Can desktop effects be disabled on boot from live CD or USB?

[airtight]

Just wondering, can desktop effects be disabled on boot from live CD or USB? Depending on the machine being used, the whole screen and any open windows look a real mess (a patchwork of multi-coloured blur) when desktop effects are switched on, as they are by default. It's just possible to see enough to go in and turn them off if you know where to look for the buttons etc. but it would be better IMHO for them to be off by default. This is on Pardus 2011.1 and was the same on 2009.2. Alt+Shift+F12 doesn't work.