Recommendation for a 'live' system

[jpg153]

Hi,

my brothers laptop (Vista on a Toshiba) is stalled and corrupted - probably a virus/trojan.

What would be the best "live" distro - either CD or USB-stick - to save the files he needs before he will format the drive(s)?
He is a complete Linux newbie and I think he even doesnot know the DOS command prompt...so it must be a very easy system...
Thanks for recommendations!

[gapan]

Any live distribution would do. You could try slax, it uses kde3. But really any distribution would do, give him ubuntu, maybe he'll find gnome friendlier.

Do not use our beta2 live CD for that purpose. It has a bug with xfce mounting usb vfat devices always using sync, so it will take a reaaaaaaly long time to backup everything. If it's an ntfs drive he wants to back things up to, he could still use it though.

[jpg153]

Hi Gapan,

we finally went for Knoppix - because it has a German standard version, which suits better to my brother.

With some help over the phone it seems to do the job ok.

But next time I will give it a try with Salix live!

Thanks.

[toothandnail]

Not entirely relevant any more, but if I need a live disk for rescue purposes, I always use SystemRescueCD.

Mainly used to repair (or back up) sick Windows boxes, but can also be useful if you have a problem with a Linux machine. It can be used from CD, or built to USB. It can be run in console, or with X, and also provides a number of alternate boot images for specific purposes. Includes both 32 and 64 bit kernels.

It is one of a small number of CDs that I always carry when going on a job.

paul.

[jpg153]

Hi Paul,

well, I thought about that when I read on their website, however, my brother was not so happy because of all the english shots and descriptions. Thats why...
Other than that, SystemRescueCD reads really ok...and your recommendation as well!

Thanks!

[thenktor]

If you want to check your hardware this one is nice, too: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/