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Why does nobody talk about using bootable USB drives for quick diagnostics?
I had a client last week with a PC that wouldn't boot past the BIOS screen. After trying different cables and swapping RAM for an hour, I grabbed a bootable Linux USB I made two years ago. It fired right up and let me check the hard drive, which turned out to be dead. Has anyone else found a specific USB tool that's saved them time on a tough job?
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danielm808d ago
My buddy had a similar nightmare with his laptop last month, wouldn't boot AT ALL. A Ubuntu USB I lent him let him save all his files before the drive completely gave out.
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sean_barnes247d ago
Yeah did you try safe mode first though?
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charles_coleman7d ago
that "wouldn't boot AT ALL" part is always the scary thing, isn't it. It's like when your car just clicks instead of starting, you know something deep is wrong. @danielm80 I notice this pattern everywhere now, people don't think about backups until they're already in the hole. We all treat our stuff like it's indestructible until it proves us wrong, then we scramble for a lifeboat like that Ubuntu stick. It's weird how we'll spend hours decorating our desktop but won't spend five minutes setting up a simple backup schedule.
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