Boot to CD-ROM and Run Diagnostic Tools

Contributed by AlexTheBeast June 16, 2004  
Tagged: Windows

Quick review of easy methods for booting to a CD-ROM and running common diagnostic tools.

If you have ever had a master boot record or boot.ini file get corrupted, you have felt the pain of being unable to boot into windows.

Do you have the 20 floppy discs with all the diagnostic tools you need? Of course not… so here is a brief list of boot options. These tools will save your behind. Most of these options will allow you to copy files to another harddrive or across a network if your hard drive is still functional.

You will probably need to first enter your bios and change your boot order to boot from your CD-ROM first.

1. XP Disc

Many people do not know that the XP disc is bootable. Once this boots you may either install/reinstall windows or open the recovery console. From the recovery console you can run chkdsk, fixboot, fixmbr, and some partition tools. Typing help from the command line will give you your options.

2. Ultimate Boot CD

Download and burn this iso from http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ and you will have access to the majority of popular floppy-based diagnostic tools! Boot discs, partition tools, partition managers, diagnostics, cloning tools, hard disk manipulators/installers, NTFS readers, and more are included in this life-saving iso. I have used this version for my windows systems but a windows-specific cousin of this idea is available at http://www.windowsubcd.com/ as well.

3. KNOPPIX

For those who know linux, why not just boot into an OS from your CD-ROM. Knoppix is a live bootable CD that will load linux and multiple other tools. This collection is a perfect emergency tool for those running linux-based systems… or those who are familiar with this OS. Knoppix is available here. Other collections of linux live ISOs also exist.