Here are the common pitfalls in a first encounter with EM (the server). If there are other issues not listed here, please let us know via the email link at right.

I can't save files in the hard disk - Your PC must be using NTFS (such as hard disks formatted with Windows XP). Remember that saving files is possible only with FAT-formatted hard disks (such as the ones formatted with Windows 95 and 98). However, you can still read from an NTFS hard disk.

I was not able to issue the command "slax server" at boot time - The boot prompt stays only for about 3 seconds, during which you are supposed to touch a key, and then the program will wait for your command. If you were too late, try pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL together to restart the PC, or push the reset button. You may also put the PC off by pushing the power-on button for 4 seconds, then push it again after 3 seconds to restart.

My favorite way out of this problem is by copying the EM CD to the hard disk (in the folder LC). Then I put these commands in the autoexec.bat file of the DOS-based hard disk:

We assume here that your LC directory is in the same drive (C:). If not, do it like this:

The d: here refers to the letter of your hard disk or partition that contains the directory LC. And by the way, pause will prompt you to hit a key to continue loading EM. Note that you can do this only in hard disks using FAT (i.e., those formatted with Windows 95 and 98, or the FAT option in Windows XP).

The bootup hangs - I can't get to the login screen - If the message on screen tells about unread portions of the CD, the error may be due to a badly recorded CD (or a bad CDROM drive). If it is a simple hangup, the reason could be a hardware issue, which can be solved by using the following commands at boot time:

slax nohotplug

slax nopcmcia

slax noagp

Try these commands one at a time until your problem is solved. You have to reset/restart your PC each time. For more guidance, refer to the cheatcodes.txt file in the CD.

My screen looks garbled after I command gui - Press CTRL-ALT-BKSPACE at the same time to go back to the black screen, then command guisafe.

I've heard ordinary people like me are not supposed to login as root - That is because you can do things to the Web pages that might disable the public from viewing them. For example, if you created files as root, the public may be disallowed to view them. The solution is: ALWAYS USE A BROWSER OR FTP SOFTWARE to access the /ftp and /www folders. As root, you can move files from /ftp to /www, but NEVER COPY FILES FROM ANY OTHER LOCATION TO /www. To do this safely, always use a browser or FTP software, like Firefox and gftp. So perhaps you understand now why you should avoid logging in as root.

Where is my desktop? If you logged in as root, in the /root folder. Inside this, you will also see /public, which contains two other folders: /ftp and /www. These are your public areas: /ftp for anonymous uploading of files and /www for making available your pages to the browsing public. If you logged in as guest, in the /home/guest folder.