Plenty of utilities can recover deleted files, but what if you can’t boot your computer, or the whole drive has been formatted? Here’s how to dig deep and recover the most elusive deleted files, or even whole partitions.
We’ve highlighted options for properly erasing your hard drives in the past (some simple, some involving hammers); in a similar vein, our friends at How-To Geek dive into the specifics of securely wiping your hard drive with an Ubuntu Live CD.
All systems: Fedora 13, the latest version of the Linux desktop code-named Goddard, is available for testing out on a live CD, a USB stick, or, for the brave, hard drive installation. Automatic printer drivers, better graphics support, and more is included.
When Windows goes wrong, it can go really wrong. Worse: Often it’s extremely difficult to save your system from Windows itself. Here’s how to use a simple USB drive to free space, remove viruses, rescue passwords and more from crunked Windows setups.
All platforms: Fedora’s released a bootable beta of their upcoming 12th release, “Constantine”, that speeds up system updates, makes Bluetooth an on-demand service, and optimises CPU and graphics performance on netbooks, among other improvements.
Windows only: Free application uSbuntu Live Creator installs a Live CD from an ISO image onto your USB flash drive—much more useful, portable and easy to deal with than carrying around a CD.
CrunchBang Linux, a lightweight, Ubuntu-based, thumb-drive-friendly operating system we previously toured in screenshots, is now available in 64-bit editions for version 9.04.01, which also adds support for the ext4 hard drive format and more wireless networking support.
If you like the looks and features of Ubuntu 9.04, but want a lighter, swifter version of it, try this minimalist installation that can knock memory usage down by up to 75 percent.
Planning ahead to multi-boot Windows and Linux distributions is the way to do it, but what if you end up erasing your boot menu and losing access to Linux? The FOSSwire blog has you covered.
