Uber Geeks > General Computer & Tech Talk

Rescuing or troubleshooting from a USB drive

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Posted By:

blip

08/21/07

Posted In: Uber Geeks > General Computer & Tech Talk

I would like to make a rescue or troubleshooting USB drive that I can take with me to help friends and family with their computer problems. It would also be handy to have around just in case my computer craps out on me too. What programs do you guys recommend that would be useful for such a case and would fit on a USB drive?

3 Replies

jrparri

08/28/07

[reply]

[+3] Helpful?

I have just such a thing - I prefer Knoppix (http://www.knoppix.org/) on CD, but in case a CD drive isn't available I have a USB that boots it also. You can google knoppix usb boot and find numerous walk throughs (it's not difficult). I also highly recommend http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ .. there is a script on this page that makes it USB bootable. Don't leave home without it.

blip

08/28/07

[reply]

[+1] Helpful?

Topic Owner

Thanks jrparri... I'm working with windows systems so the ultimate boot cd looks like it should work perfectly.

Their site says "A script on the CD prepares your USB memory stick so that it can be used on newer machines that supports booting from USB devices. You can access the same tools as you would from the CD version." So that should help. And it looks like they've got a lot of good recommendations for extra utilities to help fix stuff too.

But one more question... do you know if it's possible to make your USB drive non-writable? I was reading somewhere that the downside of using a USB drive for troubleshooting is that any viruses that may have caused the computer to fail in the first place could infect the USB drive and then obviously infect any other machine you plug it in to.

jrparri

08/29/07

[reply]

[+1] Helpful?

This is an interesting question. There is a way to make USBs in general read-only on one machine, but it is not so easy to make the USB itself read-only. This happens by mistake sometimes, and it's a bugger to fix. I'm not sure how to do it intentionally, however. But don't give up, I believe it is possible. Some usbs actually have read-only partitions on them (like that dang U3 thing on some pny models). There may be a way to exploit this or re-create it. Would require a bit more research.

However, it may not be an issue, as UBCD uses a linux dos-type os when it boots. Unless you plug it into a machine without rebooting first, the chances of being infected are pretty slim.

Let me know what you find out, I'm intrigued now ^_~