4MLinux Rescue Edition

4MLinux Rescue Edition is an open source Linux distribution that can be used for recovering data from corrupted disk drives, or repair a broken operating system. It is freely distributable. The distribution can be used for general system maintenance, as well as a system rescue Live CD. It is distributed as a minimalistic ISO image that supports both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.

Recover lost data from broken OSes

Even if it’s a Linux distribution, 4MLinux Rescue Edition can be used to recover lost data from broken Windows, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X operating systems. The boot menu provides two options, one for running the live environment with the default settings (recommended for all users) and another one with VESA Framebuffer, in case you encounter issues with the first option. Unfortunately, users will be dropped to a shell prompt immediately after they’re asked to input the root password. From there, they need to start the X Window Manager using the startx command.

Default applications

Default applications include the Mozilla Firefox, Links and QupZilla web browsers, Mozilla Thunderbird email client, SeaMonkey all-in-one Internet suite, SMPlayer and MPlayer video players, X File Explorer file manager, and many more. In addition, the TestDisk, PhotoRec, Partimage, GParted, PartWizard, fdisk, cfdisk, gdisk, cgdisk and Clam AntiVirus applications are available for different system/data rescue tasks.

4MLinux Rescue Edition also comes with the powerful Wine software, in case you want to run some Windows-only utilities or games. The 4MLinux project contains many other editions, such as 4MLinux Core, 4MLinux NET, 4MLinux Game, 4MLinux Media, 4MLinux Multiboot, 4MLinux Server, as well as 4MLinux Allinone.

Bottom line

Whether you use 4MLinux for rescue and recovery tasks, or to play games and watch movies, it will provide a simple and unique experience. It can also be easily transformed into a capable Linux server, using the inetd daemon.

Has been officially discontinued

The 4MLinux Rescue Edition has been officially discontinued and it will not be updated in the near future. It has been replaced with the brand-new 4MRescueKit, 4MParted, and 4MRecover editions, all based on the latest 4MLinux release. 4MLinux Rescue Edition is still available for download on Softoware and has been archived for historical references purposes only.

What is new in this release:

• The main features in this release are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98.4), system backup (4MLinux Backup Scripts 10.1), data recovery (GNU ddrescue 1.19, TestDisk 6.14 with QPhotoRec), data wiping (shred 8.23, nwipe 0.16), disk partitioning (cfdisk 2.25.1, cgdisk 0.8.10, GNU Parted 3.2), and partition imaging (Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.70). Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.22, FreeArc 0.67, and PeaZip 5.5.0. File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.13, X File Explorer 1.37, muCommander 0.9.0), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.8.0, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 608 are also included.

What is new in version 9.1 / 10.0 Beta:

• The main features in this release are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98.4 with ClamWin), system backup (4MLinux Backup Scripts 10.0), data recovery (GNU ddrescue 1.18.1, TestDisk 6.14 with QPhotoRec), data wiping (shred 8.2.3, nwipe 0.16), disk partitioning (cfdisk 2.25, cgdisk 0.8.10, GNU Parted 3.2), and partition imaging (Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.69). Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.22, FreeArc 0.67, and PeaZip 5.4.1. File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.12, X File Explorer 1.37, muCommander 0.9.0), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.7.1, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 608 are also included.

What is new in version 9.1 Beta:

• The main features in this release are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98.4 with ClamWin), system backup (4MLinux Backup Scripts 9.1), data recovery (GNU ddrescue 1.18.1, TestDisk 6.14 with QPhotoRec), disk partitioning (cfdisk 2.24.2, cgdisk 0.8.10, GNU Parted 3.1), and partition imaging (Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.69). Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.20, FreeArc 0.67, and PeaZip 5.4.0. File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.11, X File Explorer 1.37, muCommander 0.9.0), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.7.1, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 608 are also included.

What is new in version 9.0 Beta:

• The main features in this release are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98.3 with ClamWin), system backup (4MLinux Backup Scripts 9.0), data recovery (GNU ddrescue 1.17, TestDisk 6.14 with QPhotoRec), disk partitioning (cfdisk 2.24.2, cgdisk 0.8.10, GNU Parted 3.1), and partition imaging (Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.69). Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.20, FreeArc 0.666, and PeaZip 5.3.1. File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.11, X File Explorer 1.37, muCommander 0.9.0), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.7.1, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 603 are also included.

What is new in version 8.2 Beta:

• The main features in this release are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98.1 with ClamWin), system backup (4MLinux Backup Scripts 8.2), data recovery (GNU ddrescue 1.17, TestDisk 6.14 with QPhotoRec), disk partitioning (cfdisk 2.24.1, cgdisk 0.8.8, GNU Parted 3.1), and partition imaging (Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.69). Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.20, FreeArc 0.666, and PeaZip 5.2.2. File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.11, X File Explorer 1.37), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.7.1, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 585 are also included.

What is new in version 8.1:

• The main features of this release are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98.1 with ClamWin), system backup (4MLinux Backup Scripts 8.1), data recovery (GNU ddrescue 1.17, TestDisk 6.14), disk partitioning (cfdisk 2.24.1, cgdisk 0.8.8, GNU Parted 3.1), and partition imaging (Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.69). Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.20, FreeArc 0.666, and PeaZip 5.2.1. File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.11, X File Explorer 1.37), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.7.1, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 585 are also included.

What is new in version 8.0 Beta:

• The main features are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98 with ClamWin), system backup (4MLinux Backup Scripts 8.0), data recovery (GNU ddrescue 1.17, TestDisk 6.14), disk partitioning (cfdisk 2.23.2, cgdisk 0.8.8, GNU Parted 3.1), and partition imaging (Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.58). Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.20, FreeArc 0.666, and PeaZip 5.2.1. File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.11, X File Explorer 1.37), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.7.1, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 585 are also included.

What is new in version 7.2 Beta:

• The main features are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98 with ClamWin), data backup/recovery (4MLinux Backup Scripts 7.2, GNU ddrescue 1.17, TestDisk 6.14), and disk partitioning/imaging (cfdisk 2.23.2, GNU Parted 3.1, Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.58).
• The supported filesystems are: btrfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, FAT, HFS, jfs, Minix, NTFS, ReiserFS, and XFS.
• Many archive formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.20, FreeArc 0.666, and PeaZip 5.1.1.
• File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.10, X File Explorer 1.35), CD/DVD burners (cdw 0.7.1, InfraRecorder 0.53), and UNetbootin 585 are also included.

What is new in version 7.1 Beta:

• The main features in this release are antivirus protection (Clam AntiVirus 0.98 with ClamWin), data backup/recovery (4MLinux Backup Scripts 7.1, GNU ddrescue 1.17, TestDisk 6.14), and disk partitioning/imaging (cfdisk 2.23.1, GNU Parted 3.1, Partimage 0.6.9, Partclone 0.2.58).
• The supported filesystems are: btrfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, FAT, HFS, HFS+, jfs, Minix, NTFS, ReiserFS, and XFS.
• A wide set of archival formats can be managed via 7-Zip 9.20, FreeArc 0.666, and PeaZip 5.1.0.
• File managers (Midnight Commander 4.8.10, X File Explorer 1.35), UNetbootin 585, and InfraRecorder 0.53 are also included.