Running a website from a CD

Not specifically a FrontPage topic but here's how. Provided the site is plain html and doesn't use any forms with FP Extensions or database driven content, it can be run off a CD as if it were a normal site. (Database content can be run off a CD but is beyond the scope of this example).

To put the site onto the CD you should copy the files using your CD creation software (or Windows XP), rather than 'publish' them to the CD using FrontPage.

Autorunning the CD

To autorun the CD when it's inserted into a drive, download this zip file and extract the two files, autorun.inf and shelexe.exe into the web folder you're working with.

Open the web in FP and then open the autorun.inf file. It's set to open the website from the 'default.htm' page. You may need to change this to index.htm or whatever your home page is named. Save any change you make.

Burning the CD

Now burn all the files in the web to a CD as you would normally, using your CD burning software (or Windows XP). Note that you don't need any of the _private files or _vti folders.

When loaded into a drive the CD should open the website in your default browser.

Tip: If you need to include a form, use one that the user prints out, or one that points to an external website (which will only work when the user has an active internet connection).

Expression Blend and Design

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Do You Want to Help Implement Interesting Ideas? The Blend Team needs you! A few months ago, we asked you for feedback on what are some of the things you would like to see improved in Expression Blend. You all had a lot of great suggestions...A LOT. If you are interested in helping us both implement some of the feedback but...(read more)
Deep Zoom Composer Updated (Again!) To address many of the issues you all had with the PhotoZoom functionality, we have released an updated preview version of Deep Zoom Composer. You can download the updated version from the following link: Download Deep Zoom Composer Be sure to uninstall...(read more)
Download the New Deep Zoom Composer Preview! A few hours ago, we released another update to Deep Zoom Composer. Click on the link below to download it: Download Deep Zoom Composer Some of the major new features outside of the usual bug, performance, and stability changes include Panoramic Stitching...(read more)
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Animating control Content between States You’re probably very familiar with Content in WPF and Silverlight. For example, two Buttons can use the same Template but can look different by virtue of having different Content in them. And the Content property is of type object so it can be Text, or...(read more)
More articles on Visual State Manager Karen Corby is the Program Manager who worked with the Expression Blend team in developing the Visual State Manager feature. Karen has written four excellent and comprehensive blog posts ( starting here ) which explain the motivation for VSM, everything...(read more)
Deep Zoom Composer : (Possible) Collection Layout FIX If you’ve browsed through the Deep Zoom Composer forums lately, you will have seen a few cases where Deep Zoom Composer was having difficulties maintaining layout when exporting collections. More specifically, the arrangement and position of images seen...(read more)
Nibbles Tutorials: Snack Tutorials for Hungry Designers A great site that covers designer-oriented Expression Blend topics is Celso Gomes’s Nibbles Tutorials site: This all-Silverlight site features some nice articles on how you can use Blend to create WPF, Silverlight 1, and Silverlight 2 applications. He...(read more)
Debugging Design-Time Exceptions It’s not entirely uncommon for projects that run fine to not work when loaded into Blend for editing: There are a variety of issues that can cause this- some are bugs that we’re working to address, others are things that need to be fixed by the application...(read more)
Localization and What Goes on Behind the Scenes Many of you may not know that Expression Blend (and the entire Expression Studio) is available in eight languages other than English. In fact, we just released them earlier today! Here is a small screenshot of Expression Blend running Japanese: My name...(read more)
What’s new in Deep Zoom Composer! Yesterday, we released another update to Deep Zoom Composer, and you can download it for free from the following location: Download Deep Zoom Composer In case you are not familiar with this app, Deep Zoom Composer (DZC) allows you take images, arrange...(read more)
Download Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 Preview and Deep Zoom Composer Like we mentioned earlier this week , new preview versions of Expression Blend 2.5 and Deep Zoom Composer have been released today. You can download them from the following locations: Download Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 Preview Download Deep Zoom...(read more)