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Post by jojo on Dec 29, 2015 12:19:46 GMT
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Post by mikkh on Dec 31, 2015 10:14:14 GMT
While I have Falcon four and other similar boot CD's in my collection, I invariably start off with 'Parted Magic' in the drive when looking to solve problems It's a Linux live CD initially designed to partition and clone disks, but it's a full desktop OS with many extra tools useful for fixing Windows and Linux PC's it has several boot options for booting in 32 or 64 bit mode, and the default option is to load itself into RAM if enough is available. This makes it very quick to use It scores over others because it's quicker loading, a cleaner more intuitive interface and if you need internet access it's far more likely to have the correct driver because networking has always been a strong point in Linux with a far bigger database of inbuilt drivers than any Windows based OS While I applaud the many features of falcon fours DVD, it does have that cluttered feel with the majority of the software never being used and many being duplicated and/or very old and of limited use. Parted Magic fits easily on a CD and contains only more relevant programs for fixing common problems. You wouldn't believe how many people drop off a PC/laptop and forget to mention it has a password! OK, so now I've got you interested - here's the bad news.... It's no longer free (boo, hiss) but is available for the reasonable price of $9 (£6 at current exchange rates) as a download partedmagic.com/it's also available pre-installed on a 16/32 or 64 GB USB stick with prices from $24. That includes free shipping, a backup CD and a chance to download the ISO. That's quite expensive I think considering the cost of USB sticks, but I guess the shipping price is at fault there. They also have a strange yearly option (17 versions were released last year) at a very unreasonable price of $49 ! These are minor bug fixes reported by users with rare hardware combinations mostly, so if you have more standard hardware, there's literally no point in owning all releases. I still have a 2012 version that works fine on most machines and have only recently grabbed a 2015 version to see what new stuff is included. Worth a look at anyway
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Post by jojo on Jan 1, 2016 2:02:01 GMT
Thanks mikkh, I will check that out. Always useful to have these in the box for when needed.
Falcon Four does indeed have a cluttered feel as you say, I think you've been into this previously, (or it could have been Hiren's) saying that much if the stuff there, is padding.
There seems to be, unconfirmed talk that Falcon Four will be updated to service Windows 10, which will be nice. Or perhaps not.
I haven't tried any of my toolkit CDs on my new machine yet. But I will soon.
Off topic, it's the new year,a mouse has decided to move in and was attempting to dance across the floor. The small PC W7, has decided the product key isn't valid and I've lost another tooth.
A sprinkling of peppermint has sent our new mouse running, I think I've sorted the product key thing and I think I can just about nibble corn on the cob with one tooth. Watch this space.
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