2006

BOOT CAMP ARCHIVE 2006

BOOT CAMP 405 (03/01/06)

PC RESCUE part 3

In the first two parts of this series we looked at how to create a PC ‘rescue’ disc using, Knoppix a version of the Linux operating system (OS). It boots from a CD and allowing you to revive a dead PC so you can continue working, retrieve files, open documents and so on.

We now turn our attention to creating a more specialised rescue disc that can also help to recover files and more, including diagnose and repair faults to the Windows operating system. Bart PE Builder (PE stands for Preinstalled Environment) is freeware and it’s a compact 32 bit OS that runs on Windows 2000 and XP machines.

It is based on Windows components and like Knoppix boots directly from a CD but it’s also small enough (around 160Mb) to fit on a USB pen drive. Once it is running you can access and edit files stored on your hard disc, including important system files like the Registry that may have become corrupted, preventing Windows from loading.

Bart PE features a simple graphical user interface with network, FAT, NTFS and CDFS file system support. It’s also a good way to test new or home built PCs, without having to load Windows. Although it contains elements of Windows Microsoft naturally will have nothing to do with it so read the notices and disclaimers on the Bart PE website.

To get started you will need a couple of things the most important of which are a Windows PC with a CD/DVD writer and your Windows XP installation disc. Now this is where it gets a little tricky. The Windows installation disc needs to be the most recent version, which includes Service Pack 2 (SP2). The chances are you won’t have one unless you’ve bought a PC within the last few months. That means you have to create an integrated copy of XP and SP2 on your PC. This process is called ‘Slipstreaming’ and it’s a useful thing to do in any case because it means if you ever need to re-install Windows on a PC you won’t need to go to the bother of loading Windows and SP2 all over again.

Slipstreaming is actually quite easy but rather than run through the procedure just follow the excellent tutorial on Paul Thurrott’s web site. The basic steps are to copy the contents of your Windows CD to a folder on your PCs hard drive, download the Network Install version of SP2 and then combine the two. The article then goes on to explain how to produce a bootable Slipstreamed Windows XP installation CD, which I suggest that you do as well (see also this week’s Top Tip).

After slipstreaming you will end up with a folder on your PC, called XP, containing the XP and SP2 files. Now you can download the Bart PE creator program; this link will take you to a list of sites hosting the file, select one of the UK or US sites close to the top of the list. The pebuilder313.exe file is only around 2.8Mb so you could use a dial-up connection.

Once downloading is complete click on the file icon and follow the prompts to start installation. The Bart PE dialogue window opens, use the Browse box (the one with 3 dots) to locate your slipstreamed copy of XP, pop in a blank CD, tick the ‘Create ISO image’ and ‘Burn to CD’ boxes. If you are using a CD/RW disc also check the ‘Erase CDRW box. Make sure that your CD/DVD writer drive has been selected and click the ‘Build’ button. You will be asked to agree to the Windows XP Licence, click OK and the file extraction and burning process begins. When it has finished remove and label the CD.

Now you have your Bart PE disc you should test it out so pop it into the drive and switch on your PC (see part 2 regarding booting from a CD drive). After a brief appearance of the Windows XP loading screen the Bart PE desktop appears and it attempts to log onto your network, if you have one. Incidentally Bart PE will also boot whilst Windows is running, which could prove useful in some circumstances.

The desktop has a single Go button, which works like the Windows Start button, opening a series of sub-menus. Much of what Bart PE can do is only of interest to engineers but there are plenty of useful utilities and tools for non-expert users on the Programs and System menus. These include WordPad, Paint and Calculator and A43 File Manager. The latter closely resembles Windows Explorer and provides access to all of the data stored on your PCs hard, CD/DVD, floppy and USB drives.

Typical maintenance tasks include copying files to a floppy or another PC on a network. You can open ‘msconfig’ from Run on the Go menu, edit the Registry, change passwords, recover deleted files, you can even access the web through a network using Firefox and Internet Explorer.

You can also adjust the screen resolution, adjust mouse settings, set date and time, open Windows Accessibility options and Task Manager, create or delete disc partitions, check the hard drive for errors and open a DOS like Command Prompt Window.

That’s just a taste of what it can do and there is plenty of information on the web about Bart PE and to get you started here are some links to sites with free plug-ins and guides to using it for specific tasks:

Remove Malware

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/pebuildertutorial

Data Recovery

http://www.runtime.org/peb.htm

Registry Editing

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/peboot.htm

Acronis True Image Plug-in for Bart PE

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/bartpe/

Free Plug-ins for BART PE

http://www.bootcd.us/BartPE_Plugins_Category/free/

NEXT WEEK - Tweak UI for XP

JARGON FILTER

CD-R/RW

Compact Disc Read/Write, disc that can be recorded on and erased many times

DOS

Disc Operating System -- simplified operating system responsible for controlling a PC’s disc drives, organising data and memory resources.

NTFS

New Technology File System -- used by Windows 2000 and XP

TOP TIP

Slipstreaming is a handy way of integrating Windows with the latest updates or Service Packs and creating a ‘one-shot’ installation disc. Just follow the simple instructions on Paul Thurrott’s site, however, Step 4, extracting a file from the Windows installation CD seems to cause a lot of users problems. If you follow the steps precisely you may find that the ISOBuster program cannot locate the Microsoft Corporation.img file on the disc. It does work but the trick is to click the Refresh button and this will correctly display the contents of the CD.