SystemDiscs has a solution that might actually take you away from your frustrations with an automatic repair application called Easy Recovery Essentials (EasyRE, in short). This is a great software that allows you to repair your Windows and backup your files even if you can’t boot into Windows, and we have a giveaway too. Read on for more detail.
Starting Up EasyRE
When you download the EasyRE, it will be in ISO format. To use it, you will have to burn it into a CD. To start EasyRE, you’ll need to insert the CD into the computer and restart it. Note: Make sure that you have configured your BIOS to boot from CD before your hard drive. Otherwise, the CD won’t get boot up. The booting process will take a while. It took me about 2 minutes. It seems to take this long regardless of system performance. It’s a bit of a setback, but you can shrug it off and make some coffee in the meantime. While it’s starting, you’ll see a Linux boot screen with this easily-recognizable icon: Once it’s done loading up, you should see EasyRE’s principal screen.
2: Features Found In EasyRE
Once you reach the principal screen, you’ll see all of EasyRE’s capabilities. Here is what it can do:
Automated Repair
This option allows you to repair Windows automatically. When Windows doesn’t start, this usually gets the job done. Out of the three “broken” systems I’ve tried this on, it worked all three times. Windows was able to boot after a bad driver was installed. Others across the Web have also had the same level of success. When using Automated Repair, you just have to select which partition on your computer has Windows 7 installed and start the process!
Virus Scanner
This virus scanner is rather simple, but it scans your drive rather quickly, mostly due to the lack of running applications that get in the way. The only pet peeve I have is that it isn’t able to update virus definitions on computers that are connected via ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) to my server. Also, you won’t be able to update definitions if your ISP requires a username and password for authentication. Maybe the developers can consider adding this possibility?
Browse/Backup Files
This is probably one of the most useful features. If you can’t resolve anything with EasyRE, you can still back up your files using its native file system browser. If you have a spare hard drive, you can move files from one of the partitions to another.
Partition Editor
This feature, as the name implies, allows you to modify the partitions you have in Windows so that you can create an environment in which you can back up files on other drives.
Internet Browser
If you still have stuff to do on the Web, and you don’t have much time to recover Windows at this point, you can still use the browser, which allows you to use the Internet without having to run Windows on your computer at that moment. This is a must for people who use their computers for work. This wide range of features makes EasyRE perhaps one of the most useful utilities for recovery up until now. Let’s do a run-down on user experience.
The Run-Down
EasyRE did its job well. It recovers the operating system into working order in a short time. Its virus scanner is decent and didn’t pick up any false positives. I have taken the time to infect a few files with some uncommon virus “strains,” and EasyRE picked them up properly. The Internet and file browsers are a bit rudimentary, but that’s practically all you need anyway. It’s better than having a computer that has little more use than a paperweight. On the negative side, EasyRE closes when it’s done with the virus scan and leaves you in the desktop of the background operating system. This can get a bit annoying if you have more things to do with the application. It’s a bit difficult to run EasyRE again once it closes. Another problem occurs after restarting the computer. Windows detects that something happened to the file system and starts scanning it again. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the application, but I thought I would mention that since it’s slightly annoying as it sets you back about 10-20 minutes. All in all, EasyRE is an excellent recovery suite. I’d give it a 9/10, only because of a couple of small unresolved issues (such as networking and EasyRE closing once it finishes the virus scan). Aside from these minuscule issues, it’s a powerful and impressive program that everyone should have in their arsenals! EasyRE Professional
