When for some reason our computer stops working, the first thing that comes to mind is to format and reinstall the operating system from scratch. However, this usually takes time, which is often unnecessary. In addition to risking losing the files that we had stored on the PC. Luckily, there are different ways to rescue, recover and repair a computer that won’t boot. And one of them is to resort to rescue discs, as is the case with Rescatux.
Rescatux is a Debian-based Linux distribution designed to function as a rescue disk, that is, to run from RAM before the operating system. This distro comes by default with a series of packages and tools with which we can solve practically any problem that may be causing our computer to not function properly.
This recovery disc has a complete wizard called Rescapp. Thanks to it, any user, even if they do not have much knowledge, will be able to recover the computer by being guided in each of the steps until, finally, the system works again.
What can we do with Rescatux
This distro comes standard with a series of tools designed to solve any problem that may be causing our computer to not start or to function properly. Some of the repairs that we can carry out on our computer with this program are:
Repair the boot . We can find a good amount of tools to repair the boot, both Windows and Linux. For example:
- Change the boot order of the UEFI.
- Create a new boot entry.
- View the status of the partition where the UEFI is installed.
- Install a fake UEFI from Windows.
- Hide the UEFI from Microsoft.
- Reinstall the UEFI from Microsoft.
- Check UEFI boot.
- Repair the Linux boot.
- Restore GRUB and GRUB2.
- Update GRUB2 menus and entries.
Repair Windows . We will also find specific options and tools to solve the problems that may be causing Windows 10 to not work correctly:
- Restore the Windows MBR.
- Reset Windows passwords.
- Give any user Administrator permissions.
- Reinstall the UEFI from Windows.
- Unlock any Windows user.
Solve access problems . If we cannot log in to our computer, regardless of using Windows or Linux, we will also be able to regain access to our desktop:
- Change the password of any Linux user.
- Regenerate the sudoers file.
- Clear Windows passwords.
Advanced tools . And finally, Rescatux also has a series of tools that will help us solve other problems that may be causing our PC to not work. Among others, we can highlight:
- Gparted (for partitioning).
- Testdisk (to retrieve partition tables).
- Photorec (to recover deleted files).
- Gpart (to partition from terminal).
- extundelete (to recover files from terminal).
How to repair any computer with Rescatux
When we start our computer with this Linux distro, the first thing we will see will be the boot menu with the different options it offers us. Unless we have problems starting Rescatux, the ideal is to leave the first option, since it will be the one that our system detects and loads the optimal configuration for it.
Once the distro starts we can see the desktop of it. In addition, we will also see a wizard that will guide us during the initial configuration of Rescatux so that we can, for example, adjust the resolution or the keyboard language.
We already have the distro ready to start working. As we can see, it has a desktop with a menu of applications from which we will be able to access all the elements of the system. Broadly speaking, if we want, we can use it like any other distro.
However, what interests us is Rescapp, the Rescatux recovery wizard. This will open automatically when finishing the configuration, or we can launch it ourselves from the desktop shortcut.
As we will be able to see, in this wizard we will find the documentation of the program, access to help websites in order to receive community support and a menu where all the tools of this distro are found.
According to the type of problem that we have in our computer we will have to choose the corresponding tool. For example, suppose we have a problem with the Windows MBR. We will then choose the option to restore the MBR from the list of tools. Next we will see the Rescapp help screen again, with a description of the tool that we are going to execute and a button, Run, to execute it.
The tool will run. Some of them are automatic, and others require our intervention. But all processes are guided, there will be no problems.
When the tool finishes running, the problem should have been fixed. In the event that the PC does not start, we can now restart the PC and check that it is indeed working now.
Download ISO
This Linux distro is completely free for all users, and we can download it, in ISO format, from its website . Once we have the ISO image on our computer we must choose how we want to use it. We can burn it to a CD, since it occupies less than 700 MB, and use this CD to boot the PC. Or we can record it to a USB memory, with a program like Etcher , to boot the PC from it.
Minimum requirements
The developers have not specified any minimum or recommended requirements to run this distro on our computer. But it is recommended to have at least 1 GB of RAM memory so that the entire system can be loaded into RAM memory without problems.
In addition, this distro can work on any type of system and architecture in BIOS mode. However, at UEFI, we are only guaranteed to work on x64 EFI platforms. In addition, if we have Secure Boot enabled we can only start the amd64 version, while if we have Secure Boot disabled we can also start the i386 version.
Alternatives
Rescatux is not the only Linux distro designed to help us recover and repair our computer. In the network we can find other alternatives that, although they may not replace this distro, can help us to solve specific problems that, with Rescatux, we cannot solve.
SystemRescueCd . Very small Linux distro to recover any computer that doesn’t work. It comes with a large number of programs and tools that will allow us to have control over all aspects of the PC, recover data, reverse passwords and even save data from our operating system if we think, for example, of formatting.
Hiren’s BootCD . A recovery system based on Windows PE that will allow us to load an operating system in RAM and work with it as if it were installed on the hard disk, running programs and browsing the Internet. It comes with tools and scripts to analyze and recover our Windows that don’t work. It is not specialized in Linux.
