What is Slax for CD

How to prepare Slax for CD

Slax for CD is a Slax distribution in ISO format. In fact, the ISO file you download from this site is a complete image of the CD. For that reason, you have to burn it in a special way; it won't work if you burn the iso just like a regular file. So to burn it properly, start your favourite CD-writing software and find "Burn image" or "Burn CD iso image" option. It could be hidden somewhere in the menu because people usually don't need to use this option. Sometimes you will need to change the filetype filter to *.* else you won't be able to see your .iso, as your burning software may look for a different file extension as default. The resulting CD will be bootable, you don't need to specify that feature separately.

Note: Some archiving programs (for example winrar) could associate the .iso extension for itself, so it may seem like slax.iso would be an compressed archive. But don't believe this. Don't unpack the archive! Burn the ISO as described above else you will lose the bootability.

Steps to boot from Slax CD

All new computers support booting from the CD, but almost all of them are looking for the operating system on the harddisk only. Your goal is to force your computer to use the CDROM instead. There are three ways how to do it:

1. The first one is supported on many motherboards. Your computer can allow you to boot from the CD once (only for this time) by pressing a special key (usually F11, F2 or F10) during the memory checks (very soon after the computer's power on).

2. The second method is to setup your box to permanently look for a boot-CD at first, and try to boot from the harddisk only if no CD is found. Again, you have to press some key during the startup (usually Del key), which will allow you to enter BIOS SETUP. There you can go through some menus and look for "Advanced settings", "Boot order" or "Boot options". Set CDROM as a first device and harddisk as a second one.

All the keystrokes mentioned above are usually written at the computer's display at the time you can press them, or you may find them in the documentation of your motherboard.

3. Third way how to boot from the CD is by starting DOS and using linux.bat program from Slax CD.

The difference between Slax for CD and Slax for USB

Both the variants are exactly the same. The only difference is in the distribution format. ISO is prepared for people who need a bootable CD. TAR is for people who need to extract the contents to disk. But as mentioned, the Slax inside is completely the same. You don't need to download Slax for USB if you have the ISO and you know how to extract it's content. Also, you don't need to download ISO, if you have tar and you know how to make a bootable CD from it.