[Techtalk] NTFS Linux rescue disk?

[Gretchen Dziengel]

On 1/25/06, Chris Booth <chris at gn.apc.org> wrote:
> You might want to check out the BartPE disk (http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/).
> It's something similar to Knoppix and the other Linux live CDs, expect that
> it boots to a cut down version of *Windows*. That includes the native
> Microsoft NTFS drivers, so you'll have no problems with read and write access.
>
> You will need to borrow a Windows CD from somewhere though - what's on the
> site is a tool to build the disk, rather than pre-built disk images (since
> of course it's not allowed to redistribute the Windows files themselves).
> You can customise the disk with all sorts of plug-in tools depending on the
> particular nature of your problem.

For those of us that have to admin windows, this tool can be a
lifesaver.  I've used it many times to eliminate spyware and restore
registries after they become corrupted.  I've made one with our Norton
Ghost client on it so I can image computers without floppies.

However if you don't need NTFS write support most up to date Linux
Live CDs have NTFS read support.  One trick I've used when I only need
to pull data off a drive is to boot to Knoppix and then share the
files out over samba.  You'll want to check the security settings, if
I remember right, the defaults weren't very secure.

Good Luck!

Gretchen