Keeping 22 notebook computers going in a classroom environment has been quite a challenge. The move to a Linux based operating system was essential but there were still difficulties with the use of the Mepis OS I installed at the beginning of the year. Having spent a great deal of time researching, downloading, burning and experimenting, I settled on quite a novel set up for the remainder of the school year.

At the core of my new configuration is the use of a wonderful little Linux OS called Slax. It is designed to run "live". My particular set up is somewhat unique in that I have replaced the normal clunky, noisy hard disks with compact flash drives using a CF to IDE adapter. I purchased my adapters for around $4 each off eBay. The CF drives are 1 GB and were bought from Amazon. I also downloaded a wonderful utility called MySlax Creator that allowed me to customize and reproduce 22 identical configurations in an incredibly short period of time. The results are tremendous and I no longer worry about students sabotaging the settings on a computer because when the computer is re-booted, everything is exactly like it was when it was started. There is also much less heat and noise generated by my computers as well. I hope to be able to use these computers for a few more years and I think that it will only be possible utilizing this type of arrangement.