Super WinPe

[rodz]

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Hi, I had a complete crash a few months ago caused by a virus.
Had the PC rebuilt and it is now fine.
I cannot remember what the virus was now but it disabled just about everything.
Could not use system restore, would not let me see what was running and would not let me run any virus checker. I was doomed with my limited knowledge.
A friend who knew what had happened sent me a disc the title of this post.
Saying that if I had a similar problem in the future this disc would help me to sort it without having to resort to the rebuild.
He then moved to China and I have temporaraly lost touch.
Can you tell me how this disc would help in this situation.
If it`s possible in laymans terms.
Thanks
Rodz

[LeMarchand]

Most PE discs are "cut down" versions of Windows that you can run from the disc. (You may need to alter your BIOS settings or choose to boot from the disc). Many include various recovery tools to help clean up your computer.

Because the operating system is running from the CD/DVD and not the infected hard drive, virus removal is much easier as the viruses aren't running.

I've never used "Super WinPE", but Googling it shows that it seems to be based on Bart PE and/or its offshoot UBCD4WIN. I use UBCD4WIN a lot and would recommend it as a recovery tool. Super WinPE only seems to be available via file-sharing sites, which sends up a red flag to me (though it could well be perfectly fine). Bart PE and UBCD4WIN both require you to "build your own" disc from an existing Windows disc (for licensing reasons - and even then I'm not sure that Microsoft approve!).

If your computer skills are limited, a PE disc may not be for you. However, it may be worth booting into it and having a CAUTIOUS! look around. (Especially if you can get your hands on a "for the scrap" machine where it doesn't matter if you mess it up). Just don't use it to alter anything if you're on your own machine.

[rodz]

Thanks for that, that`s very interesting.
I now know why it was given to me.
I presume that the programmes that I could not run because of the virus could be run from the disc and I could have run various applications to eradiate the virus.
I have enough knowledge not to mess up my PC.
Thanks again
Rodz