I’ve covered a load of free Live CDs here in the last few years, including – Boot, Recovery, Rescue, Antivirus ……….. To work effectively with such tools though, demands a very high level of user experience with operating systems which, effectively restricts usage to geeks or, the occasional very daring newbie.
I’ve just spent a week, or so, testing BootMed, a Ubuntu Linux driven set of recovery tools which is just a little different than most such tool sets, inasmuch as it’s much more new user centric than most.
On launch, BootMed defaults to Firefox which opens on the developer’s site – “What can BootMed do”.
That’s a bit of a twist on most recovery tools/disks/applications, since the developer has recognized that not all users have the practical background, or the experience, to work with these type of tools unaided.
The tutorials (walk- throughs) on this page )What can BootMed do) – shown below – should make working with the specific applications included on the CD/DVD much easier for less experienced users than it would be otherwise. Kudos to the developer on this one.
Recovery
- Troubleshoot Windows Boot Problems
- Copy files from a computer that will not boot to a pen drive or external hard drive
- Scan for viruses with
- Make a forensic image of a damaged or corrupted hard drive with dd-rescue and recover files from the image
- Recover deleted files with:
- Recover a deleted partition with TestDisk
Misc
More experienced users will simply venture straight to the Desktop to access the available tools.
The following screen capture illustrates the applications available.
Note: Under “Applications”, additional tools are available.
You can see from the following screen capture, that BootMed allows the user to access all attached devices (and their files), from the “Computer” icon.
The following two graphics show the AV’s available. Both AVs will automatically update their definition database – provided the PC is connected to the Internet.
McAfee’s Stinger – a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses.
ClamWin Free Antivirus – ClamWin is a free antivirus designed for Windows.
Two file recovery applications are available including PhotoRec, a powerful recovery application.
And TestDisk, which adds additional functionality – including partition recovery.
There are many more applications included in this bag of tools including – GParted partition manager, as well as WINE, which will allow you to run Windows applications from within BootMed.
The CD/DVD burning application Brasero (available under “Applications”), is shown in the following screen shot.
System requirements: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Download 32 bit ISO at: Download.com
Download 64 bit ISO at: Download.com
I particularly like BootMed since it allows a fairly typical user access to complex tools while at the same time, not feeling abandoned in the scary world of operating systems. The developer has recognized this chill factor, and does a fair amount of “hand holding” – I think that’s very cool.
If you’re now a geek, or a high level user, think back to the days when you could have used some “hand holding”. If you were lucky enough to get it, I think you’ll agree that “hand holding” can make a major difference.
If you’re not familiar with booting from a CD, checkout TechPaul’s – How to boot from a CD.
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Bill Mullins' Weblog - Tech Thoughts 
Ideal ! Thanks Bill
Hi Michael,
A good one to have around – just in case.
Best,
Bill
Hey Bill,
There’s no doubt that Rescue CD’s have their place in helping us keep our machines in top notch condition. But sometimes one just has to go looking for the answers. Last night, I noticed that my CPU temperature was hovering around 80C. I nearly fell off my chair. No alarm went off or anything. In the end it was something very simple, take off the heatsink and apply some new heatsink paste, which helps with temperature dissipation. I learned all this on good old trusty Google search engine. The CPU temperature dropped 45C. I am a happy man now
Cheers
Hey Mal.
Ahem!
From – Daylight Savings Time Begins – It’s That Semi-Annual “Clean Your Computer” Time Again – March 19, 2011
“Cleaning is nice, but when doing so, one should also change the heat sink compound between hot semiconductors and the respective heat sinks. The CPU is most critical in this respect. Volatile components evaporate over time, turning the compound into an effective heat insulator with a plaster-like texture. I suggest a change every second year in moderate climates, and an annual change in the tropics.”
As well as this, from the same article – “Here’s a comment from my Australian buddy Mal, on last year’s reposting of this article – Earlier this year, my computer started beeping at me. It was an alarm to say “I’m overheating”. I took off the cover and cleaned out all the dust, which was everywhere. When I turned it back on, the temp dropped 30 degrees Celsius. No wonder the machine was screaming at me.”
It’s amazing how a small thing like thermal paste can make such a huge difference, huh? And, in the long run – save a bundle of dough. 🙂
Best,
Bill
Lol Bill,
Of course, sometimes I forget that you have posted on a particular subject. Maybe I should have come here first, probably would have saved a few hairs from falling out of my sparse head. But yep, you are right, $6.95 for a tube of thermal paste compared to a new computer? The choice is not hard.
Cheers
Hey Mal,
It’s funny how often you and I are in lockstep. Less than two weeks ago, I had the identical experience. Get out of my head. 🙂
Best,
Bill
thanks Bill
Hey Billy Roy,
Glad you found it useful.
Bill