live boot recovery disks

[Novusordo]

Guys I am going to be fixing a lot of computers soon and I have need as much information as I can get on bootable recovery live disks. Google dosn't really return much of use suprisingly.

My first question is about CD's vs USB memory sticks. Am I correct in saying that using bootable live disks on a USB stick is far better than using them on a CD because on USB drives the programs are able to write rather than just "read"??? I bought a Corsair 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Voyager Hi Speed memory stick recently for this purpose. What are the pros and cons and compatibility issues which using a USB memory stick? For instance can all PC's boot from USB drives?

Also why are linux boot cd's so popular? How do they compare to windows ultimate boot cd and Hiren's boot disk? What advantages does a linux boot disk have over those aforementioned windows bootdisks? If Linux disks are indeed superior I am more than willing to learn how to work Linux, but I need some reasons to convince me and some links to places to get started!

I also read a post here a while back about some guy making his own "ultimate boot disk" with all the most popular bootable disk packages on a single USB drive with the option to use each one via a DOS menu - sounds exciting. Overall I am looking to put something together than will cover all bases and remedy any possible computer issue.

Please give as much info/advice as possible as like I will be fixing a lot of computers in the near-future!

thanks guys.

Edited July 20, 2009 by Novusordo

[sc302 Veteran]

The older pc's will not boot from USB drives so you will need a cd counterpart. USB is a bit faster and more desierable, but CD works just fine as a lot of the utilities will allow a USB hard drive or flash drive if you need to store data somewhere when doing data recovery. Linux is popular because it is 1.) free and 2.) faster and 3.) most utilities that you would normally have to purchase for windows are free with linux (it comes down to more of a cost thing).

Experiance will remedy any possible computer issue. Having the tools is one thing, but knowing how to use the tools is something completely different. It is like giving a monkey a full garage worth of tools, the monkey has every tool at his disposal to use but doesn't know how to get anything done with the tools so he just bangs away and makes a bigger mess than when he started.

Example, on Friday I had a computer that failed and would not boot. I knew what the issue was in less than a min after trying the normal things to fix it (power it off, power back on, remove power cable hit the power button to discharge capacitors, plug back in and power on). Another guy comes over and looks at it, I tell him whatever he tries isn't going to work. After about 10 min of him looking at it and scratching his head, I open the case and show him 6 blown capacitors, nothing on this world would fix that without either replacing the caps or replacing the motherboard. 1 min to troubleshoot, you aren't getting that without experiance (been there, done that type of issue). Some on this board have yet to seen a blown capacitor issue as it isn't very common (common place with dell's more than anything else of what I am seeing).

[Novusordo]

thanks for the input, and you remind me of the first time I used UBCD - I felt like a monkey inside a garage full of powertools :laugh:

but nowadays I am a lot more knowledgeable and have fixed any computer problem I've encountered so far.

I'm just looking for a tool which will make things a lot easier and really cover all my bases. a well thought-out bootdisk seems to be the way to go.

[wahoospa]

  sc302 said:

The older pc's will not boot from USB drives so you will need a cd counterpart. USB is a bit faster and more desierable, but CD works just fine as a lot of the utilities will allow a USB hard drive or flash drive if you need to store data somewhere when doing data recovery. Linux is popular because it is 1.) free and 2.) faster and 3.) most utilities that you would normally have to purchase for windows are free with linux (it comes down to more of a cost thing).

Experiance will remedy any possible computer issue. Having the tools is one thing, but knowing how to use the tools is something completely different. It is like giving a monkey a full garage worth of tools, the monkey has every tool at his disposal to use but doesn't know how to get anything done with the tools so he just bangs away and makes a bigger mess than when he started.

Example, on Friday I had a computer that failed and would not boot. I knew what the issue was in less than a min after trying the normal things to fix it (power it off, power back on, remove power cable hit the power button to discharge capacitors, plug back in and power on). Another guy comes over and looks at it, I tell him whatever he tries isn't going to work. After about 10 min of him looking at it and scratching his head, I open the case and show him 6 blown capacitors, nothing on this world would fix that without either replacing the caps or replacing the motherboard. 1 min to troubleshoot, you aren't getting that without experiance (been there, done that type of issue). Some on this board have yet to seen a blown capacitor issue as it isn't very common (common place with dell's more than anything else of what I am seeing).

You hit the nail on the head about Dell's and blown capacitors. I help a friend that sells POS systems and he uses only Dell computers. About every week one has intermittant problems, open the case and there are anywhere from 2-8 bad capacitors on the motherboard.

[sc302 Veteran]

What I have in my arsenal of items are a laptop, several boot disks, and a IDE/SATA to USB converter. If I can't get a boot disk or online utilites to help, I can always plug the drive into my laptop to look around and remove dll's and exe's to remedy malware issues. Your Ultimate Boot Disk, Hirens and the elusive digiwiz PE disk are pretty much all you need in your CD case to "fix" pc's. You can put them on a usb flash if you want, but again not everything boots to USB (everything new does). Having something that will create an image is great for backup purposes, using the profile wizard from forensit also helps if their saved items are in their profile alone. There is lots of one of's out there and you will find them all over the place. dameon tools is a free iso mount utility for those pesky systems with failed cd rom drives, providing that you have an iso of whatever you are trying to load and that they boot into windows.

[Novusordo]

  sc302 said:

What I have in my arsenal of items are a laptop, several boot disks, and a IDE/SATA to USB converter. If I can't get a boot disk or online utilites to help, I can always plug the drive into my laptop to look around and remove dll's and exe's to remedy malware issues. Your Ultimate Boot Disk, Hirens and the elusive digiwiz PE disk are pretty much all you need in your CD case to "fix" pc's. You can put them on a usb flash if you want, but again not everything boots to USB (everything new does). Having something that will create an image is great for backup purposes, using the profile wizard from forensit also helps if their saved items are in their profile alone. There is lots of one of's out there and you will find them all over the place. dameon tools is a free iso mount utility for those pesky systems with failed cd rom drives, providing that you have an iso of whatever you are trying to load and that they boot into windows.

yup I'm going to buy a IDE/SATA to USB converter. which model do you have?

and about image backup tools. AFAIK they backup everything on your harddrive except for the registry entries that are required for your dll's and exe's to work so after a reformat, applying the backup image results in all your data back, but no working programs due to missing registry entries?

No thank you sir, I much prefer to manually backup data - multimedia files, program settings, emails, bookmarks, ect then manually re-install all my drivers and programs.

Or has image software moved on since the days I tested it?

but more on topic, do you think I'm reading into this whole bootdisk subject a bit too much and that I'm not missing out on much using UBCD and Hiren's? What started my interest is the sheer amount of people who recommend using Linux-based bootdisks rather than the readily available and easy to use UBCD. But as you say previously, the only reason for this is because Linux bootdisks are faster and, ahem, legal?

are there no other advantages?

[sc302 Veteran]

As far as the IDE/SATA to USB, I bought mine from Tiger Direct it is a Vantec.

as far as image backup tools, you can select what you restore, you don't have to restore the whole drive. you want a file, it is there, you want a directory, it is there. You don't have to restore everything including the registery and every infected file that it has. It is just that..... a backup, if you miss something in your manual way (say something burried in program files) this helps prevent that, you still need to load apps and windows if needed.

I can recover just about any data using my laptop provided the drive isn't in click mode and can be recognized properly. I can remove just about any virus using my laptop in a secured mode (so that viruses do not transgress onto my laptop), by manually searching in key areas. I can boot up using a PE disk or a winternals disk into the os to reset passwords or go into the registry and fix whatever a malware program caused. I can repair using either winternals or a windows boot disk. I mean really what else do you need? Ultimate Boot disk to scan memory and other hardware?

[markwolfe Veteran]

Well, Hirens contains warez, for one thing. :whistle:

Illegally obtained software is not the best choice for someone trying to start a business.

[sc302 Veteran]

lol, true. i could have sworn that he mentioned it. ah well. to stay on the legit side of things windows related, you do need to purchase utilites that work properly. Ghost, Acronis, Ontrack EZ Recovery, Recuva, o the list goes on.

[Novusordo]

thanks again for your great knowledge.

you said you can ensure malware dosn't transgress onto your laptop via the connected harddrive that you are working on. How do you do that???

thanks.

Edited July 20, 2009 by Novusordo

[sc302 Veteran]

Well a few things, make an image of it, use a vmware session or lock it using ms steadystate or deepfreeze or any other hd protection software.

[markwolfe Veteran]

  Novusordo said:

thanks again for your great knowledge.

you said you can ensure malware dosn't transgress onto your laptop via the connected harddrive that you are working on. How do you do that???

thanks.

Or use a Linux LiveCD, like you mentioned. Then you can do the diagnostics on their PC without opening it up and bringing an extra PC to plug it into. Much less hardware to bring, that way. ;)