At a Glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
- Recovers just about anything
- Works with the latest technology
- Resets Windows passwords
Cons
- Somewhat pricey
Our Verdict
Boot disk recovery and repair toolkits don’t get any better than this Windows-based environment.
Finally, we come to a boot disc that offers useful tools, is easy
to use, and can be created from virtually any XP or Vista computer.
The catch? At $80, it costs $80 more than the other five options
put together.
Based on Windows PE, LSoft Technologies’ Active@ Boot Disk offers a well-chosen collection of utilities, including Image backup and recovery, a CD/DVD-based data backup program (Windows PE and Active@ load entirely into RAM, making the disc drive available for other uses), and a tool for recovering deleted partitions and files. You can change Windows passwords, wipe your hard drive, and choose between three partition managers. A Windows Explorer clone lets you copy files off of the hard drive.
You can even bring up Windows’ Task Manager, although I’m not sure why you’d want to. And if you’re feeling really geeky, there’s even a HEX editor.