Ultimate Repair Tool

[enorbet2]

Greetz

If you don;t have it already you need to get Hirens Boot CD. The boot menu offers three modes

1) Memtest86 - very thorough ram stick testing and benching

 

2) Dos based tools - including low level hard drive diagnostics, repair and recovery; partitioning tools that handle almost all modern file systems and can recover lost partitions; pro level drive imaging and backup and recovery; many more

 

3) MiniXP - a Gooey Desktop environment that is much faster and more effective than Barts PE having numerous tools including on-the-fly internet updateable anti virus and anti malware, Easus partition manager (excellent for Win 7) password recovery/discovery/change tools, registry and boot recovery, and much much more

 

This is just a hint of the awesome tools on this CD. Complete list here

 

Hiren's BootCD 10.6 and All Other Versions - HTTP Download

 

Free downloads are out there

Enjoy

[alexander]

I'm glad that i don't have windows machines anymore, i must say, it's such a relief to not have to worry about this kind of stuff anymore B)

 

Looks like a pretty good tool set, just dont like the hating on BartPE, he figured out how to make a bootable winxp cd, that everyone, MiniXP included follows, so...

[enorbet2]

Hey! Don't knock those windoze boxen. They provide me with an income B) I don't see how I was hating on Bart. I think he is brilliant.

 

Incidentally as I'm sure you already know, most of those tools are useful regardless of OpSys. However it wouldn't be very "ultimate" if it didn't also address the majority of problems that are inherently Windoze related.

 

BTW alexander did you try out Slax Remix from the other thread?

[alexander]

why would you use dos based tools or minixp to fix anything but a windows-based system, lol... No i didnt try slax remix, lol i really haven't had the time, i'll throw it into vmware at some point over the week, give it a go....

[enorbet2]

why would you use dos based tools or minixp to fix anything but a windows-based system, lol... No i didnt try slax remix, lol i really haven't had the time, i'll throw it into vmware at some point over the week, give it a go....

 

Greetz

Well I suppose that's a reasonable question that deserves a reasonable answer. Many of the DOS based utilities are simply to diagnose, benchmark and repair hardware,

 

For example Memtest86+ of course tests ram. There are deep level hdd diags, backup and recovery tools for example that have nothing to do with OpSys.

 

There are partition manipulation and recovery tools that work with every major file system including ext3, reiser etc, that have advanced features not found in GParted

 

I don;t suppose you've looked at FreeDOS recently but it handles FireWire, USB, raid, and advanced networking and is full of bash commands, It is by no means for ancient boxen only and fully capable of working with modern hardware and as a single user environment, safe and powerful for hardware and other deep level work, including BIOS tools obviously OpSys independent in their usefulness and power.

 

Instead of me rattling on here is a complete list of the most recent boot CD

 

Hiren's BootCD 10.6

 

There are several related video clips on YouTube

 

 

Bottom Line if you ever work on systems whether yours or others you can benefit from this amazing "Swiss Army Knife". though it may be controversial in a possibly eye-patch sort of way. Har! :)

[alexander]

aah, with the only logic flaw there being that memtest is a linux-based utility :) .... and i usually recover hard drives through live cds, like the one made by belgian federal computer crime unit, or the always handy system rescue cd, or just wonderful open-source tools available in linux for serious data recovery (photorec, foremost, ddrescue, testdisk, ntfsprogs, sleuth kit, autopsy).

 

And as far as freedos, i have looked at it, great tool for building your own bios update disks, most companies still don't provide you with bootable cds to flash bios, and all their bios utils run in windows.

 

I'm not saying this live cd is not useful, just not as useful to someone who doesn't use windows, it is useful to someone who has to work on fixing windows machines fairly often, i may not like windows, but that doesn't mean i don't know or have to frequently fix it...

[enorbet2]

OK I'll play along for awhile :)

 

aah, with the only logic flaw there being that memtest is a linux-based utility :) ....

 


How is this a flaw in logic? Isn't that statement a non sequiter in itself? While I could have given credit where credit is deserved do you propose that I should have mentioned that DOS came from CPM? Memtest has long been available for many systems. The fact remains that the one on this CD is for DOS which doesn't make it better or worse, just different under the hood. It still goes. To characterize that as a "logic flaw" just reveals your agenda to diminish if not discredit either the idea or it's authors. It's not going to happen. Hiren is (and I am as well) on entirely solid ground here.

 

and i usually recover hard drives through live cds, like the one made by belgian federal computer crime unit, or the always handy system rescue cd, or just wonderful open-source tools available in linux for serious data recovery (photorec, foremost, ddrescue, testdisk, ntfsprogs, sleuth kit, autopsy)

 

 

That's cool and I too prefer OpenSource tools however this is all that and more on a single CD that anyone interested can download, burn and boot in minutes. Hundreds of problems for millions of people can be fixed with it. That seems both sufficient and necessary to me to qualify as useful as well as convenient.

 

 

And as far as freedos, i have looked at it, great tool for building your own bios update disks, most companies still don't provide you with bootable cds to flash bios, and all their bios utils run in windows.

 

Here again you seem to want to tie this into old technolgy with extremely limited application and diminish and discredit. This seems a failure to fully comprehend the scope of truly deep computer work.

 

One exampe beyond merely updating a BIOS image with a OEM provided update is that it comes with "modbin" where one can customize and unhide features seemingly unavailable from stock. Furthermore it comes with MASM, Link, and Debug and essentially every other major programming build environment with which one can write one's own BIOS given the skilz and desire or write direct-to-disk or any chip on the mobo, incluidng peripherals like the Video subsystem. FreeDOS is neither old nor severely limited and weak.

 

I'm not saying this live cd is not useful, just not as useful to someone who doesn't use windows, it is useful to someone who has to work on fixing windows machines fairly often, i may not like windows, but that doesn't mean i don't know or have to frequently fix it...

 

I don't know about you but when I graduated to "pneumatic tools" I didn't throw away my "box wrenches and screwdrivers". I try to use the best and most readily available tools to suit the job.

 

Since Windows has a (extremely regrettable) 90+ % market share and since a conservtive 70% of Linux users dual boot and 100% of PC users have affected hardware, and since this single CD has a huge diverstiy of powerful, even professional, tools that can fix hundreds of situations, even catastrophic failures, I contend that it is entirely logical (approaching self-evident to an open mind) that Hirens Boot CD qualifies as a useful tool that virtually eveybody with a PC can use and find invaluable. Data Recovery alone is worth a lot of money, time and effort, not to mention stress and worry.

 

Defense rests.

[alexander]

Hmm, well i really didn't want to get into a debate, but since you insist.

Isn't that statement a non sequiter in itself?

now you are not making any sense

Many of the DOS based utilities are simply to diagnose, benchmark and repair hardware, For example Memtest86+ of course tests ram.

You were talking about dos-based tools for diagnosing hardware issues, and you give great tool as an example, memtest, which is a linux-based tool, lol...

 

While I could have given credit where credit is deserved do you propose that I should have mentioned that DOS came from CPM

nope, merely pointing out something that didn't feel right

 

That's cool and I too prefer OpenSource tools however this is all that and more on a single CD that anyone interested can download, burn and boot in minutes.

As opposed to hundreds of other live cds that can't be downloaded, burnt and booted in minutes?

 

Ok, before i continue, you seem to be missing something i said, I am not trying to prove that the cd isn't valuable or that people should not use it, hell i will use it for sure next time i gotta fix someone's virus-infested, spyware and adware encrusted machine that takes 20 minutes to boot because of all the software that starts at boot time that the people never use, that's not touching fragmentation, oh the NTFS wonderfulness; I will most definitely use this CD, it seems pretty awesome to reign down some major fixage and help some people actually be productive or whatever it is they do with their computers...

 

Hundreds of problems for millions of people can be fixed with it.

Already saying goodbye to world hunger *duck* (sorry, lol living up to my title, thats it)

 

Here again you seem to want to tie this into old technology with extremely limited application and diminish and discredit

You commented that i haven't looked at freedos lately, i said that i did and described what i used it for, never did i say it was the only application of FreeDOS.

 

Furthermore it comes with MASM

I love NASM, while i cant say that i have any experience with MASM, i'm imagining its pretty much a windows-oriented Microsoft-extended assembly compiler, that's pretty fun...

 

build environment with which one can write one's own BIOS

I love the bold, honestly, its a nice touch psychologically, looks like great complicated voodoo that people are supposed to go "OOoooh, wooow, can't touch that, that's way too complicated". And i mean to most people a BIOS is a magical black box that they can barely comprehend the workings of (for those of you who are, a brief introduction to it here: http://www.howstuffworks.com/bios.htm )

 

Well the usefulness of that for the millions of people you are talking about is highly arguable, and while i know a few people who are capable of writing a BIOS, well not necessarily a bios in what most people think bios is, but firmware for some hardware platform, people capable, because they write micro-controller code at least fairly frequently myself included there, or people who have written firmware, most notable, probably Dragorn; i doubt that the majority of the population, even if you just take technology-savvy people, a tiny sub-group; i would still say that the vast majority of them would not be able to share that they know people who actually write firmware (and i discount writing code for micro-controllers to run robots, and stuff like that, i mean actual firmware, like for wireless routers, or cameras, and such. Alternately ofcourse i know people who frequently decompile and reverse-engineer firmware...

 

And as a side-note, none of these people use freedos, or any live environment for that matter to work with the firmware, lol, no reason to, write it in your comfortable development environment, or dump the firmware off the controller and comfortably run their decompile tools on it while finishing up an episode of stargate universe that they are streaming from their mythtv box... even people who fuzz hardware work in their comfortable custom-catered environments, why in the world go through a boot cd if all the tools you need to fuzz against hardware are already installed on your system...?

 

I don't know about you but when I graduated to "pneumatic tools" I didn't throw away my "box wrenches and screwdrivers".

Because i actually wrench quite often, i have 2 motorcycles that like to take a bit of my time sometimes when i drop them, i have not "graduated" to pneumatic tools.

 

But going where you were actually going with that, yeah, i always tell people to use the right tool for the job, and that is why i built a ton of custom bartpe disks, and why i would use and recommend using Hiren's Boot CD when it's appropriate. I still maintain that i have less use for it for my boxes, then most people, and that i will most definitely use it when i need to work on some windows box or something. I most likely wont use it if i have to do data recovery, because, well honestly there are much better tools available for the job, they happen to be Open-Source and run on a linux-live cd, which is what i prefer, given a choice between comparable tools, and to me they are a no-brainer (that is not to say that they don't require knowing what you are doing) better tool for the job.

[C1ay]

I feel inclined to ask, what makes this "the" ultimate repair tool as opposed to just another repair tool? What makes it more ultimate than any other or the combination of it with any other?

[enorbet2]

I feel inclined to ask, what makes this "the" ultimate repair tool as opposed to just another repair tool? What makes it more ultimate than any other or the combination of it with any other?

 

That is certainly a fair question. I think it is because I work on PCs and routinely search for Live CDs that contain a wide variety of tools. Until I found Hirens I carted along a powered SATA drive enclosure with a Plextor SATA DVD burner and a 500G hdd with a Slackware system and loads of free space for backups. With Hirens loaded on a 32G USB stick I can carry in my shirt pocket I have all those tools and more in 3 environments since I added Slax Remix to the boot menu.

 

While I didn't mention Slax it is for a good and simple reason - in over a year and countless repairs I haven't needed it. The sheer number of and diversity of quality tools in one place is why I consider it "Ultimate". If there is another LiveCD that has as many or even more with less duplication I;d really like to know about it.

 

Ultimately one should peruse the list and determine if that seems "ultimate" for you. Just take a quick look and decide for yourself

 

Hiren's BootCD 10.6

 

I certainly have nothing to gain form it beyond the limited possibility that someone will post "Gee thanks, You helped me salvage my PC and/or mucho dinero".

 

Frankly, while your post was more neutral, I don't understand all the negativity for what is intended as a gift with which you can do what you will.

[C1ay]

Just had to ask since I would want to add some stuff to it and doing so would mean it wasn't "ultimate" to begin with. Nothing against it, I just wouldn't call it ultimate.

[enorbet2]

Just had to ask since I would want to add some stuff to it and doing so would mean it wasn't "ultimate" to begin with. Nothing against it, I just wouldn't call it ultimate.

 

I can hardly believe we are reduced to arguing semantics on a Science Forum, but OK.

From the Online Webster Dictionary

 

Ultimate - 1 a : most remote in space or time : farthest b : last in a progression or series : final <their ultimate destination was Paris> c : eventual 2 <they hoped for ultimate success> d : the best or most extreme of its kind : utmost <the ultimate sacrifice>

 

1a obviously doesn't apply and is more an example of usage than a definition and has no effect either + or -

 

1b applies but only has relevance introducing the dynamic qualifier of time as a factor, in that what was ultimate yesterday may be altered or improved upon later

 

1c doesn;t apply since it already exists, but doesn't rule out

 

1d Bingo! Unless you know of another compilation of such tools readily available, "of it's kind", then it seems it does fit the definition of "Ultimate". That you or anyone else would add to it is irrelevant, at the very least until someone does and makes that available. Of course that assumes you or anyone else accomplishes this before the next version is out, and replaces it as the Ultimate PC Repair Tool Suite.

 

Bottom line is that it can be subjective if there even are any runners up since one person may think the McLaren is the Ultimate Auto while others vote for the Koennigsegg or the Tesla. At least in that field there is stiff competition. .

 

Regards

[C1ay]

1d Bingo! Unless you know of another compilation of such tools readily available, "of it's kind", then it seems it does fit the definition of "Ultimate".

 

;) It doesn't matter if I know of another compilation or not, if one exists then this one is not "the ultimate". By using that descriptor you are saying one does not exist and it is your burden to prove that, not mine.