Friday, June 19, 2009

BartPE & Portable Apps - Computer Life Raft

Now that I've gotten my monthly "how the hell my client screwed up ANOTHER computer" rant out of my system, I just wanted to list my usual computer rescue kit.

First is BartPE, which enables you to make a Windows XP base preinstalled environment, which you can boot into from a CD. When a Windows system isn't working, I can boot it up with this CD, and run apps to clean it up or rescue data. I usually rely on a generic USB drive loaded with such great portable apps (they run right off of the USB drive, without having to install on the hard drive) as...USB Pen Drive

If you hunt around, there are also a ton of password recovery tools, Windows key extractors, registry editors, notepads, file editors, FTP clients & servers, and utilities for just about any job. You can load a ton of them on a 1+ GB USB drive, in case you need 'em. I periodically update the antivirus and browsers, to the latest versions, and I keep the drive and boot CDs in a safe spot. They've rescued many computers, on the brink of death, with very little muss or fuss. There's only a few rare cases when these fail, and I have to I roll up my sleeves, break out a Linux PE and get my hands dirty.
Cross-posted on my LiveJournal - BartPE & Portable Apps - Computer Life Raft

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