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Beyond the Demo - moka5 Engine User Guide - Windows

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Beyond the Demo LivePC

Downloading and using other LivePCs

You can download and subscribe to dozens of other public LivePCs from the LivePC Library. LivePCs offer a variety of operating systems and applications. To select a LivePC, start your moka5 Engine and click on 'Library' in the lower left corner:

The Library of publicly available LivePCs will open (http://www.moka5.com/livepc) in your browser:

LivePC Library

Choose a LivePC that you would like to use and click on its 'Download' link. This brings up a screen that asks whether to open or save the file. Choose 'Open' to add the LivePC to your moka5 Engine. If you 'Save it to Disk' you can later add it to the Engine by double clicking on the downloaded file.

When you subscribe to a LivePC, the moka5 Engine starts downloading it to your local drive. Depending on its size this can take some time. You might like to start your download and take a coffee break. When you come back, you'll have a great new computing environment to play with.

While the LivePC is downloading the status will be marked 'buffering...' under its name. Also the status bar to the left of the icon for the LivePC will not be fully green. While it is actively downloading it the status bar will be outlined in blue. The Engine will work at downloading the most recently used or requested LivePC. You can change which LivePC is being downloaded by clicking on the status bar. You can put your mouse over the status bar to see how much of the file has been downloaded. The LivePC may perform slowly before it is fully downloaded. The number of arrows in the green start button will increase from one to three as more of the LivePC is cached. Three arrows are used for a fully downloaded and ready to use LivePC. You can start a LivePC with only one or two arrows but it may not run very quickly.

In the moka5 Engine below the 'Fearless Browser' LivePC is ready to use. The 'OO2Go+' LivePC is still downloading and not ready for use.

If you click to launch a LivePC before it has sufficiently downloaded you will see the following warning:

LivePC Security

Each LivePC is run on the moka5 Engine as a separate virtual computer, using virtual machine technology. A LivePC has no way of knowing what other LivePCs you are subscribed to. A LivePC is not able to access the personal data that you store in other LivePCs – it can only access the personal data that you store in that particular LivePC and documents that you've chosen to share between LivePCs.

This means that you can feel free to play around with new LivePCs! Your other LivePCs and the personal files you store in them will be safe and secure.

LivePC Maintenance

LivePCs are maintained and modified by their creator. Alternatively you can choose to change and maintain a LivePC yourself.

When the publisher of a LivePC uploads modifications, all of the users subscribing to that LivePC will automatically receive the changes, unless they have set 'Let me make changes to this LivePC' in its advanced properties. The update will take effect the next time they start the LivePC. Their personal files will not be affected.

If you are running a LivePC when an update arrives, you will continue using the previous version. You will pick up the changes the next time that you shutdown that LivePC and start it again from the moka5 Engine menu. Resuming a suspended LivePC will not get changes. Only reverting a suspended LivePC or starting one that was shutdown will update your LivePC if the creator has made changes.

Note: If you want to have the moka5 Engine keep your local system changes to a LivePC, then you will NOT get network updates. For more information on how to change your LivePC settings to save local system changes, see 'Making System Changes to a LivePC' section of this guide.

You can administer your own LivePC. To learn more about administering a LivePC, see the LivePC Creator Guide - Windows. By publishing and subscribing to your own LivePC you can be sure that any system changes caused by viruses or other malicious code is removed when you restart your LivePC.

Starting LivePCs faster when using a removable storage device

When a removable storage device with the moka5 Engine is inserted into a host computer, the moka5 Engine interface comes up quickly but there can be a delay before the LivePCs can be run. This delay can be significantly reduced by leaving VMWare Player installed on the host computer. The first time you exit from running a moka5 Engine on a new host computer you will be offered the option to leave VMWare Player installed.

If you do not expect to use the host computer again you can select 'No'. If you do expect to use the host computer again select 'Yes'. The software left behind can be removed by using the Add/Remove Programs control panel to remove VMWare Player. NOTE: this option is only true for use with a removable storage device and where VMWare Player is not already installed on the host.

Automatically starting a LivePC

This option is useful for starting a default or frequently used LivePC. Click on the pencil icon of the LivePC to open the 'Properties' of the LivePC window. By selecting the "Start this LivePC when Engine starts" option the associated LivePC will automatically start whenever the moka5 Engine starts.

Making system changes to a LivePC

When you run a LivePC, the moka5 Engine will keep track of the local system changes such as installing new applications that you make to your LivePC. Normally those system changes will be erased when you re-start or revert a LivePC. The moka5 Engine will also automatically retrieve and install any updates made by the LivePC's creator. It will not erase your personal data when doing this. 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 moka5 Engine menu. Viruses, spyware, and other unwanted system changes are eliminated and updates are automatically applied.

If you want the moka5 Engine to keep your previous system changes the next time a LivePC is started from the 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. If you would like to save a version of your LivePC online so that you will always have a fresh copy of your modified LivePC see the LivePC Creator Guide.

Configuring a LivePC

You can configure a LivePC simply because you want to use a new name or icon for the LivePC. More functionally you can configure one so that it has a specific environment and applications for your optimal use. After configuring a LivePC you may keep it for your own use or share it with others. Complete details are available in the Creator Guide.

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 moka5 Engine software to access the LivePC. You can customize the text in the message.

Note: If you have made changes to the LivePC and not published them your friend will not get the changes. The link sent is to the published version, either public or private, listed at moka5.

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.'

Managing Your Files on a LivePC

Saving personal data files

Personal changes in a LivePC™ are handled differently from system changes. System changes are 'cleaned up' when the LivePC reboots. This prevents unwanted changes to the system from malicious software like viruses and spyware.

However, a LivePC wouldn't be very useful if it also cleaned up all of your personal files! For this reason, the moka5 Engine™ provides a user data feature for the LivePCs to store a your personal data so that it survives LivePC reboots and updates. This allows you to get updates made by the LivePC publisher without losing your personal files.

The publisher of a LivePC can use this feature to set aside some folders in the LivePC for personal user data. Any files stored in these folders will NOT be deleted on a reboot or an update.

If you save a document to the Desktop under Windows, it will not be available on the host until you logoff.

To view your saved files click on the folder icon for that LivePC in the moka5 Engine main screen.

The system will open the folder that contains your files:

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Sharing files between multiple LivePCs

To easily share files between multiple LivePCs and the host, you can use a folder called 'My Shared LivePC Documents'. You need to enable file sharing for individual LivePCs by checking 'Allow access to My Shared LivePC Documents'. You reach the LivePC Properties Advanced screen by first clicking the pencil icon for that LivePC, then clicking on the 'Show Advanced' arrows.

In the main moka5 Engine window you can then click on the folder for 'My Shared LivePC Documents'. If a LivePC does not support accessing documents from the host, then these options will be grayed and unresponsive.

File and printer sharing must be enabled on the host for this feature to work. If you do not have file and printer sharing enabled, we will give you a warning.

When running a LivePC this will appear as a folder on your LivePC's desktop called 'My Shared LivePC Documents'. If you drag a file into this folder, it will be accessible by the other LivePCs. In addition, if you click on 'My Shared LivePC Documents' in the moka5 Engine, then the folder will  open on the host too.

Our system never deletes user files, even if you remove the LivePC. If you remove a LivePC and then re-subscribe later to the same LivePC, all of your previous user files will be there. Please note this is true even if you uninstall the moka5 Engine software.

LivePCs and Network Connections

Connecting to the internet from inside a LivePC

LivePCs will automatically connect to the internet by sharing your computers' existing network connection.

Using a LivePC when you're not connected to a network

To use a LivePC that you have already downloaded when you are not connected to the network, start your moka5 Engine, click on the pencil icon of the LivePC you want to work on, then select the 'Let me use this LivePC offline' option. The LivePC must be fully downloaded locally to be set to work offline.

When you mark 'Let me use this LivePC offline', the moka5 Engine will ensure that data for that LivePC is never deleted from the moka5 Engine's local data storage. If you try to set the work offline option when there is not enough space on the moka5 Engine's disk to store that LivePC, an error message will be displayed. When this happens, you can make room for that LivePC by deselecting the work offline option on other LivePCs.

Introduction Running LivePCs Beyond the Demo Backup Create Visual Index