Using Linux to help restore Windows

[Andy]

Recently my Windows XP installation completely failed. XP would not boot up and I couldn't seem to do anything to fix it apart from a re-install of everything.

Most of my data was already saved but to be sure, I used Linux to copy all the important files over to a second hard disk. The files on drive C were still visible but the Windows recovery disk is so primitive that even copying a few files is very difficult. The copy command only works on one directory at a time. I think XCopy is better but I didn't have that.

Fortunately I had previously burned a LINUX bootable CD ROM containing Feather LINUX (a cut-down version of Knoppix). This allowed me to boot up into LINUX and copy all the files I wanted from drive C to drive D.

Then I powered off and disconnected the cables from my D drive so there was no way this data could be erased. Then I re-installed my software and OS using a recovery disk that I got with my PC. This made it like when I first bought it so it then worked OK but needed a lot of updates and drivers to be installed.

So I would urge windows users to create a LINUX bootable CD ROM. Then you can get a powerful recovery tool for free and even browse the web all from a CD ROM. But make sure the version you try actually works with your PC.

[SensoVision]

So I would urge windows users to create a LINUX bootable CD ROM. Then you can get a powerful recovery tool for free and even browse the web all from a CD ROM. But make sure the version you try actually works with your PC.

good points, Andy! I just wish to add that with Knoppix(not sure about Feather) you also got a burner program K3B(which would let you burn files on CD or DVD if you have two drives) and gparted(which let you partition drive or change partition size without loosing it's data).
In some cases it's even possible to recover Windows with help of Linux by overwriting corrupted files from backup...