Manage updates with the Download AppUBCD4Win User Reviews
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"Did what I needed it to do."
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
It worked and did what I needed it to do.
Cons
Fairly technical, but I guess if your at the point where you are creating boot disks, maybe it has to be technical.
Summary
I used this along with Macrium Reflect at after reading another poster's remarks about the boot disk creation process in the free version of Macrium Reflect. I had a bit of trouble getting the plugins set up to connect the two products. Ultimately I was able to get them to talk to each other. It wasn't a huge deal. As I understood it, Macrium was supposed to come up on the desktop for UBCD4Win. It did not. But the executable was available under the PROGRAMS folder/directory and I could execute from there. Between the two I was able to create an image of my 80GB hard drive and transfer it to a new 500 GB hard drive. Macrium is what I used for the image, but it would not have been possib le without creating a boot disk.
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"Long download. Somewhat intimidating for a novice."
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
Has a lot of features.
Cons
Long download. Burning instruction are a little confusing.
Summary
First burn was a failure. ( I think it was my mistake) I'll try again tues. when I get more disks. Hope it can help me save my main PC. I'll report back on progress and experince.
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"Apparently I'm still a novice"
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
There is nothing I like about it.
Cons
I really could not understand how to use this program.
Summary
People come to me to help them with their computers. I know I don't have all the answers but I also know enough to help some people out. I thought I was no longer a novice. Apparently I am.
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"A great set of utilities in a familiar interface."
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
The ability to boot outside of the O/S to test and reapir a system.
Cons
Possibly too many utilities to choose from (which might not really be a bad thing) without a summary of each. A couple of disk wipe programs did not work well, and the A/V didn't work well and I had gotten a couple of different errors from it.
Summary
All in all this is a great tool. I can confidently boot on this disk and use it to repair and clean up machines I am working on.
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"EASY. Mostly up to date. Many Drivers, Plugins, Tools"
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
XLNT Drive, LAN, Internet & some RAID support. Download it > Install it > Open it > Path to installation files C:\Windows > Burn to CD/DVD > Build. Literally that easy. Burned Rescue CD using all the default plugin/boot settings & built in burner.
Cons
No big cons. Must use XP to build (or buy CD online), but IT WORKS ON ALL WINDOWS OS. Big file (6.94MB Size on Disc using default settings). Website navigation a little difficult. Open source, freeware project: Survives on donations and user support.
Summary
MAKES BUILDING AND BURNING A RESCUE CD SIMPLE AND EASY !
This is BartPE with updated drivers and 140 more plugins.
I am not a geek. This is easy. Has built in burner, so it can create and burn a Rescue CD/DVD in one operation. (An ISO file is always created and saved in the UBCD4Win folder. You can mount or burn that image if you wish.)
If you have a plugin that works with BartPE, it loads into UBCD4Win EXACTLY the same way as BartPE, and vice versa. (I use Macrium Reflect backup imaging, which will install a plugin into BartPE. I had Reflect navigate to UBCD4Win, install it into the plugin folder, had UBCD4Win Configure the plugin, and it worked perfectly.)
Remember to configure a plugin if you install one. From the Builder Window, click Plugins, click on the plugin you installed from the list of plugins, Enable it [Yes in the first column], and click Config.
Has some RAID support, but I don't know how much. My Vista [Compaq Presario] disk controller is RAID 0 [2 HDD bays, but only 1 HDD installed]. BartPE does not recognize it, but UBCD4Win does.
I have built rescue CDs using BartPE version 3.1, and 3 versions of LINUX. UBCD4Win is the only Rescue CD where everything worked. Recognized my HDD, external drives, Network, Internet access. The only thing it did not recognize was printers connected to USB ports. (I am sure there is an easy fix for that, but I am not looking for it. I only use the Rescue CD to restore or fix my system, not for printing.)
I tried it because I was looking for a Rescue CD that would work on my Vista and XP systems. It does that perfectly.
There are 175 plugin and boot options. Luckily, using the default settings worked on my Vista and XP computers, and still fits on a CD (6.94MB size on disk).
There are commercial plugins (if you have a license) for Symantic Ghost 11.0 & 8.0, Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8.x, Kaspersky Internet Security.
It is a tool box that seems to have every freeware tool and boot option you can think of. All the Microsoft stuff, Norton Removal Tool, AVG Remover, ATF Cleaner, SDFix, DriveImage XML, SelfImage, Image Maker, GParted, EASUS Partition Master 3.02, freeware anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, just to name a few.
If you know the things you want, and the things you don't, you can easily tailor the build by scrolling down the list and clicking Enable/Disable (or Remove if you want to permanently delete it). I like to keep the size small enough to fit onto a CD because it will work in more computers.
If you know script (I do not), you can make you own plugins and boot options. One of the Multiboot plugins is "User added Boot Options" which makes it easier to add your own boot options.
Everyone cautions against using the Installation files (I386 files) in your operating system as the source to build the Rescue CD, because of the potential to damage your system. They want you to use the Installation CD as the source. Because I have a backup image of my OS I can easily restore if things go wrong, I use my OS as the source, and have not had a problem. When I use the Installation CD, there are 25 files that cannot be found, and the CD does not work.
If you are willing to take the risk, using the installation files loaded into the OS you are using to create the CD greatly simplifies the process. Just type the folder path to the operating system (typically C:\Windows). UBCD4Win can find them from there. To make sure it is a good folder path, click the Source button > Check. If it says that is not a valid path, click Source > Check and it will find the path. Click on the Found path > OK and continue with the build.
The project is open source, funded by donations, and updated mainly by users. I hope people will continue to support it and update it.
It is a HUGE UPDATE to BartPE, and MAKES BUILDING AND BURNING A RESCUE CD VERY SIMPLE AND EASY ! -
"A bit disappointed"
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
Fairly up-to-date- and varied apps
Well thought out rather complete proposition
Always starts-up without an itchCons
Could not help with aVista start-up problem
Would not recognize my USB back-up drive (neither did MS's startup repair!)
An USB key was recognised, but no back-ups here!
Would not run my (XP) WinRestore app: missing dll! Program ran fine on an XP PC.Summary
This machine, an HP bought new nine months ago with Vista installed on a decent configuration (a 4.2 Vista index due to a lowly graphics card) worked really fine for a rather short period of time (and extensive tests I just performed with HP's System Doctor indicate the hardware is still quite OK).
Then Vista started to give me more and more problems (my Office XP would crash several times a day, for example, and MS would blandly tell me, as a solution, to move up to a more recent version), to an extent that I had to restore the system to its original state, using the restore DVD HP had me build.
And, yes Vista ran maybe even better than before and, no, I'm not a Vista basher (I believed, in my ingenuity, that it would run fine on a new system and not as a kind of upgrade on an XP machine)...
But then, out of a sudden, six weeks later, my system would, at start-up, immediately give me a kind of BSOD I never experienced before in all those years (of DOS ad Windows from 3.1).
The "automatic" Startup repair" failed again and again. I "agreed" to send the collected info to MS, but seems this is onlir system: don't expect any feedback here...
WinRestore was definitely my solution: Windows Vista System Restore refused to "see" my restore points, pretending there were none. UBCD4Win, which has access to "System Information" displayed them all but has no tool to restore them (or did I overlook something?).
I eventually choose to delete all Windows data and log files in the Windows, User and Program Data folders that seemed to relate to the startup process. Whenever something looked like a back-up file I would also rename this to the ones I just deleted. And, believe it or not, my Vista is up and running again...
I cannot, of course, guarantee this system's integrity (I might have deleted the "wrong" files, isn't it?), but it has been running fine for 5 days now... And, mind you, up to now the "old" restore points are still not seen by the system (UBCD tells me they are still there, even allowing me to delete some really useless ones).
Question is: why could none of Microsoft's repair options (I tried them all several times) perform what I simply (but tediously: I was busy for hours) performed by hand?...
And this is why I also feel let down, in this case, by the otherwise very useful UBCD4Win... -
"best first aid kit a computer could have"
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
a lot of options to solve problems
Cons
the layman may find the wealth of programs a little confusing
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"NEVER BETTER"
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
It saved my computer.
Cons
Not for novices.
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"Excellent collection."
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
Extensible collection of tools
Cons
Setup is a bit long, and complicated
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"Not sure if it even works"
Version: UBCD4Win 3.50
Pros
Many separate programs in one.
Cons
Not sure what to do with any of them.
Summary
I wasn't too impressed. It might be a good program for someone that knows what they're doing. For me, I spent hours trying to figure things out, then I finally just gave up.
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