Common disaster recovery software works by backing up an image of the hard drive which it updates at an interval that you set, which allows you to restore your machine completely and easily to exactly how it was when you made the backup.

Some common reasons why you need software of this type are:

• Virus or other malware attack
• Accidental deletion of your files
• Operating system corruption
• Hard drive failure
• Theft of the whole computer

Basically you boot the computer from a CD or a USB key, and the software makes a complete image of the drive, including boot sector and partition information. It exactly copies this data either to a network location or an external hard drive. Since it's making an image, it copies all of the following:

• Your operating system including the registry
• All of your device drivers
• Every bit of your data, including your email and everything stored in non-standard directories
• Your programs, such as Word, QuickBooks, etc

Most users update their images at least weekly, and will store multiple instances so they can step backwards in time if they need to by simply restoring an older image. Nothing is ever lost or missed as the restored data is an exact bit by bit replica of the disk that was backed up.

This software also works to backup and restore complicated server configurations, SQL database applications and data, and Exchange.

Restoring your system works the same way. You boot from either a CD or a USB key, select the location and name of the image, and let the software restore the machine. There is no reinstallation of the operating system, device drivers, or even your data. It's a complete and simple solution to recovering your machine.

As mentioned above, even if your hardware is stolen, you can restore the image to an identical machine and be up and running in just a short period of time. Properly backing up your data will cause a disaster to become just an inconvenience, rather than a production killer.

You got to work early this morning, hoping to get a head start on finishing up that profit analysis spreadsheet. You grabbed your coffee, and landed at your desk like you have done every morning. You hit the spacebar on your sleeping computer and nothing happens, but the power lights still on. Oh well, another lockup, what's new.

You hold the power button in, and the machine shuts off. You restart it, and you get an error that the machine won't boot, but the hard drive is still found. If you can get the files from your broken desktop machine, you can move them to your notebook and still finish them on time. What do you do?

Most Linux distributions offer a solution to your problem. The installation CD does actually contain a "Live" file system. Instead of installing Linux on the machine, they run from the CD, not altering the hard drive at all. They allow you to access the network card and other hardware as if you HAD installed Linux.

Installation is very straightforward:

• Pick a distribution to use. Knoppix seems to be compatible with the majority of hardware, so you will find its installation could be easier on your hardware. Easier is better. The majority of the site is written in German; remember to click the US/UK flag to proceed.
• Click the Penguin at the bottom that's labeled download, and choose where you want to get it from and what version you need.
• The file is downloaded as an ISO image, ready to burn to CD or DVD. Burn it, make sure you verify the image, and on to the next step.
• Power on the machine, insert the CD or DVD, and follow the prompts. Since Linux will be running from the CD, you will notice that it loads things pretty slowly. Eventually you will land on a somewhat familiar looking desktop.

Now, the easiest way to get your files saved would be to attach a USB jump drive to your "new" Linux box. Linux and most modern Unix's have understood USB drives longer than Windows. Once you attach the drive, Linux will mount it and it will appear as an icon on your desktop. You should also, depending on your Linux distribution, see your Windows hard drive. Double click it and navigate your way to wherever your documents are stored, and drag them to your USB drive. Once everything you need is ON that drive, right click and eject it.

Insert the drive in your notebook pc, and copy the "recovered" data over to your My Documents folder. You have now successfully used your Linux Live CD to recover your own data. You should be aware that this will not work if your hard drive has actually failed. Software, no matter how good it is, will ever be able to resurrect a mechanically failed drive. If that's the case, you need to hire a recovery service.

As you can see, Linux actually isn't as intimidating as everyone thinks it is, and recovering your data with it is probably a use you had never thought of. You never know, using the live CD might make you try Linux as an everyday operating system.