Can a CD "autorun" Shutdown/Reboot to a Linux LiveCD from within Windows?

08
2013-08
  • user14270

    I have a project involving a Linux Live CD.

    My users hate manual reboot, which from windows means selecting shutdown, waiting through the reboot process, finding the Boot menu key (usually F10 or F12, but it varies by PC), pressing it like crazy, and finally pulling out hair when windows reboots anyway because they were not fast enough or paying attention.

    Ideally, there would be a way to have an autorun or a windows program on the CD, which could ask the user if they want to shutdown and reboot to the CD, and would then do it. This may be wishful thinking.

    Is there a way to do this that is simple and universal and will work in the various flavors of windows...? I'm guessing no, because the Linux distros would have it already, but there may be a genius out here who knows how.

    • Answers
  • guerda

    Generally: No.

    In specific: Yes.

    You must have physical access to each and every computer or use network book.

    You can setup the BIOS that the CD/DVD drive has the first boot priority. Then you can create a Live CD that has a autorun that only executes the following:

    shutdown -r -t 0

    The live cd will be inserted and the autorun executed.
    It will immediately reboot the computer. The live cd will boot because it has a higher priority than the HDD.

  • guerda

    If you would like to install a Linux OS from Windows, you could try Wubi.

    Wubi is an abbrevation for Windows Ubuntu Installer and will install Ubuntu on a NTFS partition. It's slower than the real installation, but it will act as a real Ubuntu.

    This installer is for people only trying to see if they're ready for Linux (or vice versa? ;) ).

    You can look under Wubi#Similar Projects on the Wiki page if you need an alternative.

    I hope it will help you!


    • Related Question

    Building a custom Linux LiveCD
  • hmp

    I need to create a small custom live system (for teaching a programming class). What would be the best way to do it?


    • Related Answers
  • Gren

    You can use Remastersys to build an Ubuntu or Debian distro of your own. For a fast live cd, I would install XUbuntu into a virtualbox vm and install the necessary programs and set it up to your liking. Then you can run remastersys backup and burn the resulting ISO to CDs for your students.

  • sudesh

    If you want to build your own distribution, Try Linux From Scratch (LFS). It is a project that provides you with step-by-step instructions for building your own custom Linux system, entirely from source code. http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

    There are a lot of lightweight linux distributions available. Most of these can boot from LiveCD. http://lightlinux.blogspot.com/2008/06/top-10-of-lightweight-linux%5F24.html

  • emgee

    http://www.livecdlist.com/frontpage?order=value%5F1&sort=desc

    This website is a list of all the Live CD distros with a ranking given by the users

    I suggest you go with XUbuntu for programming purposes

    If you are looking to use it for server tests try open SUSE

  • Alon Swartz

    How about Morphix? http://www.morphix.org/ - includes a page on "Building a new LiveCD in two commands"!