[ Thanks to Karen V for this link.
]
“Even if the Windows emergency boot worked, how would
he finish editing and then printing out the report? Instead I
suggested he use a Linux Live-CD. My hunch was that although the
Windows OS failed to boot, his files were in tact. So, I pulled a
Knoppix Linux Live-CD from my bag and asked him to insert it into
his drive. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a Live-CD
allows you to boot Linux from the CD-ROM into memory without
touching the OS on the hard disk.“But before he booted, I asked him if he had a USB RAM card, or
a CD-RW drive? Unfortunately, his laptop didn’t include a CD-RW to
backup his files, and he did not have any other means of backing up
his vital report. I looked around the room. Spotting his Minolta
Digital camera, I asked if it was working and if he had the USB
cable for it. Mitch handed me the camera and cable. I inserted it
into the laptop USB slot just before I booted Knoppix.“On Mitch’s laptop, I needed to press F12 to choose the CD-ROM
as the boot device. Then within seconds Knoppix began to load.“Once loaded, the first step was to mount both the Windows hard
disk and the Minolta camera’s memory disk.”