I have recently joined a Chinese company for a short assignment which might last for about an year. Though my job is mostly non-computer based but I have to use the computers there for basic computing, esp. for internet access. As all the computers in that company are in Chinese language . . . its very difficult to work on them. So, I thought of using a live cd based Linux to solve my problem without disturbing the OS (chinese win xp) installed on the computers. My first preference was Puppy. It ran well on the computers but some how internet was not accessible. I tried its network wizard and tried DHCP but in non of the cases it solved the problem. I later tried an Ubuntu live cd also but it didnt work.

Can any one tell me what might be going wrong and what i could do to solve the problem. Any settings . . . Any other live cd ? I am on leave these days . . . so wish to learn abt all this and equip my self b4 i join !

Plz advise.

Hi -

Puppy and Ubuntu are both perfectly capable of using the Internet, even from Live CD (or, in the case of Puppy, also from "Live USB Stick"). Whatever the problem is, you need to do some basic troubleshooting - it almost *certainly* isn't the Linux.

Strong suggestion, however:

In your case, it sounds like a VM image ... or perhaps even a "cloud based" VPS - might be a much better fit for you. Something that's "always on", that you can use *in parallel with* (not "instead of") Windows XP.

For example:
http://www.webkeepers.com/vps
<= I'd also look at "www.1and1.com"

IMHO .. PSM

It would help more to know how they access the internet. It may be that they use a proxy pac file or other authentication.

Along those same lines you ought to get their tech support people to approve this. Live cd's might be considered a security issue for them.

Well, I know both Puppy and Ubuntu support this but I really dont kno why it is not working.
Regarding their infrastructure, its very difficult for me to make out as the office ppl are mostly non-technical and in their computer and else where its all in Chinese language. Regarding security, I really dont think they are too much careful abt it, as everyone knows each others password and the passwords are of just one character If the live Cd was considered a security issue they would have password protected the CMOS setup of all the computers - which is not done and i can easily change the boot sequence and boot through the live cd or usb stick and access all files on that comp. But its just some simple settings that might be creating trouble for internet access. Its not a high security zone and so I dont think that is creating the trouble.
Any suggestion.

Yes:
IMHO .. PSM

PS:
"<Right-click>Network, Properties..., <Select>TCP/IP, Properties...", or "ipconfig/all" on your Windows XP will tell you:
1. Whether the XP address is DHCP or static
2. Its IP, subnet mask, gateway and DNS server

You can run "ifconfig" on your Ubuntu to see if the IP, subnet mask and gateway match on Ubuntu (and probably puppy - but I frankly don't recall). You can correct your Linux address (if necessary), and you can verify that you can "ping" the gateway.

You can also Google for "linux network troubleshooting"; you'll get lots of good "howto's" with similar ideas.

But I honestly think you might be better off if you didn't have to deal with their network: that's where VPS's and/or VMWare images come in...

Can you kindly tell me in brief what VPN or VM ware is and how it can help in my case.
I can search on the net for this but may be it will not tell me how i can benefit from this.
I checked a link provided above but honestly i didnt understand anything abt it !
Remember, in China there are a lot of restrictions on internet so i may not be allowed to own some sort of a separate network / internet connection in my name - if that is what u r advising. And in any case i dont wish to go in for such complications. I wish to have an access to internet on a linux (english) OS (using my office internet connection - which i am allowed to use) so that i do not have to visit the local Internet shop where again everything is in Chinese.

I just checked on wiki abt vmware.
(1) as it runs 'inside' Xp hope the security weakness of Xp will not be relevant here ! Like if there r some key loggers installed in Xp can it trace my activity inside VMware ?
(2) How is this different from wine ?
(3) Is Vmware a freeware ? The website seems to be selling it at around $200, which is expensive for this kind of short term use.
(4) What if i plan to use my own laptop to access net, then how do i use a fully installed Linux (instead of a live cd) ?

(1) As far as i know, a VM is completely insulated from its host OS, but am sure your network activity can be tracked easily.
(2) Wine is to run windows applications in Linux, a VM is to run the whole OS by itself.
(3) VMplayer 3.0 is free and is pretty good.
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
(4) you can used the VM itself in your laptop too.

Good ! got to think and read abt it
I am just bothered abt the security issues - that i mentioned earlier. Like key loggers / trojans, spywares etc. present in Xp.

But on that link it uses the word TRIAL version !

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/detail...QqdGViZGR3Kg==

you might have to register (for free) on their site before you can download it.

How is Virtual Box compared to VMWare (in my case) ?

Any reply / suggestion ?

I have not used virtualbox, but I have heard it does not support usb and a few other limitations. But both are free so go ahead give both of them a try, and keep what you like.

The proprietary version of VirtualBox supports USB - get it from Sun's website. The Open Source Edition doesn't have USB support at the moment.

I prefer VMplayer 3 to the Virtual box but I have no good reason.