You might not be ready to accept Linux as your desktop yet, but you
can still use it to save your Windows PC—whether you need to reset
passwords, recover deleted files, or scan for viruses, here’s how to do
it.
What we’ll do today is walk you through some of the most useful ways
that you can repair your Windows PC using an Ubuntu Live CD, but keep in
mind that most of these tasks can be performed with any version of
Linux.
Make Your Ubuntu Live CD
The first thing you’ll want to do is make your own Ubuntu Live CD, and while you can just burn an ISO image to a disc and call it a day, you might want to think about creating a customized live CD using reconstructor, which can include custom applications that aren’t included by default.
Alternate: Make Your Ubuntu Live USB
Since carrying around a CD isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world, you might want to also create an Ubuntu Live USB,
which is nothing more than a flash drive that has a copy of Linux
installed on it, which you can use to boot straight into Linux a lot
quicker than using a CD. If you really want to get fancy, you can create a persistent Ubuntu flash drive that saves your settings.
The only problem with this method is that not every PC supports
booting from a flash drive, and older PCs are not only more likely to
have problems, but they are the ones that are less likely to boot from a
flash drive—so you’ll want to keep a Live CD around as well.
Change or Reset Your Password
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to use Linux to fix Windows is when
you’re trying to recover a forgotten password—all you have to do is boot
it up and run a few commands, and your password will be reset. It’s
really as simple as that. Here’s a couple of ways that you can do this,
both for Windows and Linux:
The last one isn’t using the Ubuntu Live CD, of course, but the
System Rescue CD is a great tool as well, so we figured we’d include it
in the list.
Diagnose Windows or Hardware Problems
There’s a number of ways that you can use Ubuntu to diagnose hardware
problems, but the first is really obvious once you think about it—just
boot off the Live CD, and start running some applications and test out
all the hardware from a working Linux environment. If the system works
fine in Linux, the problem is probably a Windows, virus, or driver
issue.
You can also run a number tools to more closely check the hardware
components—for instance, memtest86+ can do some serious testing on your
system RAM to make sure that you aren’t having any problems there, or
you can use CPU burn to test out your CPU and motherboard.
Diagnose PC Hardware Problems with an Ubuntu Live CD
Clone Your Hard Drive
If you’ve just replaced your hard drive with a new one, or you simply
want to create a backup of your whole system, you can use the Ubuntu
Live CD to make a clone of your drive, make a drive image, or even
transfer that drive image across the network to another computer for
safekeeping. Here’s a couple of the ways that we’ve covered:
- Clone a Hard Drive Using an Ubuntu Live CD
- Make a Drive Image Using an Ubuntu Live CD
- Transfer a Drive Image Over a Network Using an Ubuntu Live CD
Of course, you should make sure to read our guide to exactly what files you should backup from you Windows PC, and keep your PC backed up at all times, but in a pinch, it’s very useful to be able to make a clone of your hard drive.
Recover Data (Like a Forensics Expert)
You don’t need to go to school to become a forensics expert—just read
through our article and you’ll be able to recover deleted files using a
number of tools directly from the command line. If you’re a serious
geek, it’s a very useful set of skills to add to your geek resume.
Recover Data Like a Forensics Expert Using an Ubuntu Live CD
Recover Deleted Files
Accidentally deleted some files off your PC that you really need
back? You can use an Ubuntu Live CD to recover the files with a couple
of keystrokes from the terminal and get yourself back in business in no
time.
Of course, if your PC can boot into Windows just fine you should probably read our guide to restoring accidentally deleted files, but if your PC is unbootable because of a virus or something else, it’s a very useful technique to learn.
Recover Deleted Files on an NTFS Hard Drive from a Ubuntu Live CD
Scan Your Windows PC for Viruses
Virus cleaning is one of the most common repair tasks when dealing
with a Windows PC, and the Ubuntu Live CD can really help you here,
since there are a number of very good antivirus applications that have
Linux versions these days. All you have to do is head into the Synaptic
package manager, search for Avast, and install it into the live cd
session.
There’s actually a few more steps to it, but it is a fairly easy
process. Don’t worry about installing software during a live cd session,
because it is only installed into memory… Once you reboot, it will be
gone. Hit the link for the full walkthrough.
Scan a Windows PC for Viruses from a Ubuntu Live CD
Securely Wipe Your PC’s Hard Drive
If you need to give away or sell a pc to somebody else, or you just
want to make absolutely sure that your hard drive is clean, you can use
the Ubuntu Live CD to wipe the drive. This wipe will be secure, with
every piece of data being overwritten to make sure nobody can recover
anything.
Of course, if you need to wipe drives often, you would be better off making yourself a copy of boot and nuke instead, just because it requires less steps, but if all you have handy is your trusty Ubuntu live cd, this method works perfectly.
Use an Ubuntu Live CD to Securely Wipe Your PC’s Hard Drive
Repair Damaged Backup CDs
Got a backup CD that’s too scratched up to read very well? You can
use the ddrescue tool from the command line to recover as much
information off that disc as possible, and it’s really not that
difficult. Just boot into the Live CD and follow through our guide to
recover some files.
Rescue Old, Damaged CDs with an Ubuntu Live CD
Access or Backup Files from Your Dead Windows PC
If your pc just won’t boot, or you can’t get into it because it is
overrun with viruses, you can use an Ubuntu live cd as a quick way to
get access to your files and copy them to another pc, or external drive.
The process is simple enough… Just mount the drive from within the live
cd session and then map a drive to another machine.
If you want to move the files from the PC to another computer on
your network, or simply back them up to an external drive, you can read
through either of these tutorials to get you started.
- Move Files from a Failing PC with an Ubuntu Live CD
- Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer
Note: the two articles cover the same general topic area,
but the first one has a lot more coverage of moving the files to another
PC, whereas the second article covers some manual tips to troubleshoot
problems mounting the Windows disk.
Bonus: Use the Ubuntu Live CD to Browse Without a Trace
This isn’t a recovery technique, but have you ever considered that an
Ubuntu Live CD is the ultimate way to browse without leaving any
traces? Since there’s nothing installed anywhere, there’s no logs,
cookies, or caches to look through. Read through our guide to learn how
to enable Flash in the Live CD session as well.
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