[PREMIUM] – When your PC decides to take a crap on you, preparation is key to getting yourself out of a jam without losing your data. Part of that preparation is to have ways to boot the PC when you cannot do so normally.
In this article, we will give you a variety of options for creating a bootable recovery disc so that you can boot your PC which is not otherwise booting up. You’ll be able to then use the disc to get access to your files or run diagnostic utilities to rescue your machine.
In the old days, you could create a special floppy diskette to boot your computer. Windows even had a way to walk you through creating that book disk. But, today, hardly anybody even has floppy drives anymore. So, we need to deal with discs (as in CDs or DVDs). Not only that, but Windows no longer includes a built-in way to create a bootable disc.
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You can download a bootable CD via a file called an ISO. An ISO file is a file which contains a full disc image of a CD. When you burn an ISO file to a CD, the end result is a CD with everything contained inside that ISO file. Many CD burning programs can burn an ISO file properly. If you double-click on the ISO file, it may very well open a program on your machine that can burn it. If not, you can download ISO Recorder.
Operating Systems Typically Used To Boot
There are three operating systems typically used to boot your machine from a boot disc:
- Windows PE. PE stands for Preinstallation Environment. This is the official, CD bootable version of Windows that is created by Microsoft. It is used as a replacement for DOS when installing Windows.
- BartPE. BartPE is an independently programmed preinstallation environment. It was created by Bart Lagerweij. So as not to step on Microsoft’s copyrights, Bart does not bundle everything necessary to create a bootable CD. You will need to bundle the download with some installation files from Windows before creating your bootable CD.
- Linux. That’s right, you can burn most Linux distros to a CD and use them in Live CD mode. This means that you can run Linux directly off the disc without having anything actually installed to the computer. People use this for trying out Linux without committing anything, but it can also be used to boot the computer and do other things with your hard drive.
Now that you see the broad overview, let’s jump right into some specific downloadable options you can use right now to create a bootable disc.
Puppy Linux
Puppy Linux is a small, lightweight version of Linux which doesn’t really hold a candle to the better known Linux distros, but it is convenient for accessing your Windows installation. Once you have booted into Puppy Linux, you can pull up and mount the Windows drive via the Drives window.
If possible, Puppy will mount your hard drive in full read/write mode. Even if Windows is corrupted, you now have access to your files. Puppy Linux also has text editors built in to allow you to edit configuration files if needed. If your interest is in saving your data, you can use Puppy to copy/move your data files to another drive.
You can download a copy of Puppy Linux. Like other Linux versions, you will be downloading Puppy as an ISO file which you will then burn to a CD.
BartPE
Setting up a BartPE boot disc is a little bit tougher because, as stated above, you have to do the extra work of getting the Windows installation files that it needs. The following procedure comes directly from the BartPE site:
- Make sure that your system has about 500MB of free disk space!
- Download the latest PE Builder version (self-installing package) and install it.
- Start PE Builder (pebuilder.exe). When you start PE Builder for the first time it will ask if you agree with the license agreement.
- Now PE Builder will ask to search for windows installation files. If you don’t have your windows XP setup/installation files on your system you must insert the original Microsoft Windows XP installation/setup CD at this point.
The files you have at c:\windows are not installation files. They are your already installed files!
Click “yes” to start searching. PE Builder will now search all fixed- and CD-Rom drives for Windows installation files. This will take some time. When more than one valid location is found, a dialog will appear where you can select which location you want to use. - At the main PE Builder dialog, select the “Burn to CD/DVD” option. When you are using an erasable medium, make sure that the “AutoErase RW” option is enabled. The “burn using” option should be set to “StarBurn”. Select your CD writer device from the Device list.
- Hit the “build” button. PE Builder will now ask you to create a BartPE directory, answer with “yes”.
- The license for your Microsoft Windows XP product is shown. Read it and agree to it to continue.
- PE Builder will now start building BartPE. This will take a few minutes.
You will see a lot of files getting copied and/or decompressed, the ISO image build and the data recorded to your CD/DVD writer.
If the data verify was correct and there where no errors reported you can boot the CD/DVD!
Vista Recovery Disc
This one is from Microsoft – kinda. In the lead up to Vista SP1, Microsoft actually did have a utility in Vista for creating a recovery disc. But, for some reason, the final release didn’t include it. That didn’t stop a company called NeoSmart from taking the ISO and making it available on their website.
When you run the Vista recovery disk, it will look exactly like the installation screens of Windows Vista. It even has an install button that will lead to a dead end and that is because the ISO does not contain any of the files necessary to install Windows Vista. But, you can click on “Repair Your Computer” to use Microsoft’s recovery options, diagnostic utilities, or even restore the machine from past restore points.
Ultimate Boot CD for Windows
This boot disc is based on BartPE, but it is BartPE on steroids. It is called “ultimate” because it includes all kinds of utilities to help you accomplish a number of tasks on your PC. As they put it on their website:
UBCD4Win is a bootable recovery CD that contains software used for repairing, restoring, or diagnosing almost any computer problem. Our goal is to be the most complete and easy to use free computer diagnostic tool.
Some of the tools include:
- AVG AntiSpyware
- HiJackThis – Helpful tool when trying to remove viruses, spyware, other troublesome advertising programs, and malware.
- SelfImage – Hard drive backup and cloning
- Disk Check
- Several programs to edit your Windows registry
The list of programs is quite long and, as a result, the boot disc can take a seemingly long time to load up. But, once it does, you have a lot of troubleshooting tools at your disposal.
Their site includes a how-to on how to build your ultimate Boot CD.
Trinity Rescue Kit
Trinity is a Linux distro designed specifically for the purpose of recovering Windows. While you can use other distros as a Live CD, those distros are not really put together with the purpose of recovery. This one is.
That said, it is very clear this is Linux in all its command-line loving glory. This is not a point-and-click Linux distro.
Being that it is Linux, you don’t need to bother with Windows files as you burn the disc. Just download the ISO and burn to disc and you’re good to boot. It comes with documentation to help you with the command line.
Active@ Boot Disk
Up front, you should know that this is not a free option. In fact, it costs $80. Not cheap, however it is probably the most user-friendly option I have listed here.
Active@ Boot Disk is based on Windows PE and is usable on both XP and Vista computers. It includes image backup and restore, backing up to CD/DVD, and a file/partition recovery app. You can change your Windows password, wipe files securely, perform network diagnostics, etc.
This is a great utility, but yes, it will cost you some coin for the convenience.
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