Windows Recovery

There is a time in every computer lovers life where you find out that Windows has gone awry.  It may not even be your computer, if you are fortunate enough to not need a Windows partition, but how many of us are really that lucky?  Here are a set of tools that can help you out in those situations:


Prevention:
It is unlikely that you are actually at this step, but next time you install Windows (or get a new computer) it may be a good idea to start this way.

1. Save the product key, I swear those stickers are designed to wear off.
2. Save all the other hidden keys using The Magical Jellybean Keyfinder.
3. Create a backup disk, many new systems come with a backup partition, but I still recommend creating backup DVDs, your computer should come with some software to do this, but if you don't trust it, you can always use good ol' partimage, or if you are feeling really adventurous and have a drive of the same size as your original, dd.

When your computer goes bad next it should be a simple thing to just re-install it from source without needing to go through the dreaded blue-screen Windows XP setup process.

Why is it that Win 9x had a graphical setup and with XP they digressed in to something you might expect from DOS?

Current Fixes:
Bootloader Problems:
Sometimes [read always] if you play with bootloaders on your system things get mucked up.  They don't play nicely with each other, and oftentimes not even with themselves.  I have found that you can quickly fix this by either installing grub from your favorite Linux distro, or using the files in fix NTLDR.

Malicious Software:
After the machine is running and before attempting cleanup all of the malware must be removed.  This can be done by using an AV on the machine, but oftentimes these are slow and can be shut down by the malware itself, if you can boot from a Linux livecd with an antivirus on it, like Clam, and have it scan first.

Startup Tasks:
Do you really need Adobe to search for updates every time your computer starts?  You probably don't even need Adobe Reader at all, but we'll get to that later.  Once your machine is free from malware use CCleaner to remove those useless startup entries.  It does have a standalone version too.  If you don't know what something does, a fast Google on the name is usually enough to help you decide.

Unnecessary Programs:
Now we come to Adobe Reader and crowd.  Adobe Reader is plagued with security vulnerabilities and is slow, why not go with Foxit?  Last time I checked it takes 20Mb vs 200Mb for Adobe.

Still using Internet Explorer?  I hope not, if you are a sandboxing nut you should try Chrome, or better yet use Firefox.  Why do I say Firefox is better?  The add-ons are a giant plus, it has fewer new security vulnerabilities, and uses slightly less ram than Chrome on the systems I have compared them on.

You might also want to disable that eye candy too, trust me it helps.

Overall:
Remember that Windows updates are your friend, unless you are trying to catch a cold.  Yes sometimes they install stuff like Genuine Advantage, but that doesn't matter because your copy is legit, right?

System Rescue Cd is a great livecd utility that can help with Windows troubleshooting, it even has a snazzy GUI!