Linux can save your data (NewsForge) [LWN.net]

Linux can save your data (NewsForge)

Posted Aug 9, 2004 22:09 UTC (Mon) by QuisUtDeus (guest, #14854)
Parent article: Linux can save your data (NewsForge)

There have been many times that I've recovered blown Windows machines with a Linux boot or install disk.

I guess a more accurate description of the situation would be:
1) A simple Linux bootable rescue disk (or even just an install floppy) has many of the basic Unix tools included (as well as OS file-system support and networking) that are very handy for inspecting any file-system, be it a Windows install, Linux install, data drive, etc.

2) Windows recovery disks (the few I've seen) offer very little in terms of manual system inspection, and even a full Windows installation offers only a limited set of tools.

So here again: the Linux/Unix console administration toolset (even limited) is so much better than the Windows console admin toolset as to make the comparison absurd, even embarrassing. Later Windows versions (like NT/2000/XP) have added some sorely lacking tools, but they are not complete, and they often are not available on a stripped down install/recovery disk.

Maybe people are trying to be nice, but isn't MS someday going to give their sys-admins some more complete tools for system recovery? Such tools might be needed more often by Windows admins than by Linux admins due to the havoc caused by viruses etc.

Or, maybe MS should send out a Linux recovery CD (knoppix?) with each OS it sells. That would be a big improvement, I'd say.

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Linux can save your data (NewsForge)

Posted Aug 10, 2004 11:53 UTC (Tue) by fjf33 (subscriber, #5768) [Link]

Most Wintel systems come with a recovery disk. If you ever call support, they will tell you to find the recovery CD, put it in the tray and reboot the computer. As if by magic the computer is back up and running (unless it was a hardware problem), and anyone wihtout any special training can fix the computer.

PS: I hope you made a backup of your files before doing this. :)

Linux can save your data (NewsForge)

Posted Aug 10, 2004 14:43 UTC (Tue) by holstein (subscriber, #6122) [Link]

I hope you made a backup of your files before doing this. :)

Thats the point of the "recovery disk" : in some cases, you are then able to make that "damn-I'm-lucky" backup before resetting the computer to his factory settings (because that's what these disk are doing).

Then, you can schedule yourself for a long evening reinstalling all the patchs and service packs you applied between the initial installation and your crash, then reinstalling your application, then reconfiguring everything...