hi
I'm trying to save documents from a crashed computer using knoppix5.1
i've recently read that the flashdrive i use to transfer theses files needs to be fat32 in order to work...i've already tried transfering files so i'm assuming the flashdrive is in the ntfs format.so what i need is info on how to convert my flashdrive from ntfs to fat32...if anyone can help...please do so! :]

Flash drives are usually already formatted for fat 32. The files you have copied to it were most likely copied in that format. To be sure, boot Knoppix and insert the flash drive. From a terminal window run this command:
fdisk -l
and post the results. Also this:
df -hT
and post the results of that too.

And "mounts" for good measure - then we can see if you can actually write to the thing.

Most drives default to "FAT32" but some are "FAT16" instead. I've had no end of trouble with the latter. Now, depending on your specific geek-stick hardware, you might need to use fdisk to remove and replace the partition table on the drive.

If you connect the device and linux sees and reads it -- regardless of its current format:

• copy the contents to a new folder -- your ~/Desktop/myThumb is fine.
• open a shell -- you will see every "drive" of every sort
  
  Code:

  user@host$ sudo mount

• your drive will likely appear as /media/someName where "someName" is the vfat volume label or something dynamic if no label exists. Note the folder where your desktop showed the drive content.
• note the device-file where your drive is mounted It will be the one that matches the folder name from the desktop. Typically /dev/sdXX -- for our discussion we will assume "/dev/sdb1"
• dismount your drive after you have a copy of the contents mentioned above
  
  Code:

  user@host$ sudo umount /dev/sdb1

• now you can use mkfs.vfat or any other variant to make your geek-stick whatever format that the hardware will support

Cheers,
~~~ 0;-Dan

It seems like you basically need to read data off of a M$ hard drive which is NTFS correct?

If so, why alter the Windows M$ filesystems at all?

What I would recommend doing is downloading and burning a Simply Mepis live CD. Mepis is an excellent distro that makes a great rescue tool as a CD and usually installs on Desktops easily. Mepis is known for being compatible with hardware.

The rescue CD can read and write NTFS files by default. Log in as root on the CD. The password is also root.

Download it here and burn it as an ISO9660 to make it bootable.

https://www.mepis.org/

Of course, contribute whatever you can to Mepis. Just one person maintains the entire distribution. Mepis is, however, totally free.

Debbie, instead of knoppix, try Ubuntu installation CD. Ubuntu installation CD can also be used as a live CD.

I was experiencing a similar issue and I tried the latest Knoppix first, and the first thing I received was some menu-based interface which I gave up on about three minutes later. No mouse arrow!! Drag-and-dropping is also very important in our situations where we need to transfer multiple files into another storage.

I tried to use Ubuntu installation CD next, and it was beautiful. It even recognized the video card on my machine, and there you are, beautiful mouse arrow!! From now on, whenever I need a Live CD, it is Ubuntu for me~~