Create the ultimate recovery disc

Think recovery and Windows XP's Recovery Console comes to mind. But as recovery environments go, it's not the best. There's the distinctly unfriendly command-line interface. You're also limited in which folders you can access, never mind external and removable drives or your CD burner. Very few programs will run through the Recovery Console. Oh, and you've got no network or Internet access either.

   This feature reveals how to create a recovery CD that's everything the Recovery Console is not: it has a point-and-click interface similar to Windows' own. You can access any removable drive for data recovery purposes, including - with the help of additional plug-ins - your CD or DVD burner. Then there's full network and Internet access if you add the right drivers, enabling you to troubleshoot a problem or download the latest virus updates before scanning your system.

   And that's not all: this recovery disc is supported by hundreds of plug-ins covering well-known tools, apps and drivers, enabling you to create the perfect recovery disc for your PC. Better still, the BartPE (Bart's Preinstalled Environment) recovery disc - named after its author, Bart Lagerweij - is completely free. All you need are your Windows XP installation files, some free downloads and access to a CD or DVD burner.


About BartPE

BartPE contains all the files you need on the CD itself. Nothing is written to hard disk - instead BartPE creates a RAM disk for files that need to be altered during use. It's built using a tool called PEBuilder that pulls your plug-ins and the Windows installation files together to create your recovery disc, which you boot from in case of disaster.

   BartPE includes all the basic drivers you need, giving you access to a wide range of display resolutions as well as all of your internal and USB/Firewire-attached storage devices, including flash drives. It also includes a generic wired network device driver, which should give you access to your network - whether other PCs on your network or the Internet itself.

   There's also a special driver pack you can download that supports a wide range of wireless and wired networking devices - note, however, that if your network uses WPA-PSK encryption, you won't be able to access it with your BartPE disc. Need SATA, RAID or modem drivers? We'll reveal how to get all these too.
 

Limitations

Because BartPE works exclusively from CD, it's not the quickest, so don't think of it as a viable alternative to Windows itself. Also, because it uses your Windows installation files you're tied by your Windows licensing agreement. As the sole licensed user of your operating system you can't legally use BartPE on one machine while running the version of Windows you sourced the files from on another.

   In most cases this shouldn't be an issue: the BartPE recovery disc is designed for your own personal use on your own personal PC in times of disaster, so in theory it should only run when you can't load Windows itself anyway. This is how we envisage you'll use it in most cases.
 

Getting started

We'll start by creating your basic disc, with all the drivers you need to access your hard drives and the Internet, whether it's through a modem or your wired or wireless network connection. We'll then show you how to compile, burn and use your disc. Once you've got that working, we'll show you how to add extra tools, applications and other useful additions - for free of course - to your disc.

   It enables you to use your disc for more than just troubleshooting: imagine you're catching up on some work ahead of a vital presentation when Windows suddenly crashes, and won't boot up again. Your presentation and notes are suddenly inaccessible and your job could very well be on the line. You don't have time to troubleshoot the problem right now, but once again your BartPE disc can come to the rescue, enabling you to not only recover your data, but work on it directly from the disc while maintaining Internet access.

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