The core program can be downloaded directly from the developer’s website. It does not ship with any of the antivirus rescue disks or system tools though. It is up to the user to download them individually with the possibility to skip programs by simply not downloading them.

The program itself is divided into four tabs that list the various tools that are supported by the antivirus rescue disk. The Italian interface can be switched to several other languages. A click on any entry will open a website with download possibilities. Some websites are also shown in the Italian language but it is usually not a big problem to change those to another language like English or German to download the tool in the right language.

The downloaded images and tools have to be placed in the right directory so that the program will recognize them during the creation of the bootable disk image. Here is the list of supported antivirus rescue CDs and other tools:

antivirus: Avira Antivir Rescue System, Bitdefender, Dr. Web Live CD, F-Secure, GData, Kaspersky Kav Rescue CD, Panda Safe CD and VBA Rescue

utility: Floppy win98SE, Clonezilla, Gparted, NT password, Parted Magic, System Rescue CD, Ultimate Boot CD

Linux: Austrumi, Damn Small Linux, NimbleX, Puppy Linux, Slax

PE: LiveXP, MegalabCD, WindowsPE, UBCD4Win, VistaPE

The program offers then to create either an ISO image which can be burned to CD and DVD or to make to copy the files to an USB device and make that device bootable.

Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility is slightly more complex to setup initially. The tools that are combined on the disk or USB device on the other hand might make it an interesting option for users who usually run multiple antivirus programs and utilities in situations where they are needed.

The program can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

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The only drawback (if you can call it a drawback) is that customizations such as themes, fonts, colors, etc are not configured by default. As a backup, Remastersys will copy all personal data. As a Live CD, Remastersys will include all installed applications, but not personal data. In this tutorial you will learn how to install Remastersys and create a backup and a Live CD version of your currently installed Ubuntu desktop.

Installing Remastersys

The first thing you will need to do is open up your /etc/apt/sources.list file in a terminal window. You will need to do this using the sudo nano /etc/aptsources.list command. Once that file is open add the following to the end of the file (depending upon your release):

For Gutsy and Earlier add the following:

# Remastersys
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository remastersys/

For Hardy and Newer add the following:
# Remastersys
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository ubuntu/

Save that file and then issue the commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install remastersys

There will be some dependencies to install, so accept those and wait for the installation to complete.

Running remastersys

You will find the menu entry for Remastersys in the Administration sub-menu of the System menu. There you will see two entries: Remastersys Backup and Remastersys Grub Restore. The entry you want is Remastersys Backup. When you first start Remastersys you will get a warning that you must close all other windows as well as unmount any network shares. Naturally this makes for complicating the process of taking screenshots, but when using Linux – we have ways.

Figure 1

The main window of Remastersys is very simple (see Figure 1). You have a window with a number of options to select from. To create a Live CD click the “Make a Distributable copy to share with friends” and then click OK. To create a backup of your current running system (which will include all personal data) click “Backup Complete System” and click OK.

Let’s examine the process of creating a backup. You will want to make sure you have all windows, but Remastersys, closed. Select “Backup Complete System” and click OK. When you click OK the main window will disappear to be replaced by a terminal window. The rest of the process will occur within this terminal window. Depending on how large your system is, the creation of the .iso will take some time (and many CPU cycles). Do not do anything on your machine during this process.

Once the iso is created you will be informed the iso file can be found within /home/remastersys/remastersys. The file name will be custom.iso (unless you have changed the name by using the “Modify the remastersys config file” option before you create your backup or Live CD.

Once the process is complete you will need to burn your iso onto DVD. Most likely your backup will not fit on a CD. You can burn your ISO using the handy K3B tool (For a tutorial on burning ISOs with K3B check out my article, “Burn CD and DVD ISO images with K3B“.) After the DVD is burned you will have a perfect backup of your system, including configurations and personal data.

Final thoughts

If you are looking for a nearly foolproof means of backing up your Ubuntu system, you have most likely found it. Remastersys is an outstanding tool that will create backups and Live CDs of your currently running system.

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I was about to give up hope and copy the files manually when I came across an extremely powerful, yet simple, Unix command: dd.

Using a Linux live disc, dd can be used to copy files, disks and partitions. It can output directly onto another disc or as an image (like an iso).

dd copies data byte-exactly, meaning it won’t get stuck should it encounter corrupted or fragmented data.

dd is nicknamed ‘destroy disk’ as mistyping one letter can wipe your hard disk, so caution must be used.

To copy a hard disk, one would use the following command (whilst root):

dd if=/dev/hdx of=/dev/hdy

hdx is the input hard disk (to be copied) and hdy is the output hard disk (where it is to be copied to).

if = input
of = output

This is extremely important to remember and their names must be altered according to how they are on your computer (use a tool like gParted to find out your drive’s paths). For example, your ‘if’ may be /dev/sdb whilst your ‘of’ may be /dev/sda, but this obviously varies according to how you want to use it and computer-by-computer so you MUST check. An extremely intelligent friend of mine accidentally wiped a hard drive using this command!

Another use would be to use it to produce a CD image:

dd if=/dev/cdrom of=image.iso bs=2k.

Debian Help has a more complete guide.

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K3B (KDE Burn Baby Burn) is a CD/DVD authoring software written for the KDE desktop that supports nearly every feature you have come to love with such tools. K3B takes this one step further by being free. And unlike many other similar tools, K3B can burn bootable ISO images so you can keep that free-install smell on your PC at all times.

Burning an ISO image with K3B is quite simple. The first step is to start the application. K3B is generally found in the Audio or Multimedia menu entry within the Start (or “K”) menu. Once K3B is open you will want to either click on the Burn CD Image (or Burn DVD ISO Image) button or click on the Tools menu from the menu bar.

K3B Main Window

If you go the Tools menu route you will see an entries with the same title as the buttons (”Burn CD Image” and “Burn DVD ISO Image”).

When you select to burn an image a new window will appear. In this new window you have to click directory button in the Image To Burn section and locate the ISO file you want to burn.

The Burn Image Window

Once you have located the image K3B will run a checksum on the image to make sure it matches. When the checksum is finished, and you have inserted the proper medium in your drive, you can click the Start button to begin the burn process.

If you are unsure of your setup, or if you are low on burnable media, you can always select the Simulate button (under Settings) to simulate the burn process. If the process will run successfully you can then uncheck Simulate and run the process as normal.

Final Thoughts

K3B is one of the finest CD/DVD authoring applications available. And having the built-in ability to burn ISO images helps to stand above many other (more costly) alternatives.

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This can be very annoying if a file generally distributed as an ISO, such as an operating system, has to be burned on a computer without essential software, for example at the house of a friend, who only uses the default disc burning tool.

ISO Recorder is a tool for Windows XP and Vista which provides a simple wizard to burn an ISO disc image onto a CD (and, in Vista, onto a DVD).

The software, whilst closed source, is free (as in beer). It is also quite reliable, although it does seem to freeze somewhat more than commercial pieces of software such as Nero.

There are 3 versions of ISO Recorder available: v1, for Windows XP and XP SP1; v2, for Windows XP SP2; and v3 for Windows Vista. A command line version also exists, which operates on XP, 2003 and Vista.

Version 1 allows ISOs to be burned by admins, Version 2 allows ISOs to be made and burned by admins and non-admins whilst Version 3 adds DVD support.

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The benefits of creating ISO images and mounting them in Windows might outweigh the negative aspects. The main benefit is file management. Instead of having many folders and files scattered around the hard drive there is only one ISO file containing all the files. It’s not a difference speed wise either because the files are still located on the computer’s hard drive. The only negative aspect of this procedure is the fact that no new files can be added to the ISO image. The user would have to copy all files back to the computer, add the new ones and create a new ISO image.

The Free ISO Creator makes use of an easy to use interface that basically concentrates on adding files and folders using a file browser. It is possible to set a size limit for the ISO image. The three default sizes 700 MB, 4.5 GB and 8.0 GB are available as well as an option to create a custom sized ISO image which can be easily mounted as well.

A few additional options like creating a bootable image or selecting a different file system for the ISO are available. Conversion of the files usually does not take longer than a few seconds depending on the size they occupy on the hard drive and some additional parameters like the hard drive’s speed.

The ISO images can be mounted or burned to CD or DVD afterwards.

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Pismo File Mount Audit Package can mount zip files but also iso, compact iso, compact file set and private folder files as virtual folders on the system. That’s an excellent way to access and execute the contents of a zip file without having to unpack it first.

The software supports a wide range of Windows operating systems including Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista both in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

It integrates itself nicely in the Windows Explorer right-click menu and becomes available only on supported file extensions. Files can be mounted from all available locations including network devices and removable media.

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The problem with bin formats is that they rely on cue files that tell the burning software how to burn the CD or DVD image to disc. If the cue file is missing the applications cannot find those information and refuse to burn the disc image.

WinBin2Iso is a tiny 43 Kilobyte application that can convert bin images without cue file to iso images which can be burned normally. Another option is Bin2Iso which has a size of only 12 Kilobyte and provides the same functionality.

Both applications convert the bin file to an iso file quickly. It usually does not take longer than a few minute to convert a full DVD image from bin to iso.

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All formats can be burned to CDs or DVDs depending on their size using a DVD burning software like Nero for instance. Another method favorited by many is to mount those images as a virtual drive. This lets the user access the contents on the CD or DVD without burning it first.

Pretty good if you just need to install something or watch a movie that was distributed as a bin, cue, img or iso file. Several softwares exist that can mount those filetypes, one is named Daemon Tools for instance.

You would simply create a virtual drive in Daemon Tools, browse to the location of the image file on your hard drive and select it from there. Daemon Tools will do the rest and make the contents available for further use.

This is an excellent way to store CDs and DVDs on your computer. Great if you are traveling and do not want to take the original discs with you or to save power when using a notebook. It essentially means that you do not need to use the installed CD or DVD drive which saves the power.

Microsoft is offering a free unsupported software as well that is able to mount those files if you are using Windows XP.

Read More:

Microsoft Win XP Virtual CD Control Panel

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You have to copy Vista from your DVD to your hard drive. Once that is done you load the folder in Vlite and it will be automatically analyzed. Once that is done you may click on the Components tab which displays many programs that you may choose to remove from the installation. Hovering over one entry displays some short lines about its purpose. The red entries should only removed with caution because removing them will have side effects that are explained in the text.

Components are sorted in categories like Drivers, Multimedia and Games. Once you mark a feature for removal the size will be displayed. Removing the Movie and DVD maker for instance reduces the size by 200 megabytes. (uncompressed I assume).

My test run had a estimated size reduction of 3843 megabytes. Afterwards you have the option to either apply the changes without rebuilding the installation files or with rebuilding them. The difference is that the first method will not decrease the size that Vista takes on the DVD whereas the second method removes the files from the installation thus creating a reduzed image. This does not affect the installation of Vista though, it does not matter if you choose method 1 or 2 the software that you have selected to be removed will not be installed during installation.

The result of the procedure was that I had a final size of the Vista folder that was close to Cd size. The final size was 990 megabytes. I did not try to install this image because I’m quite happy with the fact that my current one is working but I suppose it should not be a problem at all.

Please note that you need the .net framework and two additional components which are checked and installed when you first run the program.

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Some days later he managed to do the same with a Blue-Ray movie which means that everything is set to get the warez scene going. I think it is kinda strange that it was always easy to copy games for the Playstation systems and many people think that the success of the Playstation systems could be connected to this.

This got me thinking. Why did not Sony try and dump their discs if they knew everyone would be able to install and use Linux on the Playstation 3 ? Did they all miss it or was it probably something they did not care about or even wanted ? What do you think about this ?

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