Re: OT: PC hardware diagnostics

If it is a hardware problem that prevents booting, then a POST card is
invaluable. I don't see them around nearly as much as 20 odd years
ago, but I'm pretty sure they are still around.

I have used a Knoppix (Linux) liveCD to save many a friends Windows
machine, when it was Windows that was corrupted. Copy files, image
partitions, fix partition tables and MBRs, get hardware info and run
some diagnostics. Knoppix is more of a Linux demo disc than a rescue
disk, but I've not had a problem rescuing a few dead Windows boxes
with good hardware, and a couple with hardware problems that didn't
prevent a CD boot.

There are probably some Linux liveCD distributions out there that are
slick and easy to use. For a long time, the Linux floppy rescue disks
were just being copied to CDs with a few added features and most of
the device drivers available in kernel module form. They were
effective, but crude, and you really had to know what you were doing.

I have considered finding the closest one to what I want, extracting
the image to a directory on hardisk, adding and/or subtracting
programs to get exactly what I want, putting a friendly menu face on
it with some automated test sequences, and recreating the CD image and
burning it. The need just hasn't been there for me yet.

Good luck, Pete

On Dec 12, 2007 1:15 PM, Dave Powell, MMfab <dave@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I've got the "ultimatebootcd" and it works for what I need. It does seem
really clunky compared to Dell or Gateway diagnostics, however -- bunches of
different test programs by different authors, and you reboot after one test to
get back to the menu and run another.

I've also tested the free "#1-TuffTEST-Lite" at www.tufftest.com. It has
integrated tests & menu the way nature intended, but the memory & disk tests
are deliberately limited because it is really a lead-in for the (gasp) $10
regular version, or even the $30 "pro" version.
Any body used either paid version ? I'll probably get one or the other
eventually, even though the free version (allowing for deliberate crippling)
still doesn't seem as polished as what Dell ships.

The Windows utilities are an issue for another day. Right now I'm only after
Windows-free hardware tests.

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