Before I learned about Hiren’s Bootdisk, a computer that would not start up was often abandoned, left to the trash or cursed at during countless unsuccessful reboots. Now the disc is one of my go-to computer supplies that provides restoration and file retrieving applications.
When my laptop computer crashed, the disc was all needed to repair the damage, remove viruses and get the computer running again.
What You’ll Need: Hiren’s Bootdisc, DVD/CD Burner or a Flash Drive.
Steps
Download and install Hiren’s Bootdisc to a CD, DVD or as a bootable USB jumpdrive. If your computer is older, the CD or DVD options work the best.
Insert the Hiren Bootdisc into your computer’s main disc drive. If you are using the USB, insert it into your USB drive. Power on the computer. Press “Enter” when prompted to load the boot disc. Use the keyboard to scroll down and select the “Mini Windows XP.”
This will prompt Windows XP to load and run directly from the disc. This will work no matter what version of Windows you have. Click on the “My Computer” icon from the desktop. Here you can access all of your files on the computer’s hard drive.
Back up as many files as you can. The best way to do this is with an expandable hard drive. The transfer could take several minutes, so just leave the computer running in the meantime.
Click on the “WinTools” menu to load the list software and options that Hiren’s BootCD has. For viruses, the most important tools are MalWareByte’s Anti-Malware and ComboFix. Running both of these will eliminate the majority of viruses.
Use the “GetDATABack” software to get any files that the virus may have cleaned off the computer. After an initial scan, it will load a full list of deleted files you can recover and use. Copy the files to a jump drive or expandable hard drive.
Restart the computer and your Windows operating system should load. The BootCd runs even in your normal operating system if you have extra files to back up or restore. If the computer fails to start up again, use your Windows disc to reinstall the operating system. This way it will be completely clean and Hiren’s helped recover your old files.
Not only did the CD save me hundreds on repairs, but the CD itself is free and is compatible with almost any Window’s computer. I burned multiple copies to have and now rely on it whenever I have a computer issue.