Every computer repair technician has a hand full of software they regularly use to diagnose computer hardware issues. They are usually bootable disks, and they have their operating system included (FreeDOS or Linux). But carrying around all of these disks can be kind of a nightmare. But luckily, there is a solution to this problem called the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD).
The Ultimate Boot CD main menu
UBCD is a bootable CD that contains the most complete set of computer hardware diagnostic tools I have ever seen. There are diagnostic tools for testing BIOS to memory and everything in between. It includes programs like Memteset86 and Windows Memory Diagnostics for testing memory and Data Lifeguard (Western Digital) and SeaTools (Seagate) for testing hard drives. In fact, it has an extensive collection of hard drive utilities.
All of the software contained inside of the UBCD is non-commercial (freeware) and is free to download. It comes as an ISO image that you can burn to a CD, or create a bootable memory stick from it. You can even add more programs to it if you like. The UBCD is like the Swiss Army knife for computer hardware diagnostics.
I have to warn you that some of the programs inside of the UBCD can render your hard drive unreadable or completely erase the data from it. The following is a list of the program categories inside of the UBCD. For a complete list of utilities included in the UBCD, please visit their website (see link below).
- BIOS (Basic Input Output System)
- CPU (Central Processing Unit)
- HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
- Boot Management
- Data Recovery
- Device Info and Management
- Diagnosis
- Disk Cloning
- Disk Editing
- Disk Wiping
- Installation
- Partition Management
- Memory
- Others
- Peripherals
- System
Now for all of the Geeks out there, here's the technical information on the UBCD. The UBCD is formatted using the FAT (File Allocation Table) file system and operates one of two Linux boot loaders, SYSLINUX (default) or GRUB4DOS. From there, you can start either a Linux based or DOS-based utility. UBCD is also customizable, so you can add any floppy or ISO image or FreeDOS based application to it (see link below).
The UBCD is a privately funded project, and donations are encouraged. So, if you find the UBCD as useful as I do, please donate (see link below).
For more information on the UBCD, follow the links below.
Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD)
How to customize the Ultimate Boot CD
Donate to support the UBCD project
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