FAQ

What is F3OS?

F3OS is what’s known as an operating system. On your computer, Microsoft Windows, or MacOS, if you’re using a Mac, are the two most well-known examples of operating systems among the general public. An operating system is what makes your computer run, as it contains essential utilities to boot up and shut down your computer and manages your memory, processes, and all of your software and hardware. F3OS is based entirely on free software, which means that not only is it free of cost or other obligation, but it is also free to modify to suit your own personal needs. F3OS, however, is specifically designed to be family-friendly in that it comes with a built-in web filter that uses your choice of any of eight publicly available DNS-based filtering systems to keep you and your family from accessing pornographic and other objectionable websites. I do not charge any money at all for F3OS and will never do so, as it is not just a project, but also a ministry. That said, there are regularly-recurring expenses involved in making F3OS available to you, and as such, financial or other contributions are greatly appreciated. If you feel led to financially contribute to the F3OS project, please go to our donations page. All I ask is that you give whatever the Lord has laid upon your heart to give.

How do I get a copy of F3OS?

Just go to our download page and let it download (you will want a broadband connection in order to download a copy of F3OS). Once the ISO file has finished downloading, there are two ways you can try it out on your computer without touching the contents of your hard drive, as follows:

Live DVD:

1. Download the ISO file.
2. Burn it onto a blank DVD. Notice: In your DVD-burning software, look for a button or menu entry that says something like “Burn as image” or “Burn as ISO image”. Do not burn it as a standard data disc, or else it will not work. If, after burning the ISO onto a DVD, you see a bunch of files and folders, you burned it correctly. If, on the other hand, all you see on the DVD is just the ISO file, I hate to say it, but you goofed (let’s hope you used a DVD-RW so that you can erase it and start over).
3. Load the DVD into your DVD drive and reboot your computer.
4. Pay close attention to what’s on your screen as you reboot. On most computers, it will mention a key you can press to go to your BIOS or UEFI settings screen. If your computer is one of the newer ones that has UEFI instead of BIOS, you will probably need to disable the “secure boot” option. Once you’re in your computer’s BIOS or UEFI settings, you will need to look for the boot order settings. That is, you will need to adjust your computer so that it looks for something on a CD or DVD before looking for anything on your hard drive. The keystrokes necessary to enter into the BIOS/UEFI settings as well as the procedure to follow once you’re in will vary by computer. Therefore, it is impossible to state specifically what keystrokes you will need to enter here.
5. When running F3OS from a live (demo) DVD, you may find it to be a little slow. This is because retrieving data from a CD or DVD is inherently a bit slower than accessing that same data from a hard drive. This is merely a limitation of accessing data from a CD or DVD and is not the fault of F3OS.

Live USB:

1. Download the ISO file.
2. If you do not already have it installed on your computer, there are several programs available that create live USBs, such as USBImager. If you go to this page, it will automatically download a version of it for Microsoft Windows for you (a Linux version is also included in F3OS, by the way).
3. Start USBImager. On the top row, click the “…” button and go to where you downloaded the F3OS ISO file and select it. On the third line, under the “Write” and “Read” buttons, click the drop-down list and select your USB drive. Finally, click the “Write” button to create your bootable USB drive. WARNING: Everything on your USB drive will be overwritten! If you have something important on your USB drive, you will want to move its contents somewhere else.
4. Leave the USB drive in your computer and reboot. Pay close attention to what’s on your screen as you reboot. On most computers, it will mention a key you can press to go to your BIOS or UEFI settings screen. If your computer is one of the newer ones that has UEFI instead of BIOS, you will probably need to disable the “secure boot” option. Once you’re in to your computer’s BIOS or UEFI settings, you will need to look for the boot order settings. That is, you will need to adjust your computer so that it looks for something on a USB drive before looking for anything on your hard drive. The keystrokes necessary to enter into the BIOS/UEFI settings as well as the procedure to follow once you’re in will vary by computer. Therefore, it is impossible to state specifically what keystrokes you will need to enter here.
5. If you never see any keystrokes displayed on-screen that you can enter to access your system’s BIOS or UEFI settings, then follow these directions to change your boot order from within Windows.

What are the username and password to log in to the live DVD / USB?

Username: demo
Password: demo

Since this is an operating system, do I have to give up Windows?

Absolutely not! F3OS lets you try it out without touching your Windows or Mac installation on your hard drive in what’s known as a “live” (demonstration) system in order to let you see if it works with your hardware. Also, if you wish to install F3OS to your hard drive, you can easily do so by booting up or rebooting the ISO and selecting “Boot System Installer” from the menu that shows up. You will need to log in before the installation begins, with “demo” as both the username and password. In the Systemback installer, when you reach the dialog that displays partitions on your hard drive, you can set up your partitions there before you proceed with the installation.

That said, if you’re absolutely positively sick and tired and done with Windows, have previous Linux experience, no longer need Windows, or are just feeling really daring, you can install F3OS by itself on your system. Even though it can be installed alongside Windows (in what’s known as a “dual-boot” configuration, as described above), F3OS absolutely positively does not need Windows at all in order to operate, as it does all the same things Windows does, but it does them faster, for free, without catching viruses or other forms of malware, and also keeps your family safe from pornographic and other objectionable websites. :-)

How do I use my own photos or wallpaper as the desktop wallpaper?

In the Original (Xfce desktop environment) edition, do the following:

1. Right-click on your desktop and click “Desktop Settings…”, or, click the Menu button and then click the teal icon with the business end of a wrench in it in the bottom-left corner of the menu.
2. Click the drop-down list beside where it says “Folder:”. Once you have navigated to where you have placed your photo or wallpaper, all photo/image files in that folder will automatically show up in the “Wallpaper for my desktop” window above. Just click on whatever wallpaper you’d like to use, and it will be automatically set as your desktop wallpaper.

In F3OS Junior, which uses the Openbox window manager, do the following:

1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop or any blank area of the Tint2 panel (the taskbar at the bottom of the screen) or on “F3OS Menu” at the left end of the Tint2 panel and click “Settings -> Wallpaper Settings”.
2. At the bottom of the Nitrogen wallpaper changer, click on “Preferences”.
3. Under the “Directories” list, which displays directories from where Nitrogen looks for wallpapers, click “Add”.
4. Click the directory (folder) where you have placed your wallpaper.

Can I add a shortcut to frequently-used programs on the panel (taskbar) at the bottom of the screen?

Of course! In F3OS Original, just do the following:

1. Go into the menu and find the application you wish to create a panel shortcut for.
2. Once you have found that application, right-click on it and click “Add to Panel”. It will appear at the right end of your panel.
3. To move it elsewhere on your panel, just right-click that icon and click “Move”, which will enable you to move it elsewhere on your panel.

If you have F3OS Junior, do the following:

1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop or any blank area of the Tint2 panel (the taskbar at the bottom of the screen), or on “F3OS Menu” at the left end of the Tint2 panel and click “Settings -> Tint2 Settings”.
2. At the top left of the Tint2 configuration tool, click the hamburger menu (consists of four horizontal lines)
3. In the column at the left, click “Launcher”. Here, you’ll see a dialog box of all of the programs you can add to the launcher at the left end of the Tint2 panel.
4. Just click on the application you need in the list on the right and then click the arrow pointing to the left to add it to the launchers already present.
5. Click “Apply” when done, and Tint2 will re-launch with your changes.