[Edu-sig] Python for Windows running on CD-ROM ... problem 2

[BJ MacNevin]

Thanks everyone for the help I received last time when I wanted to get
Python onto CD-ROM and run it from there. To recap my situation: I teach at
a middle school and I want to bring some computer programming into the
curriculum. Currently they consider the ability to do e-mail, use Word, and
navigate Excel to constitute computer literacy; and they are paranoid about
installing new software on their Windows Networking network. DOH! Because of
how my school computers are set-up (BIOS boot sequences), running a Windows
version of Python on CD-ROM is my only option (machines won't boot to CD-ROM
for Knoppix, etc.). So I am trying to create a CD-ROM distribution that we
can just plop into the tray, open, and launch.

Following peoples' suggestions, I burned a copy of a Python directory onto
CD-ROM and included the DLL's from the system folder. The result: the
command-prompt works great. IDLE, however, does not. This is a stumbling
block, unfortunately. In order to do the graphics thingies that I wanted to
with the kids (and utilize the livewires packages for more advanced,
self-wound learners), I need to get IDLE up and running. The command-prompt
option is kind of hard to use compared to the change-save-run paradigm of
IDLE.

So I thought: hey! What if I organize the CD-ROM with a root-level shortcut
to IDLE on the CD-ROM; complete with the IDLE start strings, etc. I tried it
at home: worked billiantly. Took it to school and tried it: no go. First of
all, the shortcut is absolute to the CD-ROM drive letter allocation on my
machine. Secondly, those darn DLL's aren't loading (they were still in my
home computer's system folder). So these are my questions now: If anyone can
give me some useful pointers, I'd appreciate it!

1) Is there a way to specify a relative path for the shortcut on the CD-ROM
so that it always goes to the same disk that the shortcut is located on? I
tried "/Python23/"... and all sorts of other path descriptions. No avail so
far.

2) Is it possible to use IDLE off the CD-ROM? The DLL's appear necessary for
it, but perhaps there's a way to bypass them, or include them in a path? I
really have no idea.

Thanks for any insight or suggestions!

BJ MacNevin