Here are some Bootable CDs and Diagnostic Tools CDs that I've found and am experimenting with myself. Some of them are strictly another Operating System, such a Linux, and others are mainly used for diagnosing hardware, software and Security problems and Data Recovery.
Please pay attention to the fact most of these are large downloads, 600+MB, because they are either ISO files or Zip files that include an ISO file. Most burnable CDs can hold between 650MB to 700MB worth of data.
Where possible, I will list the included tools/files/programs. More than likely I'll be copying quotes directly from the web site's description of the CDs themselves.
Please also note that I have a few of these tools available for separate download elsewhere on my site.
Commercial software costs money, Freeware does not.
AskTheGeek article - How to make a bootable thumb drive virus scanner for NTFS - My latest Kool Tekkie Tool (KTT, pronounced "kit") comprises a thumb drive made bootable with :datapol:'s NTFS4DOS; the latest version (3.16b) of FRISK Software International's F-Prot Antivirus for DOS is run from the command line. Both of these utilities are free for personal use, but require payment if you plan to use them in a commercial setting: NTFS4DOS is only $25; F-prot is $29 for a 20-user license.* 12/12/2005
AUSTRUMI is a business card size (50MB) bootable Live CD Linux distribution. Imagine the ability to boot your favorite Linux distribution whether you are at home, at school or at work.*
Please check the web site as The Programs List is continuously changing. Freeware
Bart's Boot Disks and Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD - If you ever have to recover files from an unbootable drive or try to bring a dead PC back to life, here's a free, zero-footprint tool you shouldn't be without, Fred Langa says. It's a self-contained, CD-based "live" copy of Windows XP. Like the popular "live CD" versions of Linux that can run entirely from a CD-ROM without installing anything, on to making any changes to a system's hard drive, "BartPE" (Bart's Preinstalled Environment) gives you a version of XP that you can boot and run on just about any PC without altering anything on the system itself.
From Bart's web site itself, "Bart's PE Builder helps you build a "BartPE" (Bart Preinstalled Environment) bootable Windows CD-Rom or DVD from the original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD, very suitable for PC maintenance tasks.
It will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support. Very handy for burn-in testing systems with no OS, rescuing files to a network share, virus scan and so on.
This will replace any Dos bootdisk in no time!
PE Builder is not a Microsoft product and does not create Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment ("WinPE"). Using PE Builder does not grant you a license to Microsoft WinPE or to use the Windows XP or Server 2003 binaries in a manner other than stated in the End-User License Agreement included in your version of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. Microsoft has not reviewed or tested PE Builder and does not endorse its use."* 08/09/2005 Freeware
BootDisk.com - Numerous DOS, Windows and Linux Boot Disks. Another MUST SEE site! 10/16/2005 Freeware
Emergency Boot CD (EBCD) is a bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults. It is able to create backup copies of normally working system and restore system to saved state. It contains the best system software ever created, properly compiled and configured for the maximum efficient use.
You may download image builder utility which creates image of bootable CD-ROM (.ISO file), plus basic set of system tools. When the image is ready, write it to CD-R or CD-RW, and then everytime you'll need convenient and powerful system tools they'll be just at hand.
It is easy to customize the disk for your needs. You can include to CD any program you like, or remake the structure of CD completely. All you need is to change a few lines in configuration XML files.
EBCD will be very useful when you need to:
Also the disk includes full set of external DOS commands, console versions of the most popular archivers/compressors.
Moreover, emergency boot CD includes minimal Linux distribution (Rescue Linux distribution) which may be very useful to a professional user.* 09/17/2004 Freeware
Winternals ERD Commander - When your server or workstation won't boot, you need ERD Commander 2005 - ERD Commander 2005 boots dead systems directly from CD into a Windows-like environment. You'll have full access to the dead system's volumes, so you can diagnose and repair problems using tools located on the ERD Commander 2005 Start menu. And you'll have built-in network access to safely move data off of, or on to, the dead system. The Locksmith utility allows you to quickly reset the Administrator password on locked-out systems. With ERD Commander 2005 you can repair a system quickly and easily, saving you time and rescuing your critical data.* Description Updated 10/16/2005 Commercial
F.I.R.E. - is a portable bootable cdrom based distribution with the goal of providing an immediate environment to perform forensic analysis, incident response, data recovery, virus scanning and vulnerability assessment.
Also provides necessary tools for live forensics/analysis on win32, sparc solaris and x86 linux hosts just by mounting the cdrom and using trusted static binaries available in /statbins.
196 Available Packages
Base OS
Forensics/Data Recovery
Incident Response
Pen-Test
Static Linked Binary
Virus Scanning
Note: some packages have multiple uses and will be listed more than once.
Not all packages input yet...*
Now this is truly a Diagnostic CD! As of today, the download size is 578MB! 03/16/2004 Freeware
Inside Security Rescue Toolkit (INSERT) - INSERT is a complete, bootable linux system. It comes with a graphical user interface running the fluxbox window manager while still being sufficiently small to fit on a credit card-sized CD-ROM.* 12/12/2005 Freeware
KNOPPIX is a bootable Live system on CD or DVD, consisting of a representative collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a productive Linux system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it (over 8GB on the DVD "Maxi" edition).* Description Updated 10/16/2005 Freeware
Computer First Aid Using Knoppix - By Cedric Shock and Susan Sullivan - These instructions were written using Knoppix version 3.7.
Windows just crashed. The computer won't boot back up. Those "System Recovery Disks" that came with your computer will erase all of your data. In most cases, when Windows breaks and will not start up again, none of your data has been lost, you just don't have a way to get to it. These instructions are a way of getting to your data when Windows won't work. If these instructions fail to recover your data, don't panic; even in cases of physically damaged drives, reformatted drives, and accidentally deleted files, professional data recovery companies typically have a 95 to 98% success rate.
I can not provide complete step by step instructions for all of the methods covered because they depend on your computer's setup, so in places you may need to know a little about your own computer. For this reason, it might be helpful to find the manuals, documentation, and disks that came with your computer and any documentation provided by your internet service provider or information about your network. These are certainly not required, but may be helpful.* 01/09/2006
Knoppix-STD - STD is a Linux-based Security Tool. Actually, it is a collection of hundreds if not thousands of open source security tools. It's a Live Linux Distro, which means it runs from a bootable CD in memory without changing the native operating system of the host computer. Its sole purpose in life is to put as many security tools at your disposal with as slick an interface as it can.
STD is meant to be used by both novice and professional security personnel but is not ideal for the Linux uninitiated. STD assumes you know the basics of Linux as most of your work will be done from the command line. If you are completely new to Linux, it's best you start with another live Distro like Knoppix to practice the basics (see faq).
STD tools are divided into the following categories (see the STD Tools section for details):*
Basically it's the same as Knoppix, but with more actual security tools included. Description Updated: 10/16/2005 Freeware
PCLinuxOS is one of the world’s up and coming providers of a Linux Desktop Solution. With a small but dedicated development team, PClinuxOS delivers Desktop Ready Software that harnesses the power of the Open Source Community.
PCLinuxOS Preview .91 is an English only self-booting live cd that runs entirely from a bootable CD without installing anything on your computer. Data on the CD is uncompressed on the fly allowing up to 2 GB of programs on one CD including a complete Xserver, KDE 3.4.1 Desktop, Open Office 1.1.4, Thunderbird 1.0.2, Firefox 1.0.4, p2p filesharing and much more, all preconfigured and ready to use!
In addition to the livecd mode, you can also install PCLinuxOS to your hard drive using our easy to use livecd installer, assuming you like PCLinuxOS and it runs well on your computer.
PCLinuxOS is currently under heavy development and should be considered beta software. PCLinuxOS should work on most modern hardware and comes with advanced hardware detection. PCLinuxOS runs best on computers with at least 256 megabytes of memory.*
Obviously another Linux OS on a bootable CD, but with LOTS more included! Description Updated 10/16/2005 Freeware
The ReactOS® project is dedicated to making Free Software available to everyone by providing a ground-up implementation of a Microsoft Windows® XP compatible operating system. ReactOS aims to achieve complete binary compatibility with both applications and device drivers meant for NT and XP operating systems, by using a similar architecture and providing a complete and equivalent public interface.
Although Free Software advocates agree that free software operating systems improve the state of the art by fostering competition, ReactOS has practical benefit for others, too; ReactOS is the most complete working model of a Windows® like operating system available. Consequently, working programmers will learn a great deal by studying ReactOS source code and even participating in ReactOS development.
ReactOS components are growing more and more compatibile with equivalent, closed source alternatives, but ReactOS doesn't simply stop at an arbitrary line in the sand. ReactOS has and will continue to incorporate new versions of the Win32 API and so will track and sometimes even define the state of the art in operating system technology. Rather than using current technology as a limit on our activities, we are constantly incorporating features from newer versions as well.
In short, ReactOS is aiming to run your applications and use your hardware! Finally, a FOSS operating system for everyone!* 12/12/2005 Freeware
SystemRescueCD - SystemRescueCd is a linux system on a bootable cdrom for repairing your system and your data after a crash. It also aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system utilities (parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic ones (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It aims to be very easy to use: just boot from the cdrom, and you can do everything. The kernel of the system supports most important file systems (ext2/ext3, reiserfs, reiser4, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs, iso9660), and network ones (samba and nfs).* 05/19/2006
TheOpenCD - TheOpenCD is a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software. The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation. We include only the highest quality programs, which have been carefully tested for stability and which we consider appropriate for a wide audience.* 04/10/2006 Freeware
Bill Webb reviews this CD on LockerGnome's Windows Fanatics: The Open CD - I’ve been playing around with a software distro called The Open CD. If you’re interested in Open Source, or perhaps in alternatives to the usual software applications, it’s a learning experience and resource that you shouldn’t pass up.* 04/10/2006
Ubuntu - Ubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. It is developed by a large community and we invite you to participate too!
The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Philosophy: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.
These freedoms make Ubuntu fundamentally different from traditional proprietary software: not only are the tools you need available free of charge, you have the right to modify your software until it works the way you want it to.
Ubuntu is suitable for both desktop and server use. The current Ubuntu release supports PC (Intel x86), 64-bit PC (AMD64), Sun UltraSPARC and T1 (Sun Fire T1000 and T2000), PowerPC (Apple iBook, Powerbook, G4 and G5) and OpenPower (Power5) architectures.
Ubuntu includes more than 16,000 pieces of software, but the core desktop installation fits on a single CD. Ubuntu covers every standard desktop application from word processing and spreadsheet applications to web server software and programming tools. Read more about Ubuntu on the desktop and Ubuntu on the server.* 04/10/2006 Freeware
Ultimate Boot CD - You need the Ultimate Boot CD if you want to:
with questions or comments about this web site.
|