware, and other unwanted system changes are eliminated and updates are automatically applied.

If you want the LivePC Engine to keep your previous system changes the next time a LivePC is started from the LivePC Engine menu, you can set this by selecting the 'Let me make changes to this LivePC' command. Now when you start the LivePC, it will include any system changes you made last time that you used the LivePC and you will not receive new versions of the LivePC when they are made available by creators.

Configuring a LivePC

The 'Configure' option brings up a window with a number of options to set up your LivePC, with some reasonable defaults. The most important options to set in this screen are listed below.

  • Virtual Machine Name - this is the name of the LivePC that will be displayed to users.
  • Guest OS Type - the type of operating system that you plan to install on the LivePC.
  • Default Memory - the amount of memory that this LivePC will use.
  • Disk Path - you can add other VMDK or ISO cdrom images that are located on your host hard drive. These paths should be entered as normal Windows pathnames. There is no need to quote the path.
  • Disk Size - these are set to reasonable defaults for most operating systems.
  • Disk Type - whether a disk is persistent or not. A persistent disk is initialized on subscription to a LivePC and any changes to the disk persist across reboots and updates to the LivePC. It is deleted only when a LivePC is removed from My LivePCs.
  • CDROM Drive - one of the disks should be set up as cdrom-raw. This will allow you to install an operating system onto the LivePC from your computer's CDROM drive.

Once you have set your options, select 'Apply.' This closes the browser window and returns you to the LivePC Engine. To see the changes you have made to the LivePC VMX file, select 'Configure' again for the LivePC from the main screen.

Sending a LivePC to a friend

If you would like to share a LivePC with a friend, select 'Send to a friend.' This brings up a scripted email that contains the URL of the LivePC that you wish to share, and instructions on how your friend can download the LivePC Engine software to access the LivePC. You can customize the text in the message. If you do not have your email linked to an email system, then you can cut and paste the information in the scripted message, and send it using any browser-based email service you wish.

Discussing LivePCs

This links to the LivePC on the Community Portal and allows you to post comments about it. We encourage lively discussion about specific LivePCs in hopes that feedback will be valuable both to publishers and users. In the LivePC Library, the details section of each LivePC includes an option to 'Add Comments.'

Removing a LivePC

To remove a LivePC from your personal library, select 'Remove this LivePC.'