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Recovery software with detecting, repairing, and restoring tools

Recovery software with detecting, repairing, and restoring tools

Vote: (78 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: benjamin-burrows

Version: 3.60

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(78 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

benjamin-burrows

3.60

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • Freeware
  • Provides a fully functional Windows OS instance on disc
  • Network support
  • Includes a host of useful freeware utilities

Cons

  • Windows XP only
  • Slow to boot
  • Requires manual building of the ISO image

Ultimate Boot CD for Windows is a bootable recovery disc that assists Windows users in diagnosing OS problems as well as repairing and restoring the OS.

Ultimate Boot CD for Windows, which is often shortened to UBCD4Win, is a live CD, which means that it is a complete and bootable computer installation. This allows users to run an operating system without the need to install. There are many reasons why such functionality is handy, but perhaps the most common is to overcome an installed OS that will not load due to some form of corruption. UBCD4Win can also be used to overcome spyware or malware that has compromised the installed OS.

Due to the nature of the problems they are designed to overcome, recovery CDs like UBCD4Win are not user-friendly. UBCD4Win is particularly sophisticated and, thus, compounds that issue. UBCD4Win is a full-blown Windows XP instance, but it would infringe on Microsoft’s rights to distribute it as such. Thus, users must use the provided tool to build the UBCD4Win image, and that process may need resources from an authentic Windows XP disc or install. In other words, if a user has a non-working computer and no other avenue to build the UBCD4Win instance, then the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows is not a suitable solution.

UBCD4Win is at its best when the user prepares it in advance. In this scenario, UBCD4Win is unmatched among Win XP recovery CDs. Note that despite the name, UBCD4Win is not limited to compact discs, and the image is suitable for DVD, Blu-ray and even a USB flash stick. The final build of UBCD4Win ships with more than 160 utilities. Perhaps the biggest hurdle for new users is recognizing all the different tools that are at their disposal after booting into the UBCD4Win instance. Since the final final release of UBCD4Win was released in 2009, one might expect those tools to be outdated. That is not the case, however, and tools that could become outdated, such as spyware and virus tools, can still access up-to-date definitions via the built-in network support.

Pros

  • Freeware
  • Provides a fully functional Windows OS instance on disc
  • Network support
  • Includes a host of useful freeware utilities

Cons

  • Windows XP only
  • Slow to boot
  • Requires manual building of the ISO image