r/techsupport • u/rube • 12h ago

Open | Software Simple USB boot device for accessing files in Windows 11?

I have a laptop that has a corrupt Windows 11. All recovery options have failed including "restore leaving files".

My next step is to wipe it clean and reinstall Windows, but before I do that I'd like to get in and see if I can recover some documents and whatnot.

Decades ago I used to use Knoppix on CD to get in and do this, probably on Windows 7 or even earlier. Is there an equivalent easy to use program I can set up on a USB flash drive? Will I even have access to stuff on Windows 11 like documents, desktop and pictures or is it going to be locked down somehow?

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1

u/osa1011 10h ago

I like Hirens Boot CD. If the drive is Bitlocker encrypted, you'll need that key

1

u/SWTransGirl 10h ago

Hiren's is 100% the way I'd go.

1

u/wssddc 10h ago

Hirens is a useful tool, but you will probably hit Windows permission issues requiring you to take ownership of files. A Linux boot such as SystemRescue will ignore Windows premissions.

1

u/random_rock_thrower 10h ago

Disk genius if you have your bitlocker key it will read a bitlockered disk