We run a bunch of Suse Linux OS on our point of sale systems whenever we get a HD unreadable error or HD read errors and it doesn't boot up we just replace with a whole new CPU unit and never having to actually troubleshoot if it even was the HD or something. I like to find out if there is any good Linux utility i can put on a USB drive boot up and test, repair, or even fix the HD. Our hardware has no floppy or cd rom drive. regards.
Knoppix is a nice Linux distribution to repair and recover systems. It can also be installed and booted on a usb stick: http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/USB_Based_FAQ
