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How to Retrieve Windows Files Using a

Linux Live CD
The list of tools you'll need

Written by: Guy McDowell, Twitter: @GuyMcDowell

Posted on: May 15th, 2019 in: Computer Tips

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Sometimes Windows just won’t start. That’s
alright, you’ve been making regular backups or syncing your hard drive with a cloud service
like Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive. You haven’t been making backups? You don’t have a
cloud storage service? Oh. That’s okay, we’ve got this.
Let’s use a Linux Live CD to get in to that hard drive and rescue our most important les.

You’ll need a Linux Live CD or USB .ISO le, a free program called Rufus, an empty USB drive
to put the Live CD on, and another USB drive to put your recovered les on.

The USB drive for your recover les needs to be formatted to FAT32 le format. We’ll show you
how to get the Linux Live CD and then use it to recover Windows les from your dead
computer.

What is a Linux Live CD?

Linux is an open source operating system (OS). You may have already heard about Linux but
didn’t think you’d have any use for it.

A Live CD or Live USB provides a way to use an OS on a computer, without installing it on the
computer. We’re going to stick to the USB type, since so many computers don’t have CD or DVD
players anymore.

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Once you’ve made the live USB, you insert it in to your turned off computer. Then you start the
computer and tell it to boot from the USB. The operating system and all its programs stay on
the USB. They don’t install on your computer.

The live USB will access your computer’s RAM and CPU to function. It will also give you
access to any hard drives that are in your computer.

How Do I Get a Linux Live CD?

Hopefully, you’ve done this before your hard drive stopped working. If not, ask a friend if you
could use their computer to make one.

First, you need to download a Linux distribution that does what you need it to do. There are
several out there. Let’s use Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD). It is free to download and comes with a
lot of programs and tools for drive cloning, data recovery, memory and CPU testing, and BIOS.
Get to know how to use these tools and you can possibly x your failed hard drive too.

You can download it through a peer-to-peer (P2P) tool or do a direct download from one of the
mirror sites listed.

If you’d like to try a different Live CD, here are some more options:

SystemRescue CD – Has antivirus, malware and rootkit removal, and other tools
Hiren’s Boot CD – Features Mini Windows XP, so you can use Windows tools.
FalconFour’s UBCD – Similar to Hiren’s but with more tools loaded in Mini Windows XP.
GParted Live – Mostly focused on hard drive partition management.
Trinity Rescue Kit – Text based interface, good recovering deleted les or changing
passwords.

Also make sure to download Rufus. It’s the easiest and fastest way to make bootable USB
drives.

How Do I Make a Bootable Linux USB

Drive?
Rufus is a great little program that can help you make any .ISO le into a bootable USB drive.
You’ve already downloaded it, so let’s open it.

Make sure you have the correct USB drive selected. This process will completely erase the
USB drive. Rufus will already be set to the right setting you need. Click on the SELECT button
to choose our UBCD .ISO.
When the le explorer opens, navigate to where you saved the UBCD .ISO and double-click on
it to select it.

Now, click on the START button. When you hover over the button, you will get a warning,
“This will DESTROY any data on the target!”
You’ll get another warning that all the data on the USB drive that you selected, “…WILL BE
DESTROYED.” Rufus isn’t kidding. Click on OK to continue.

Rufus will start to make the bootable USB drive. You’ll see a progress bar continue across the
bottom. It only takes a minute or two, with a USB 3 ash drive.

When the status bar says READY, click on CLOSE. Your UBCD bootable USB drive is now ready.
How Do I Boot My Computer with a USB
Drive?
It depends on the computer. There are several ways to boot with a USB drive, so it’s best to nd
the speci cs for your computer. The common thread is that when you turn the computer on,
you’ll have to press a speci c key, or combination of keys, to boot into BIOS and change the
default boot drive to your USB.

Check out our article that shows you how to change the boot sequence in the BIOS. Some
laptops will allow you to boot to a boot menu outside of BIOS, where you can choose to boot
from the USB drive.

Once you’ve rebooted your computer with UBCD, you’ll see a text-based menu. Use your arrow
keys to go down to Parted Magic and tap enter to select it.

Now you’ll get another text menu with three different choices. You can choose either 1. Default
settings (Runs from RAM) or 2. Live with default settings. If one doesn’t work, try the other.

You’ll see some text scroll by as the computer starts up the Parted Magic desktop. Then you’ll
see a desktop that’s not completely unlike Windows.
Near the top-left corner, you’ll see File Manager. That’s the UBCD equivalent of Windows
Explorer. Double-click on that to open it.

You’ll see several drives in the left-side of the File Manager. It may be obvious which one is
the drive that Windows is installed on or it might not. The sure way to tell is that you’ll see a
folder called Windows.
When you nd that, you’ve found the drive with the les that you wish to recover. Navigate
through there to nd the les you’re looking for. Click through Users > Your Account where
Your Account is your account’s name.

In there, you’ll see My Documents, My Pictures, Desktop, and so on. That’s likely where you’ll
nd the les you want to recover. When you nd them, you can select them just like you
would in Windows. Right-click and copy the les.
Then look for your other USB drive where you will paste the les. Once you’ve found it, it’s as
simple as right-click and Paste.
Now your les are on your USB drive, ready to put back on your computer once it’s xed.

Close out File Manager and click on the start menu button in the bottom-left corner of the
screen. In the picture below, there’s a red square around it. Then click on Logout.
Another window will open with some choices on how you can log out. Click on Turn Off
Computer.

Once the computer is shut down, remove your USB drives and put the away for safekeeping,
until your computer is up and running again.

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Guy has been published online and in print newspapers, nominated for writing awards, and
cited in scholarly papers due to his ability to speak tech to anyone, but still prefers analog
watches. Read Guy's Full Bio

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