After I installed Windows 7 32-bit on the PC Windows did, of course, take over the MBR again. This meant that GRUB no longer started and I had to find a way to put GRUB back on the system. Preferably without having to reinstall Ubuntu 9.10. I found an article in the Ubuntu documentation that described what I wanted to do. So if you’d like to skip ahead, walk through this:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows

I ended up not using all the steps in the Ubuntu manual. Probably because I did not have to do any troubleshooting. The steps outlined simply worked for me. So these are the steps i took (in a very condensed format):

Boot into the Ubuntu live CD.

Start a terminal

# sudo su
# fdisk -l
# mkdir /media/root
# mount /dev/sda4 /media/root
# sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/root /dev/sda

That’s it, that’s all I had to do. Pretty straightforward. I did of course have to determine what was my main Linux partition (/dev/sda4) and as a result which disk i had to apply the GRUB install to (/dev/sda). The Ubuntu manual describes the procedure in enough details to prevent you from having any problems with this.

I was a bit hesitant at first because Karmic uses a newer version of GRUB and the document does not explicitly describe the procedure for Ubuntu 9.10. So I was happy to see that this worked and that it had kept my original GRUB menu.

كما نعلم، كان يمكن من خلال ملف menu.lst تعديل إعدادات إقلاع الجهاز بحيث تتم من أي نظام مثبت على الجهاز تبعاً لرغبة المستخدم… لم يعد لهذا الملف وجود في K/ubuntu 9.10 ذلك لأن هذه التوزيعة أصبحت تتضمن Grub 2. وعوضاً عنه أصبح هناك عدة ملفات وإجراءات لتعديل خيارات الإقلاع، أذكر على الخصوص منها ملف grub.cfg. لكن لا ينصح بإجراء أي تعديلات عليه بشكل يدوي بل أن يتم ذلك آلياً من خلال أمر update-grub.

القائمة التالية تمثل نموذجاً لجهاز بنظاميّ تشغيل Kubuntu و Windows XP.

Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic
Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)
Memory test (memtest86+)
Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional (on /dev/sda1)

إفتح الملف grub من خلال معالج النصوص

kubuntu:
sudo kate /etc/default/grub

ubuntu:
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

إبحث عن الجزء التالي:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10

يبدأ العد هنا من صفر،غيّر الرقم صفر الإفتراضي الذي يدل على السطر الأول من القائمة إلى رقم 4 وهو في قائمتنا يدل على نظام XP، ثم خزّن الملف.

GRUB_DEFAULT=4


نفذ الأمر التالي لتفعيل الإعدادات الجديدة:

sudo update-grub

.

Sollte ma l der “Grand Unified Bootloader” versagen keine Sorge, Papi fragen:

Mittels:

sudo fdisk -l

lässt sich eine Übersicht der Partitionen aufrufen. Danach “mountet” man das Linux-System mittels:

sudo mount /dev/sdXX /mnt

.

(Auf diesem sollte sich das Verzeichnis /boot/grub befinden).  Nun kann man mittels:

 sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sdX

GRUB neu in den Master Boot Record der Festplatte installieren..feddisch.

Well, I recently tried to reanimate my old crappy laptop by installing Gentoo on it. Its cdrom drive is actually not 100% working so I had to use an usb key to transfer data to it. In effect, I have been reformatting and repartitioning the usb drive lot of times using my desktop computer. After a few times I deleted for the tenth time the key’s partiton table to format it again.

Huge mistake.

I was using GParted to do tasks and inadvertently deleted my primary hard disk partition table. Omitting variuous blasphemies and swearwords when I realized what I just did, I took an Ubuntu 9.04 cd and here is how I solved the problem.

There’s a little program that can be found in repositories, called testdisk, that brings up a partition table recovery function, wich is pretty fast and accurate. With the first scan it already recovered my PT, and an in-depth scan confirmed first results. In a snap!

But just in case, here is how to backup your PT for emergency recoveries. Just in the case that one day you’ll be stupid like me.
Using the dd command (see man pages for details) you can do something like this:

dd if=/dev/sdX of=/tmp/sda-mbr.bin bs=512 count=1

replacing /dev/sdX with the drive of interest and /temp/sda.mbr.bin with the path of the file you would like to store informations in. Save this file somewhere safe outside of the disk. One day, you will do something like this to restore the PT:

dd if=sda-mbr.bin of=/dev/sdX bs=1 count=64 skip=446 seek=446

always replacing sda-mbr.bin with the backup file and /dev/sdX with the decive you want the PT to be re-writed.

Never understimate the power of dd. It has super powers.

PS: I donated 10$ via paypal to testidisk developers. It literally rescued my ass.

دو روز پیش تصمیم گرفتم که ویندوز xp کامپیوتر دسکتاپم را دوباره نصب کنم. شاید خیلی ساده به نظر بیاد ولی وقتی که شما یک یوبونتو خیلی دوست داشتنی هم در هارد دیسکتان داشته باشید قضیه کمی متفاوت می شود. من نمی خواستم این یوبونتو و GRUB موقع راه اندازی از دست برود. اول با پارتیشن مجیک خواستم یک نگاهی به پارتیشن ها بیاندازم، ولی چشمتان روز بد نبیند پارتیشن مجیک نتوانست پارتیشن بندی هارد را نشان دهد و کل هارد را بصورت error نشان داد.

با استفاده از یوبوتنو سیستم را بالا آوردم و با استفاده از دستور زیر از   ( MBR  ( Master Boot Record  یک کپی بر روی هارددیسک ایکسترنالم تهیه کردم:

dd  if =/dev/hda  of=/media/TREKSTOR/mbr_backup.img  bs=512  count=1

بعد سی دی قابل بوت ویندوز xp/98 را در درایو گذاشتم و در حالت command line دستورات زیر را وارد کردم:

fdisk /MBR

البته در ریکاوری کنسول هم می توان با تایپ دستور زیر همین کار را انجام داد:

fixmbr

پس از اینکار سی دی ویندوز xp را گذاشتم و همه چی به خوشی و سلامتی نصب شد. حالا نوبت دوباره زنده کردن یوبونتو و GRUB شده بود. با یوبونتو Live سیستم را بوت کردم و رفتم سراغ ترمینال و دستور زیر را وارد کردم:

dd  if =/media/TREKSTOR/mbr_backup.img  of=/dev/hda  bs=512  count=1

انتظار داشتم GRUB براحتی اجرا شود ولی هنگام بوت خوشحالی ام با دیدن عدم اجرای GRUB و دریافت Error 17 به ماتم بدل شد. حالا دیگر سیستم بوت نمی شد. خوب یک جای کار می لنگید. دوباره با استفاده از دستور fdisk /MBR ویندوز xp را فعال کردم و رفتم سراغ اینترنت تا ببینم به چه روشی می توانم GRUB را دوباره در MBR فعال کنم.

نتیجه این شد که باید اول با یوبونتو Live سیستم را بوت کرد. سپس در ترمینال با دستور زیر GRUB را اجرا کرد:

sudo  grub

سپس بایدبا استفاده از دستور زیر بخش اصلی GRUB را که در پارتیشن یوبونتو نصب شده پیدا کرد.

find  /boot/grub/stage1

نتیجه کار چیزی شبیه (hd0,4) است. حالا باید دستور زیر را وارد کنیم:

root (hd0,4)

و سپس با استفاده از دستور زیر grub را دوباره نصب کنیم:
setup (hd0)

و در نهایت با دستور quit از محیط GRUB خارج شویم. ممکن است حالتی پیش بیاید که دستور find نتواند stage1 را پیدا کند. در این حالت باید قبل از طی مراحل بالا و لود کردن GRUB دستورات زیر را به ترتیب وارد کنیم:

sudo  mkdir  /mnt/root

sudo  mount  -t  ext3  /dev/sda5  /mnt/root

sudo  mount  -t  proc  none  /mnt/root/proc

sudo  mount  -o  bind  /dev  /mnt/root/dev

sudo  chroot  /mnt/root  /bin/bash

sudo  grub

و الباقی قضایا. خوشبختانه روش فوق یوبونتو نازنینم را نجات داد و من خیلی خوشحال هستم.

As of now you probably have heard of SSD, solid state drive, which is simply your thumb drive on steroids.  SSD have no moving parts and uses NAND flash memory so the have great speed and greater reliability.   With new technology old technolgy gets a discount.  Nowadays a Tera-byte hard drive is less than $100.  You can even find it even less online for around $70.  Recently, I received one as a gift from a friend.

After you install the hard drive, follow the provided installation pamphlet,  you have to set it up on the PC and format it.  Here’s how to do it.

Note: a terabyte hard drive took me a few hours to format the drive so be patience when you are formatting the hard drive.

1. In Control Panel select System and Maintenance and select Create and format hard disk partitions.

2.  Now you should see Disk Management application loaded and you should see a disk “Not initialized”.  You wan to right click on the “Disk 1″ area and select initialize.

3. If you hard drive is less than 2TB then you would want to select MBR (Master Boot Record)

4.  Now you want to right click on the “unallocated”  area and select New Simple Volume

5.  New Simple Volume Wizard pops up and you continue through.

6.  Pick a drive letter you would like to associate with that new hard drive.  I picked M for “Mass Data”.

7.  Here you want to leave everything as is except for the Volume label.  Change it to whatever your heart desires.

8. Now you are done, your new drive should show up when you click on “My Computer”.

Olá pessoal, hoje em dia é comum termos maquinas com dual-boot (Windows e Linux)  onde o gerenciador de boot é o  GRUB ou o LILO. Neste cenário um problema comum ocorre quando excluímos a partição do Linux, onde o gerenciador de boot deixa de funcionar, e com isso ficando impossibilitado de iniciar o Windows, ou ate uma maquina “mal instalada”, aparecendo dois boots do Windows, onde apenas um funciona, pois uma instalação sobrescreveu a outra.

Para resolver esse problema, nas versões anteriores ao Windows XP, bastava iniciar por meio de um disco de boot e executar o comando fdisk /MBR, já no Windows XP, bastava iniciar pelo CD de instalação entrar no modo de Recuperação e digitar o comando fixmbr.

Já no Windows Vista,

1. Basta colocar o DVD de instalação.

2. Selecione as configurações de idioma e clique em Avançar

3. Clique na opção Reparar o computador, imagem abaixo.

4. Selecione o sistema operacional, e em seguida clique em Avançar.

5. Selecione Prompt de comando.

6. Digite o comando bootrec /FixMbr e pressione Enter.

7. Feche o prompt e clique e Reiniciar.

Pronto agora você tem o MBR como gerenciador de boot, ou no caso de duas entradas de Windows vai aparecer apenas a entrada correta.

É isso ai e até a próxima.

El otro día quise instalar Windows después de haber instalado Ubuntu, asi que reparticione mi disco con el fabuloso livecd de gparted, y supuestamente, ya tenia todo listo para insertar el disco de instalacion de windows y dejar que él hiciera el resto. Me llevé una sorpresa cuando al seleccionar la partición donde quería instalar Windows me marcaba un error de que no podía encontrar una partición donde pudiera instalarse. Intente una y otra vez eliminar y crear la partición que tenía destinada para el Windows sin conseguir éxito. Decidí desistir por ese día y volver a trabajar en mi querido Ubuntu. Fue ahí cuando me lleve una terrible sorpresa, “Insert disk, Operating System not Found”… WTF……..

El problema es que tenía una partición extendida y el espacio que deje para Windows lo puse en esa partición extendida, esto ocasionaba que Windows no se pudiera instalar. Lo que no entendí es, PORQUE DEMONIOS BORRÓ MI TABLA DE PARTICIONES. En fin, para recuperarla hay una excelente herramienta que se llama TestDisk y es muy fácil de usar. También la puedes encontrar en el “Ultimate Boot CD” (fabuloso para toda clase de tareas de diagnóstico y reparación), lo díficil es encontrarla en los menús… :-| bump ..  pero si no mal recuerdo esta en la opción de “Recovery Tools” (yo andaba perdido buscandolo en Partition Tools, Hard Disk Tools, Antivirus jajaja)

Una vez recuperada tu tabla de particiones tienes que vovler a cargar el GRUB en el MBR (asi es, Windows no solo borró la tabla de particiones, reescribió el MBR completamente :@ ) para poder arrancar Ubuntu. Esto lo puedes hacer con cualquier disco de Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, etc), yo lo hice con el de Ubuntu
Basta con arrancar el liveCD de Ubuntu (seleccionar “probar Ubuntu sin modificar mis archivos”) y una vez que carga la interfaz gráfica, abrir una terminal (Applications->Accesories->Terminal)
Ejecuta el siguiente comando para entrar en la consola de GRUB

sudo grub

Ejecuta

find /boot/grub/stage1

Te va a regresar algo como “hd?,?”, p. ej. “hd0,0″, vamos a usar esa ubicación para el siguiente comando

root (hd?,?)

finalmente ejecuta

setup (hd0)

Nota: El ultimo comando instala el GRUB en el MBR, si quieres instalarlo en una partición utiliza setup(hd?,?).

Listo! Hemos recuperado nuestra tabla de particiones (gracias TestDisk) y reinstalado el GRUB (boot loader).

Fuentes:
Ubuntu Forums – Ubuntu install not recognizing current partitions.
Ubuntu Forums – How to install Grub from a live Ubuntu cd.

Finally a new version of my favorite “AiO” Tech Tool is out once more…

Hiren’s BootCD 10.0 With KeyBoard Patch

Hiren’s Boot CD is a boot CD containing various diagnostic programs such as partitioning agents, system performance benchmarks, disk cloning and imaging tools, data recovery tools, MBR tools, BIOS tools, and many others for fixing various computer problems. It is a Bootable CD; thus, it can be useful even if the primary operating system cannot be booted. Hiren’s Boot CD has an extensive list of software. Utilities with similar functionality on the CD are grouped together and seem redundant; however, they present choices through UI differences. Hiren’s BootCD – All in one Dos Bootable CD which has all these utilities.

Hiren's Boot CD

Partition Tools
- Partition Magic Pro 8.05: Best software to partition hard drive.
- Acronis Disk Director 10.0.2160: Popular disk management functions in a single suite.
- Paragon Partition Manager 7.0.1274: Universal tool for partitions.
- Partition Commander 9.01: The safe way to partition your hard drive, with undo feature.
- Ranish Partition Manager 2.44: a boot manager and hard disk partitioner.
- The Partition Resizer 1.3.4: move and resize your partitions in one step and more.
- Smart Fdisk 2.05: a simple harddisk partition manager.
- SPecial Fdisk 2000.03v: SPFDISK a partition tool.
- eXtended Fdisk 0.9.3: XFDISK allows easy partition creation and edition.
- GDisk 1.1.1: Complete replacement for the DOS FDISK utility and more.
- Super Fdisk 1.0: Create, delete, format partitions drives without destroying data.
- Partition Table Editor 8.0: Partition Table and Boot Record Editor.
- EASEUS Partition Master 3.5: Partition Resize/Move/Copy/Create/Delete/Format/Convert, Explore, etc.

Backup Tools
- ImageCenter 5.6 (Drive Image 2002): Best software to clone hard drive.
- Norton Ghost 11.5: Similar to Drive Image (with usb/scsi support).
- Acronis True Image 8.1.945: Create an exact disk image for complete system backup and disk cloning.
- Partition Saving 3.71: A tool to backup/restore partitions. (SavePart.exe).
- COPYR.DMA Build013: A Tool for making copies of hard disks with bad sectors.
- DriveImageXML 2.02: backup any drive/partition to an image file, even if the drive is currently in use.
- Drive SnapShot 1.39: creates an exact Disk Image of your system into a file while windows is running.
- Ghost Image Explorer 11.5: to add/remove/extract files from Ghost image file.
- DriveImage Explorer 5.0: to add/remove/extract files from Drive image file.
- WhitSoft File Splitter 4.5a: a Small File Split-Join Tool.
- Express Burn 4.26: CD/DVD Burner Program to create and record CDs/DVDs, also create/burn .iso and .nrg images.
- Smart Driver Backup 2.12: Easy backup of your Windows device drivers (also works from PE).
- Double Driver 1.0: Driver Backup and Restore tool.
- DriverBackup! 1.0.3: Another handy tool to backup drivers.

Recovery Tools
- Active Partition Recovery 3.0: To Recover a Deleted partition.
- Active Uneraser 3.0: To recover deleted files and folders on FAT and NTFS systems.
- Ontrack Easy Recovery Pro 6.10: To Recover data that has been deleted/virus attack.
- Winternals Disk Commander 1.1: more than just a standard deleted-file recovery utility.
- TestDisk 6.11.3: Tool to check and undelete partition.
- Lost & Found 1.06: a good old data recovery software.
- DiyDataRecovery Diskpatch 2.1.100: An excellent data recovery software.
- Prosoft Media Tools 5.0 v1.1.2.64: Another excellent data recovery software with many other options.
- PhotoRec 6.11.3: File and pictures recovery Tool.
- Winsock 2 Fix for 9x: to fix corrupted Winsock2 information by poorly written Internet programs.
- XP TCP/IP Repair 1.0: Repair your Windows XP Winsock and TCP/IP registry errors.
- Active Undelete 5.5: a tool to recover deleted files.
- Restoration 3.2.13: a tool to recover deleted files.
- GetDataBack for FAT 2.31: Data recovery software for FAT file systems.
- GetDataBack for NTFS 2.31: Data recovery software for NTFS file systems.
- Recuva 1.27.419: Restore deleted files from Hard Drive, Digital Camera Memory Card, usb mp3 player…
- Partition Find and Mount 2.3.1: Partition Find and Mount software is designed to find lost or deleted partitions.
- Unstoppable Copier 4b: Allows you to copy files from disks with problems such as bad sectors, scratches or that just give errors when reading data.

Testing Tools
- System Speed Test 4.78: it tests CPU, harddrive, etc.
- PC-Check 6.5: Easy to use hardware tests.
- Ontrack Data Advisor 5.0: Powerful diagnostic tool for assessing the condition of your computer.
- The Troubleshooter 7.02: all kind of hardware testing tool.
- PC Doctor 2004: a benchmarking and information tool.
- CPU/Video/Disk Performance Test 5.7: a tool to test cpu, video, and disk.
- Test Hard Disk Drive 1.0: a tool to test Hard Disk Drive.
- Disk Speed1.0: Hard Disk Drive Speed Testing Tool.
- S&M Stress Test 1.9.1: cpu/hdd/memory benchmarking and information tool, including temperatures/fan speeds/voltages.
- IsMyLcdOK (Monitor Test) 1.01: Allows you to test CRT/LCD/TFT screens for dead pixels and diffective screens.

RAM (Memory) Testing Tools
- GoldMemory 5.07: RAM Test utility.
- Memtest86+ 2.11: PC Memory Test.
- MemTest 1.0: a Memory Testing Tool.
- Video Memory Stress Test 1.7.116: a tool to thoroughly test your video RAM for errors and faults.

Hard Disk Tools
- Seagate Seatools Graphical v2.13b
- SeaTools for Dos 1.10
- Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2
- Western Digital Diagnostics (DLGDIAG) 5.04f
- Maxtor PowerMax 4.23
- Maxtor amset utility 4.0
- Maxtor(or any Hdd) Low Level Formatter 1.1
- Fujitsu HDD Diagnostic Tool 7.00
- Fujitsu IDE Low Level Format 1.0
- Samsung HDD Utility(HUTIL) 2.10
- Samsung Disk Diagnose (SHDIAG) 1.28
- Samsung The Drive Diagnostic Utility (ESTOOL) 2.12a
- IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.14
- IBM/Hitachi Feature Tool 2.13
- Gateway GwScan 5.12
- ExcelStor’s ESTest 4.50
- MHDD 4.6
- WDClear 1.30
- Toshiba Hard Disk Diagnostic 2.00b
- HDD Regenerator 1.61: to recover a bad hard drive.
- HDAT2 4.53: main function is testing and repair (regenerates) bad sectors for detected devices.
- Ontrack Disk Manager 9.57: Disk Test/Format/Maintenance tool.
- Norton Disk Doctor 2002: a tool to repair a damaged disk, or to diagnose your hard drive.
- Norton Disk Editor 2002: a powerful disk editing, manual data recovery tool.
- Hard Disk Sentinel 0.04: Hard Disk health, performance and temperature monitoring tool.
- Active Kill Disk 4.1: Securely overwrites and destroys all data on physical drive.
- SmartUDM 2.00: Hard Disk Drive S.M.A.R.T. Viewer.
- Victoria 3.33e and 3.52rus: a freeware program for low-level HDD diagnostics.
- HDD Erase 4.0: Secure erase using a special feature built into most newer hard drives.
- HDD Scan 3.1: This is a Low-level HDD diagnostic tool, it scans surface find bad sectors etc.
- HDTune 2.55: Hard disk benchmarking and information tool.
- Data Shredder 1.0: A tool to Erase disk and files (also wipe free space) securely.

System Information Tools
- PCI and AGP info Tool (0906): The PCI System information & Exploration tool.
- System Analyser 5.3v: View extensive information about your hardware.
- Navratil Software System Information 0.60.32: High-end professional system information tool.
- Astra 5.42: Advanced System info Tool and Reporting Assistant.
- HWiNFO 5.2.7: a powerful system information utility.
- PC-Config 9.33: Complete hardware detection of your computer.
- SysChk 2.46: Find out exactly what is under the hood of your PC.
- CPU Identification utility 1.16: Detailed information on CPU (CHKCPU.EXE).
- CTIA CPU Information 2.7: another CPU information tool.
- Drive Temperature 1.0: Hard Disk Drive temperature meter.
- PC Wizard 2008.1.871: Powerful system information/benchmark utility designed especially for detection of hardware.
- SIW 2009-05-12: Gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings.
- CPU-Z 1.51: It gathers information on some of the main devices of your system.
- PCI 32 Sniffer 1.4 (0906): device information tool (similar to unknown devices).
- Unknown Devices 1.2 (0906): helps you find what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are.

MBR (Master Boot Record) Tools
- MBRWork 1.07b: a utility to perform some common and uncommon MBR functions.
- MBR Tool 2.2.100: backup, verify, restore, edit, refresh, remove, display, re-write…
- DiskMan4: all in one tool for cmos, bios, bootrecord and more.
- BootFix Utility: Run this utility if you get ‘Invalid system disk’.
- MBR SAVE / RESTORE 2.1: BootSave and BootRest tools to save / restore MBR.
- Boot Partition 2.60: add Partition in the Windows NT/2000/XP Multi-boot loader.
- Partition Table Doctor 3.5: a tool to repair/modify mbr, bootsector, partition table.
- Smart Boot Manager 3.7.1: a multi boot manager.
- Bootmagic 8.0: This tool is for multi boot operating systems.
- MBRWizard 2.0b: Directly update and modify the MBR (Master Boot Record).

BIOS / CMOS Tools
- CMOS 0.93: CMOS Save / Restore Tool.
- BIOS Cracker 4.8: BIOS password remover (cmospwd).
- BIOS Cracker 1.4: BIOS password remover (cmospwc).
- BIOS Utility 1.35.0: BIOS Informations, password, beep codes and more.
- !BIOS 3.20: a powerfull utility for bios and cmos.
- DISKMAN4: a powerful all in one utility.
- UniFlash 1.40: bios flash utility.;
- Kill CMOS: a tiny utility to wipe cmos.
- Award DMI Configuration Utility 2.43: DMI Configuration utility for modifying/viewing the MIDF contents.

MultiMedia Tools
- Picture Viewer 1.94: Picture viewer for dos, supports more then 40 filetypes.
- QuickView Pro 2.58: movie viewer for dos, supports many format including divx.
- MpxPlay 1.56: a small Music Player for dos.

Password Tools
- Active Password Changer 3.0.420: To Reset User Password on windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista (FAT/NTFS).
- Offline NT/2K/XP Password Changer: utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password.
- Registry Reanimator 1.02: Check and Restore structure of the Damaged Registry files of NT/2K/XP.
- NTPWD: utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password.
- Registry Viewer 4.2: Registry Viewer/Editor for Win9x/Me/NT/2K/XP.
- ATAPWD 1.2: Hard Disk Password Utility.
- TrueCrypt 6.2: On-the-fly disk encryption tool, can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk, can also encrypt an entire HDD/Partition/USB Drive.
- Content Advisor Password Remover 1.0: It Removes Content Advisor Password from Internet Explorer.
- Password Renew 1.1: Utility to (re)set windows passwords.
- WindowsGate 1.1: Enables/Disables Windows logon password validation.
- WinKeyFinder 1.73: Allows you to View and Change Windows XP/2003 Product Keys, backup and restore activation related files, backup mcrsft Office 97, 2000 SP2, XP/2003 keys etc.
- XP Key Reader 2.7: Can decode the XP-key on Local or Remote systems.
- ProduKey 1.35: Recovers lost the product key of your Windows/Office.
- Wireless Key View 1.26: Recovers all wireless network keys (WEP/WPA) stored in your computer by WZC.
- MessenPass 1.24: A password recovery tool that reveals the passwords of several instant messangers.
- Mail PassView 1.51: Recovers mail passwords of Outlook Express, MS Outlook, IncrediMail, Eudora, etc.
- Asterisk Logger 1.04: Reveal passwords hidden behind asterisk characters.

NTFS (FileSystems) Tools
- NTFS Dos Pro 5.0: To access ntfs partitions from Dos.
- NTFS 4 Dos 1.9: To access ntfs partitions from Dos.
- Paragon Mount Everything 3.0: To access NTFS, Ext2FS, Ext3FS partitions from dos.
- NTFS Dos 3.02: To access ntfs partitions from Dos.
- EditBINI 1.01: to Edit boot.ini on NTFS Partition.

Browsers / File Managers
- Volkov Commander 4.99: Dos File Manager with LongFileName/ntfs support (Similar to Norton Commander).
- Dos Command Center 5.1: Classic dos-based file manager.
- File Wizard 1.35: a file manager – colored files, drag and drop copy, move, delete etc.
- File Maven 3.5: an advanced Dos file manager with high speed PC-to-PC file transfers via serial or parallel cable.
- FastLynx 2.0: Dos file manager with Pc to Pc file transfer capability.
- LapLink 5.0: the smart way to transfer files and directories between PCs.
- Dos Navigator 6.4.0: Dos File Manager, Norton Commander clone but has much more features.
- Mini Windows 98: Can run from Ram Drive, with ntfs support, Added 7-Zip, Disk Defragmenter, Notepad / RichText Editor, Image Viewer, .avi .mpg .divx .xvid Movie Player, etc…
- Mini Windows Xp: Portable Windows Xp that runs from CD/USB/Ram Drive, with Network and SATA support.
- 7-Zip 4.65: File Manager/Archiver Supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS formats.
- Opera Web Browser 8.53: One of the fastest, smallest and smartest full-featured web browser.

Other Tools
- Ghost Walker 11.5: utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP.
- DosCDroast beta 2: Dos CD Burning Tools.
- Universal TCP/IP Network 6.4: MSDOS Network Client to connect via TCP/IP to a mcrsft based network. The network can either be a peer-to-peer or a server based network, it contains 91 different network card drivers.
- NewSID 4.10: utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP.
- Registry Editor PE 0.9c: Easy editing of remote registry hives and user profiles.
- Registry Restore Wizard 1.0.4: Restores a corrupted system registry from Xp System Restore.

Dos Tools
- USB CD-Rom Driver 1: Standard usb_cd.sys driver for cd drive.
- Universal USB Driver 2: Panasonic v2.20 ASPI Manager for USB mass storage.
- ASUSTeK USB Driver 3: ASUS USB CD-ROM Device Driver Version 1.00.
- SCSI Support: SCSI Drivers for Dos.
- SATA Support: SATA Driver (gcdrom.sys) and JMicron JMB361 (xcdrom.sys) for Dos.
- 1394 Firewire Support: 1394 Firewire Drivers for Dos.
- Interlnk support at COM1: To access another computer from COM port.
- Interlnk support at LPT1: To access another computer from LPT port.
and too many great dos tools, very good collection of dos utilities
extract.exe, pkzip.exe, pkunzip.exe, unrar.exe, rar.exe
ace.exe, lha.exe, gzip.exe, uharcd.exe, mouse.com
attrib.com, deltree.exe, xcopy.exe, diskcopy.com, imgExtrc.exe
undelete.com, edit.com, fdisk.exe, fdisk2.exe, fdisk3.exe
lf.exe, delpart.exe, wipe.com, zap.com, format.com
move.exe, more.com, find.exe, hex.exe, debug.exe
split.exe, mem.exe, mi.com, sys.com, smartdrv.exe
xmsdsk.exe, killer.exe, share.exe, scandisk.exe, scanreg.exe
guest.exe, doskey.exe, duse.exe, biosdtct.exe, setver.exe
intersvr.exe, interlnk.exe, loadlin.exe, lfndos.exe, doslfn.com

Cleaners
- SpaceMonger 1.4: keeping track of the free space on your computer.
- WinDirStat 1.1.2. 80 : a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Windows.
- CCleaner 2.20.920: Crap Cleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool.

Optimizers
- PageDfrg 2.32: System file Defragmenter For NT/2k/XP.
- NT Registry Optimizer 1.1j: Registry Optimization for Windows NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista.
- DefragNT 1.9: This tool presents the user with many options for disk defragmenting.
- JkDefrag 3.36: Free disk defragment and optimize utility for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.
- Process Tools: IB Process Manager 1.04 a little process manager for 9x/2k, shows dll info etc.
- Process Explorer 11.33: shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.
- Pocket KillBox 2.0.0.978: can be used to get rid of files that stubbornly refuse to allow you to delete them.
- Unlocker 1.8.7: This tool can delete file/folder when you get this message – Cannot delete file: Access is denied, The file is in use by another program etc.
- CurrPorts 1.65: displays the list of all currently opened TCP and UDP ports on your computer.

Startup Tools
- Autoruns 9.50: Displays All the entries from startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys, Explorer shell extensions,toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, Scheduled Tasks, Winsock, LSA Providers, Remove Drivers and much more which helps to remove nasty spyware/adware and viruses.
- Silent Runners Revision 59: A free script that helps detect spyware, malware and adware in the startup process.
- Startup Control Panel 2.8: a tool to edit startup programs.
- Startup Monitor 1.02: it notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup.
- HijackThis 2.0.2: a general homepage hijackers detector and remover and more.

Tweakers
- Dial a Fix 0.60.0.24: Fix errors and problems with COM/ActiveX object errors and missing registry entries, Automatic Updates, SSL, HTTPS, and Cryptography service (signing/verification) issues, Reinstall internet explorer etc. comes with the policy scanner.
- Ultimate Windows Tweaker 1.2: A TweakUI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows Vista.
- TweakUI 2.10: This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows Xp.
- Xp-AntiSpy 3.97.3: it tweaks some Windows XP functions, and disables some unneeded Windows services quickly.
- Shell Extensions Manager (ShellExView) 1.37: An excellent tool to View and Manage all installed Context-menu/Shell extensions.
- EzPcFix 1.0.0.16: Helpful tool when trying to remove viruses, spyware, and malware.

Antivirus Tools
- Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 7.0.0.290 (0906): Free on-demand virus scanner from Kaspersky Lab to remove viruses.
- Spybot – Search & Destroy 1.6.2 (0906): Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software.
- Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware 1.34 (0906): anti-malware application that can thoroughly remove even the most advanced malware.
- SpywareBlaster 4.2 (0906): Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software.
- SmitFraudFix 2.419: This removes Some of the popular Desktop Hijack malware.
- ComboFix (0906): Designed to cleanup malware infections and restore settings modified by malware.
- CWShredder 2.19: Popular CoolWebSearch Trojan Remover tool.
- RootkitRevealer 1.7.1: Rootkit Revealer is an advanced patent-pending root kit detection utility.
- SuperAntispyware 4.26 (0906): Remove Malware, Rootkits, Spyware, Adware, Worms, Parasites (a must have tool).

Changes:
+InfraRecorder 0.50
-ExpressBurn
+TestDisk for windows
+PhotoRec for windows
+Virtual Floppy Drive 2.1
+HxD 1.7.7.0
+FastCopy 1.99r4
+Angry IP Scanner 2.21
+TCPView 2.54
+OpenedFilesView 1.40
+ProcessActivityView 1.10
+RegScanner 1.77
+USBDeview 1.42
+Streams 1.56
+RemoveWGA 1.2
+RRT – Remove Restrictions Tool 3.0
Intel Matrix Storage Driver iastore.sys 8.9.0.1023 (Minixp)
PE Network Manager 0.45 (Minixp)
Security Tab (Minixp)
Pointsec Filter driver (Minixp)
Double Driver 2.1
GetDataBack 4.0
EASEUS Partition Master 4.0.1
TrueCrypt 6.2a
HDD Regenerator 1.71
Recuva 1.29.429
Unstoppable Copier 4.2
IsMyLcdOK (Monitor Test) 1.02
Samsung The Drive Diagnostic Utility (ESTOOL) 3.00g
IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.15
HDD Scan 3.2
System Analyser 5.3w
Astra 5.43
HWiNFO 5.3.0
CPU Identification utility 1.17
PC Wizard 2009.1.90
SIW 2009-07-28
CPU-Z 1.52
ProduKey 1.36
Wireless Key View 1.27
Content Advisor Password Remover 1.01
MessenPass 1.26
CCleaner 2.23.993
CurrPorts 1.66
Autoruns 9.53
Ultimate Windows Tweaker 2.0
Xp-AntiSpy 3.97.4 beta
ShellExView 1.40
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 7.0.0.290 (2908)
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware 1.40 (2908)
SpywareBlaster 4.2 (2908)
SmitFraudFix 2.423
PCI 32 Sniffer 1.4 (2908)
PCI and AGP info Tool (2908)
Unknown Devices 1.2 (2908)
ComboFix (2908)
Spybot – Search & Destroy 1.6.2 (2908)
SuperAntispyware 4.27 (2908)

You may visit Hiren’s BootCD website for updates.  Download.

For those of you that missed MBR’s 9.25.09 show at Jack Sprat, you missed out on a great performance.  The show featured a handful of new tunes, which are being given the final tweaks in Vinyl Records’ recording studio right now, plus a great Kings of Leon cover, as sung by MBR contributer Colin Iwanski.  All video shot and edited by Tiffany Dixon.

dd if=/dev/sda of=mbr.bin bs=512 count=1

Di dalam harddisk, ada sebuah file yang disebut MBR (Master Boot Record). File ini berada di byte pertama dan sektor pertama harddisk; pokoknya benar-benar pertama. Maklum, MBR inilah yang menjadi penanda keberadaan harddisk. Jika dianalogikan, MBR ini seperti peta yang menuntun BIOS menemukan harddisk.

Namun berbagai hal bisa menyebabkan MBR tersebut rusak, seperti terkena virus atau terformat tidak sengaja. Jika itu terjadi, sistem operasi pun kehilangan penunjuk jalan yang ditandai dengan munculnya pesan Operating System not found atau missing operating system di layar.

Solusi dari masalah ini adalah dengan mengembalikan file MBR tersebut. Cara paling umum dilakukan adalah melakukan proses recovery dari CD Windows. Caranya, booting ke CD Windows, lalu pilih Repair (dengan menekan tombol R) dan masuk ke Recovery Console. Setelah itu, ketikkan perintah fixmbr untuk mengembalikan file MBR tersebut.

Untuk Windows Vista, konsepnya sama meski prosedurnya sedikit berbeda. Pertama, booting ke DVD Windows Vista, lalu pilih Repair Your Computer. Ketika System Recovery Options muncul, pilih Command Prompt. Setelah muncul jendela Command Prompt, ketik bootrec.exe dan tekan Enter.

Jika CD Windows sudah hilang entah kemana, Anda bisa menggunakan aplikasi dari Rescue Kit 9.0 Express buatan Paragon. Ini adalah aplikasi gratisan yang memiliki fungsi beragam, termasuk mengembalikan MBR. Aplikasi ini bersifat bootable, artinya bisa di-burn ke CD dan menjadi sumber proses booting. Ketika sistem menunjukkan gejala kehilangan MBR, yang harus Anda lakukan adalah booting ke CD berisi Rescue Kit ini. Setelah itu, pilih menu Boot Corrector, ikuti prosedur yang telah ditentukan, dan kasus kehilangan MBR seharusnya telah teratasi.

Well, this was just stupidity on my part, but just in case anyone is as thick-skulled as I am, here’s what happened.

I had lilo installed on the MBR, pointing to my Slack 12.2 install. I installed Slack 13.0, installed lilo with it, and did the config wizard on the install disk to automatically add the Slack 12.2 entry.

Upon booting the Slack 12.2 partition, I got a shitload of errors, one of which being that a module-updating script couldn’t find the directory it needed. (This was because the script pointed to ?/path/to/(uname -r)”)

Nothing worked, I couldn’t boot Slack 12.2. I realised after excessive error-googling that Slack 13.0 was using it’s own kernel, a slightly newer model, when booting Slack 12.2, so none of the files corresponding to that kernel existed (on top of it probably being a 64-bit kernel).

TLDR, I made a quick-fix and copied the Slack 12.2 kernel files over Slack 13.0 and told the lilo.conf to use those ones instead.

For some reason, I couldn’t figure out how to get LILO to use the kernel files ON that partition, and could only use files on my root partition. I know in grub, you just write:

kernel (hdx,y)/boot/vmlinuz

where (hdx,y) is the partition on which to look for the file /boot/vmlinuz.

Oh well! It’s working now, and it boots, so that’s what counts.

Dentro de los discos básicos existe una nueva modalidad en lugar de estar basado en el clásico MBR, está basado en tablas de particiones GUID. Esta tabla de particiones es una nueva implementación de Intel basada en itanium cuyas limitaciones son bastantes menos restrictivas que las actuales basadas en inicio MBR.

Las tablas de particiones basadas en GUID admiten hasta 128 particiones primarias de 18 exabytes, y no existen las particiones extendidas. Mientras que en las tablas de particiones MBR el límite como hemos visto está en cuatro primarias o bien tres primarias y una extendida, siendo el límite máximo de cada partición de dos terabytes.

Para trabajar con particiones GUID y discos GPT es necesario tener la versión de Windows XP de 64 bits, y naturalmente que el hardware que compremos tenga esas características.

Tabla de partición Guid (GPT) es un estándar para la colocación de la Tabla de Particiones en un disco duro físico. Es parte del estándarExtensible Firmware Interface (EFI) propuesto por Intel para reemplazar la vieja Bios del PC, heredada del IBM PC original. La GPT sustituye al Master Boot Record (MBR) usado con la BIOS.

Fuente original en Wikipedia:

Tabla de Particiones Guid

Da cosa parto

Come molta gente che usa un sistema Linux sull’hard disk ho una partizione con su installato Windows, che uso esclusivamente per farci girare software che ha bisogno di questo sistema operativo. Windows Vista è sulla prima partizione dell’hard disk (sda1), Kubuntu sulla seconda (sda2). Una terza partizione contiene la home di Linux (/home su sda3). Svariate altre partizioni contengono solo dati. Sul MBR c’è GRUB che gestisce il dual-boot. Tutto l’hard disk è chiaramente in chiaro.

Dove voglio arrivare

La soluzione ideale sarebbe quella di criptare tutto l’hard disk e mantenere i sistemi operativi funzionanti come ora, magari con la praticità di un’unica password richiesta all’avvio del pc. In giro per la rete non ho trovano niente di simile (e in ogni caso non sarebbe una soluzione efficiente perché prevede l’uso di una sola chiave di criptografia).
Un approccio sensato sarebbe quello di andare oltre la criptazione delle sole partizioni contenenti dati.
Questo discorso è maggiormente valido sotto Windows, dove tra cestino, file temporanei, file di swap, file di ibernazione e altro c’è l’effettivo rischio di copiare in chiaro su una partizione non criptata dei file provenienti da partizioni criptate. È opportuno allora criptare la partizione di Windows e quella di programmi di terze parti (se diversa) oltre alle partizioni dei dati.
Con Linux il ragionamento è analogo, ma ci si potrebbe limitare alla criptazione della directory /home (che quindi dovrebbe essere montata su una partizione separata) visto che durante l’uso di una sessione normale (non da utente root) la scrittura dovrebbe essere limitata a quella directory.
L’intenzione in ogni caso è quella di criptare la maggior parte del disco fisso, con un buon compromesso tra praticità di utilizzo e prestazioni. Le chiavi e gli algoritmi di criptazione dovrebbero essere il più possibile diversi tra le varie partizioni/sistemi operativi. In più sarebbe buona cosa poter accedere a tutti i dati presenti su tutte le partizioni, indipendentemente dal sistema operativo in uso.

TrueCrypt

Da tempo uso TrueCrypt per creare i cosiddetti contenitori, file che si comportano come dischi virtuali che vanno montati (e decriptati) per poter accedere al loro contenuto. TrueCrypt ha il vantaggio di essere  multipiattaforma, e questo mi ha sempre permesso di accedere ai miei dati sia da Linux che da Windows.
Ho cercato di capire cosa poteva offrirmi questo software che già conoscevo. La versione per Windows ha uno strumento in più: si chiama system encryption e permette di cripare la partizione del sistema operativo con due vantaggi rispetto alla pratica che si applica ai contenitori:

• la fase di criptazione avviene sfruttando l’installazione di Windows già esistente (e in chiaro), quindi non è necessario svuotare la partizione, criptarla e poi riempirla. Non serve reinstallare il sistema operativo. In aggiunta questa fase viene eseguita durante il funzionamento regolare di Windows, che può essere usato nel frattempo (quasi) come niente fosse.
• Il processo precedente è reversibile, cioè si può procedere alla decriptazione della partizione in qualsiasi momento. Tale possibilità mi avrebbe protetto da eventuali ripensamenti o errori.

Questa criptazione di sistema implica l’installazione di un boot-manager ad hoc (non supporta il dual-boot) che all’avvio richede la password all’utente. Questo ovviamente sovrascrive il MBR. In ogni caso se invece di inserire la password si preme Esc il boot-loader di TrueCrypt rimanda alla prima partizione avviabile che trova.

Come mi sono mosso

Prima di eseguire la criptazione di Windows ho eseguito una piccola utility che si chiama HDHacker, ottenibile da questa pagina. Questo software molto intuitivo permette di copiare e scrivere il MBR. Ho fatto una copia del MBR attuale in modo da poterlo ripristinare in caso ne avessi bisogno.

Ho avviato la criptazione di sistema su Windows con TrueCrypt come detto sopra: al riavvio il MBR è stato sovrascritto e dopo l’inserimento della password nel boot-manager si è avviato Windows criptato. Ad un successivo riavvio ho premuto Esc alla richiesta della password, ma Linux non si è avviato perche la sua partizione (sda2) non è avviabile.

Ho dovuto quindi rendere la partizione di Linux avviabile. Per far questo ho bisogno di avviare Linux e usare alcuni comandi di GRUB. Ho riavviato il computer con un LiveCD di Kubuntu e da terminale ho usato:

$ sudo grub

per avviare GRUB, e poi nella shell di GRUB:

> root (hd0,1)
> setup (hd0,1)
> quit

Ricordo che con hd0,1 GRUB intende la seconda partizione sul primo hard-disk (la numerazione parte da 0): in pratica mi riferisco a sda2. Il primo comando serve ad indicare dove è installato GRUB (cioè la partizione dove è presente la directory /boot), il secondo scrive sul boot-sector della partizione in modo da renderla avviabile. Il terzo comando chiude la shell di GRUB e torna al terminale. Ho riavviato.

Finito.

Adesso all’accensione del pc si avvia il boot-loader di TrueCrypt: inserendo la password ho accesso a Windows e alla sua partizione criptata, premendo Esc si avvia GRUB. Chiaramente ciò che appare nell’elenco delle possibili scelte dipende dal file menu.lst, quindi, sebbene sia presente anche la voce relativa a Windows tra i sistemi avviabili, (da GRUB) posso solo lanciare Linux.
La partizione criptata di Windows è esplorabile anche da Linux montandola con TrueCrypt.

Sviluppi futuri

Adesso bisognerà criptare la home di Linux ed eventualmente anche la partizione di swap (ma a questo dedicherò un altro post).
Va notato che lo stato attuale è perfettamente reversibile allo stato pre-criptazione (se occorresse): basta decriptare Windows come detto sopra e rimettere il MBR originale di GRUB (copiato con HDHacker a inizio procedura) al suo posto.

Penso di poter invece risolvere subito questo problemino: attualmente dopo aver skippato il boot-manager di TrueCrypt se ci ripenso e decido di voler avviare Windows devo premere la combinazione Ctrl+Alt+Canc e ripartire da capo. Vorrei poter impostare di avviare il boot-manager di TrueCrypt da GRUB.

Ulteriori risorse

Potrebbe essere utile fare una copia di backup del MBR su file. Il comando è questo:

dd if=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1 > MBRbackup

Mentre per ripristinare il MBR da una copia di backup:

dd if=MBRbackup of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

Aggiornamento del 10/10/09

Ho appena scoperto che la criptazione di Windows (o dell’intero disco) effettuata con un system encryption di TrueCrypt (che prevede quindi il boot-loader) è raggirabile attraverso un bootkit chiamato Stoned Bootkit. A dimostrazione del fatto che chi è varamente deciso ad ottenere quel che vuole con gli strumenti adatti può riuscirci, la pagina linkata precedentemente dice: 

It is even able to bypass full volume encryption, because the master boot record (where Stoned is stored) is not encrypted. The master boot record contains the decryption software which asks for a password and decrypts the drive. This is the weak point, the master boot record, which will be used to pwn your whole system. No one’s secure!

L’infezione avviene a Windows avviato e per l’esecuzione sono richiesti i diritti di amministratore. Una volta infetti non c’è antivirus che tenga perchè il bootkit è caricato a livello di kernel.