Be prepared To complete this project, you need the following items: a PC running Windows XP; a Windows XP setup CD; a broadband internet connection; and a USB memory key of atleast 1GB in capacity. If your PC was supplied only with a manufacturer's 'recovery' CD, beg or borrow a 'proper' Windows CD from a friend. So long as your Windows installation is properly licensed, this is perfectly legal. The toolkit you're going to create is called the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows - usually abbreviated to UBCD4Win. Don't worry about the 'CD' bit¬UBCD4Win was invented before DVDs and USB keys became popular.

To begin, you need the 'builder': the program that assembles the various utilities into a single toolkit. Download that from this needs to be typed into your browser's address bar, not into Google. The download is 239MB, so expect to wait a while for it to download. Alternatively, you can use Azureus Vuze. If your own PC is currently out of action, you'll obviously need to commandeer someone else's or use a PC at your local library.

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UBCD4Win is 'bootable'. That means you can use it to start up your PC because it contains its own, stripped¬down installation of Windows XP. This bypasses the PC's hard disk, so it doesn't matter if your usual XP installation is damaged, corrupted, or overrun with malicious software. And with UBCD4Win working from the 'outside' of your Windows installation, it's perfect for curing such ailments.

For starters, the rescue kit contains numerous virus scanners and anti-spyware tools such as the popular AVG Free and Ad-Aware. Also included is a suite of software for recovering deleted files and emails, fixing Windows start-up problems and diagnosing hardware faults. For convenience, you also get a web browser, an email application, and a CD and DVD creation tool. In total, there are more than 150 programs, all free for personal, non-commercial use.