Saving files from a broken computer.

01/06/2010 by Bertha.

So there you are, the Bank Holiday is all done and dusted. You’ve got loads of photos to download to your computer (using Picasa of course). You turn the computer on and ….

nothing but a few whirring sounds followed by a totally cryptic message muttering about error codes with lots of zeros in them.

OK, as if that’s not bad enough, (expensive repair or new computer) there’s a letter you’ve been working on that you really, really must be able to save.

Now what?

The answer is really rather simple and won’t cost a bean. Use Knoppix.

Knoppix is a variant of the Linux operating system with a difference, it loads not from your hard drive but from either a CD or a USB pen drive.

An operating system is just the master program that makes a computer go, you know, Windows.

Back to Knoppix. It’s available as a free download which you then copy to either a CD or USB, so you will need another working computer. You can even buy a copy for under $5 if you don’t want the hassle of burning your own copy.

Knoppix itself has to be burnt to CD in a special way but there’s even a free program (called Deep Burner) to do that. Download and install Deep Burner and then open the support page HERE and look for the section “Burn ISO image”.

Once you’ve got the Knoppix CD ready (or its come in the post) you’ll need to set your computer to start up (or boot) from the CD or DVD drive. Read the instructions HERE for that.

Now all you have to do is pop in the CD, turn your computer on and wait for Knoppix to start up. You can then find the files you need to save and back them up to a USB drive or an external hard drive.

Just three things to remember though. First, Knoppix works off the CD and so tends to take a bit longer to respond to instructions so be patient.

Second, all Linux variants, Knoppix included, don’t need double mouse clicks, so if you forget and double click to open a window say you will get twoinstead of one. Disconcerting till you get used to it!

Finally, make sure everything you need to use (back up drives for example) are plugged in before turning your computer on as Knoppix will not realize you have plugged something once its started.

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