Then again, what's the harm in giving the option, when scanning is so quick and easy? They don't have to use it...richard.a wrote: While true I wonder how likely it is that the type of user whose need we are addressing will have anything but a stock standard install.
People who have proliferations of systems on the same machine would likely have to have some nerd/geek understanding and we cannot or should not need to automate stuff like this for them, I would have thought. They would be better helped via the forum, and probably would expect to be, perhaps?
Thank's for the offer of testing. I think the code should be pretty the same for almost ever case, so there should be no need to install anything different. I wasn't sure when the 'My documents' idea was introduced, but if you say 9x then that sounds about right to me.I run Windows98 and WindowsMe on several computers - mainly for several utilities I find useful (isn't that what a utility is, lol?) plus my train driving simulators (TrainMaster and RailSim which is a DOS one I wrote many track files for), and also on on my test machines with plug-in racks, so I may be able to help if you need testing. I actually used my Athlon rack machine to produce those captures on separate plug-in win2000 and win98 installations.
I no longer have NT3 series, and I suspect that it would be unlikely we would need to consider it because it was a dog of a system that few would not have replaced - imho. Likewise with NT4 although I have an HP image CD with NT4 on it but the only computer I can use it on is this one, which doesn't have removable HDDs, means a pull-it-out-and-change-HDDs scenario which I would rather avoid Saying that, I have a colleague I gave my NT4 software box to, and he might lend it back to me for the exercise
Windows 3.1, yeah I still would be able to do an install to check this out. I have a feeling that there was no such local documents directory. The filenames with gaps came in with the long filenames of NT3 series which Win95 picked up and ran with using a different way of creating/maintaining them.
So 16-bit windows would not be involved in this discussion. Those of us who rejected 95 are those of us, in the main, who would not use the My Documents directory in all probability.
I also have OS/2 Warp 3 and Warp 4 in boxes on my bookshelves. But like Win 3.1/3.11 they would not install to partitions larger than 2Gb. So I suspect they aren't in the equation either.
Just my thoughts. Let me know if you'd like me to do an installation. But OS/2 while a magnificent system, is time consuming to configure once installed.
Richard
Now you're making me nervous. I'm no leetcoder. I'm confident I can get it to work well though. It's actually pretty simple in a lot of ways.ecomoney wrote:Hi, I realised that windows worked in mysterious ways, but not quite that mysterious!
There is a possibility I may be able to get 3.03ce included on the cover disks of some widely read windows only magazines aimed at the begginer to intermediate user, this is one reason Im very excited about this feature!
Certainly! The idea of not having a permanant icon is fantastic. This thread seems full of brillient ideas. I implemented this bit earlier, it works well.May I make some suggestions about how this script should operate now you have the technical details thrashed out. Puppy, although aimed at "linux newbs" does have its own hardcore following, and I dont think we are going to "win" any friends by having a permanent icon on the desktop to remind people of their past follies! Together with this I dont think we should devote too much desktop real estate to, or have it present when there isnt windows present on the system.
I've split it into two scripts, on very basic one to do the startup checks, another to be run from the desktop. The startup one is almost there, just needs something done to stop flash disks being detected (sd* I'm afriad, as are sata HDD's, so they can't just be ignored.)
The second script is still very much a work in progess, really just a collection of code snippets. Luckily I should be pretty free over the next couple of days. Stay tuned!
I agree that that should be the target, but I see no real advantage to hard coding the device. It would lead to excess code (hda or sda?), and not really be noticably faster on most machines. I see no reason why the startup scan shouldn't be backgrounded...Altogether I think that this system should be aimed at people who are trying linux on their 100% windows p.c. (i.e. just one partition) for the first time.
...and there are a lot of them.
Agreed, but the first thing I wrote was the partition scanning!Ok, so puppy is aimed at people with computers that are of late windows 95 and windows 98 spec, so we should definetely include them, windows 3.1 is so old I dont think we need to cater for them as their hardware will be too old to run puppy. Windows NT, as I understand it is a operating system for networks and servers in business, rather than a home desktop operating system like puppy. Although it is possible to have multiple versions of windows running in different partitions, from what I have seen this is extremely uncommon. Its true to say the vast majority of computers have one big ntfs/fat32 partition with windows as their primary OS. It is these computers we should target with the first version of this wizard, and mop up the reminder with later versions.
The script should
Done. It adds the icon if a)it finds a vfat/ntfs partition bigger than 500MB (sould this be lower? I don't remember what win95 could live inside). b)There is no icon called 'My Documents' on the desktop already and c)The icon isn't already there.1. Check if the hard disk (hda1) partition is formatted to ntfs or fat during bootup of the livecd version. If so it should place a shortcut to the wizard on the desktop. There is a file somewhere that lists all of the icons on the desktop in Rox (or JWM) and a line could be added to this? The Icon needs to be fairly prominent (near the top of the screen?).
The 500MB limit is part of a plan to avoid flash disks being detected. I'm assuming that and HDD modern enough to identify as sd* (sata) is going to have big partitions on it. (haven't included check for sd* yet though)
Any better idea on how to do this greatly appreciated!
Once again I'm totally in agreement. Should it include a warning that it includes mounting the drives. I don't really like the idea of probing through drives without permission. All a bit big brother, from the users poiint of view anyway. Kind of thing Windows would do...2. When the wizard is run (like any wizard) it should start by giving a description of its purpose:-"Code: Select all
"This wizard will seek out your windows 'my documents' folder(s) and make automatically make icons on the puppy linux desktop for them. You can then open your my documents folder and the files in them just like in Windows. Click on NEXT to continue" Step 1 of 3 [Cancel] [Next]
On clicking "next" the magic is done! The next screen could/should have (X = tick box):-
This should place shortcuts on the desktop to the correct directories (edit that file that I cant find or remember the name of, which is really annoying me!!!). The wizard window should not cover where these desktop shortcuts are created, so the user gets feedback straight away.Code: Select all
Operating system detected : Windows XP/2000 [or windows ME/98/95] Users account detected: X John Doe X Fred Bloggs X Admin etc Please untick any accounts you that you would NOT like to make desktop shortcuts too, and click on OK. Step 2 of 3 [Cancel] [OK]
The last screen...
This should get new puppies off to a flying start!!!Code: Select all
Complete! Your desktop shortcuts to your Windows 'My Documents' folders have now been placed on the desktop. You can open click on them to open your folders and view their contents. Click on the files and they will open in the equivalent linux application. [ok]"
Shouldn't be too hard I hope. I assume all the code I'd need to detect something wrong with the drive is in the 'mount' script? (Using windows ATM so I can't look and see) Another thing to consider is hibernation. There should be mention of the fact that hibernating can cause the same problem.The only thing I can think of is, if there is a problem with the ntfs drive being corrupted through windows not being shut down properly (or really heavily fragmented) a message box should come up and say
Code: Select all
"Advisory: There is a small fault how windows has stored your information on the hard disk on this computer. Windows NTFS format becomes corrupt very easily, but this is usually very easy to cure. Likely causes are 1. The last time you ran windows, it crashed or didnt shut down properly. 2. The information on the disk is heavily fragmented. If windows does still work at all, then its recommended that you run the disk defragmentation utility, and/or shut down the computer properly within windows (Hint: take the cd out and restart your computer!). If windows wont restart, then your only option is to do a repair in puppy linux. This usually works unless your disk is very heavily corrupted. There is a small risk that you may lose some of your data if this is the case. (for expert users, this uses the "ntfsfix" utility in linux) As another option, you may be able to open your files in "read-only" mode, which means you will be able to open your files as they already are, but you want be able to save any changes (You could write them to a cd or memory stick though!). Please choose an option. [Cancel] [Restart in Windows] [Attempt Repair] [Read Only] Step 2.a/3
Seems pretty clear too. Very similar to my idea of the project, plus the great idea of only offering the script on the desktop if it might be needed.I hope it is clear how I feel this would work best. Quite often users will only try linux when forced into an absolute corner. If puppy can recover their files in an emergency they will be all the more curious to keep on using it!!! I have to deal with a lot of these cases at the drop in centre.
Note: while I was writing this, a funny coincidence happened...
Many thanks to everyone for your hard work!!!