Linux-based hardware diagnostics for Windows Computers

This thread is inspired by a parallel one. Is there a Linux distro with a nice GUI that can run a hardware diagnostic tool for Windows computers?

This is for a case where Windows does not run > run the Linux-based hardware diagnostics from a bootable USB stick > replace a part > Windows runs again

I am thinking of small repairs, not major brain surgery.

Any suggestions?

Haydon said:

This thread is inspired by a parallel one. Is there a Linux distro with a nice GUI that can run a hardware diagnostic tool for Windows computers?

This is for a case where Windows does not run > run the Linux-based hardware diagnostics from a bootable USB stick > replace a part > Windows runs again

I am thinking of small repairs, not major brain surgery.

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

@Haydon

Any live distro will have that sort of thing -- the easiest I'd suggest for Windows users would be the FEDORA KDE version - downloadable from Fedora Spins


I'm running Arch Linux on this old server I'm using as a TEST NAS box --has the KDE GUI ->system settings and go through the hardware.



cheers
jimbo45

Haydon said:

This thread is inspired by a parallel one. Is there a Linux distro with a nice GUI that can run a hardware diagnostic tool for Windows computers?

This is for a case where Windows does not run > run the Linux-based hardware diagnostics from a bootable USB stick > replace a part > Windows runs again

I am thinking of small repairs, not major brain surgery.

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Asahi Linux or Pop_OS (pop is a bit better but Asahi if you have a mac)

Quad9FE said:

Asahi Linux or Pop_OS (pop is a bit better but Asahi if you have a mac)

Click to expand...

Been using Linux for YEARS and never heard of either of those -- if they were any good they'd have a lot of mainstream support and users.

If you stick to FEDORA, SUSE, UBUNTU, DEBIAN you can't really go wrong. Arch Linux and Manjaro are based on Debian too -- but need a bit more user knowledge to install as only the base is installed (makes a very small OS) and you have to install things you want yourself including a GUI if you want one rather than a load of default applications.

If it's only a one-off you need a good one that will run on even a lot of broken hardware is knoppix but not designed to be used as a desktop / workstation OS. If it's only hardware diagnostics and nothing else works that could be the one to try.

Remember the OP is a Windows user so presumably also not a Mac owner or user and doesn't want or need to spend a lot of time learning another OS -- just needs to repair a PC, replace broken or defective parts and reboot again using Windows.

Once you've got the iso downloaded create a bootable usb stick -- if on Windows Rufus is the best tool in this case as you need the "hybrid isolinux" to create the boot properly. If on Linux the standard dd command is fine -- dd if=<iso file> of=</dev/sdx> bs=2048M status=progress. Run as root / sudo user from the console / terminal.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Been using Linux for YEARS and never heard of either of those -- if they were any good they'd have a lot of mainstream support and users.

If you stick to FEDORA, SUSE, UBUNTU, DEBIAN you can't really go wrong. Arch Linux and Manjaro are based on Debian too -- but need a bit more user knowledge to install as only the base is installed (makes a very small OS) and you have to install things you want yourself including a GUI if you want one rather than a load of default applications.

If it's only a one-off you need a good one that will run on even a lot of broken hardware is knoppix but not designed to be used as a desktop / workstation OS. If it's only hardware diagnostics and nothing else works that could be the one to try.

Remember the OP is a Windows user so presumably also not a Mac owner or user and doesn't want or need to spend a lot of time learning another OS -- just needs to repair a PC, replace broken or defective parts and reboot again using Windows.

Once you've got the iso downloaded create a bootable usb stick -- if on Windows Rufus is the best tool in this case as you need the "hybrid isolinux" to create the boot properly. If on Linux the standard dd command is fine -- dd if=<iso file> of=</dev/sdx> bs=2048M status=progress. Run as root / sudo user from the console / terminal.

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

Asahi is macs new m2 chip duel boot OS quite good from my recent tests with it, highly recommend you check it out on youtube, and pop_os! is a STEM version of Lin w/ New Nvidia Graphics Compatibility for 3d modeling and such so you can utilize higher end gpus efficiently with a lot of programs so there's a lot more customization that you can't achieve on most bases - (obviously with better graphics being used theres a lot more gui friendly programs that function smoothly if the orig concern was the MOST optimal for a smooth looking and fast gui) I've used all of the above those just happen to be my new 2 favorites - and are fan favorites amongst many (niche community but still large). Overall layout on both is very clean fluid and has a lot of ease of use features. Let me know what you think once you check out a peek on youtube.

Take a peek at the devs who works on the layouts and everything else, I'm not a big Apple guy but they did good I'd say. Looks like they're really trying to make a clean overhaul to everything with that many video game devs on and simplify down things a little for ease of use and make everything all "pretty and smooth", just a wild guess though.

Also I cant presume anything it's not in the community's best interest to withhold information without mentioning it, it was just to spread knowledge and introduce someone to something new that is potentially what they are looking for - its windows 11 forum but I for one own both mac and windows devices - hence the 2 suggestions, just a personal opinion my friend.

jimbo45 said:

Remember the OP is a Windows user so presumably also not a Mac owner or user and doesn't want or need to spend a lot of time learning another OS -- just needs to repair a PC, replace broken or defective parts and reboot again using Windows.

Click to expand...

That frames the issue very, very well.
Yes, I am a Windows user.
Yes, I try to avoid learning another OS
Yes, I am after a hardware diagnostics utility > replace a broken part > run Windows again

jimbo45 said:

If it's only a one-off you need a good one that will run on even a lot of broken hardware is knoppix but not designed to be used as a desktop / workstation OS. If it's only hardware diagnostics and nothing else works that could be the one to try.

Click to expand...

Yes, I need it only for hardware diagnostics and nothing else.

According to Wikipedia, Knoppix contains "More than 1000 software packages are included on the CD edition, and more than 2600 packages are included on the DVD edition." I believe I need the latter 'Maxi' edition on a bootable USB stick.

Wikipedia also states that a contributing factor to Knoppix' popularity is "Its utilities for system repair and troubleshooting" but does not list what those utilities are. I couldn't find the info on the Knoppix specific sites either.

jimbo45 said:

Once you've got the iso downloaded create a bootable usb stick -- if on Windows Rufus is the best tool in this case as you need the "hybrid isolinux" to create the boot properly.

Click to expand...

I haven't used Rufus either, but it sounds less intimidating than the Linux cli.

If the main objectives are system/hardware diagnosis, repair and possibly data rescue then a full Live Graphical Linux Distro seems to be an unnecessary luxury, so what about System Rescue . Many of the Utilities are command line rather than GUI based, which should be expected, but the documentation seems detailed and comprehensive and it is developed for use with both Linux and Windows systems.

jimbo45 said:

Been using Linux for YEARS and never heard of either of those -- if they were any good they'd have a lot of mainstream support and users.

Click to expand...

PopOS is relatively popular, it's in the top 10 list on distrowatch.




Linus Tech Tips did a video about a year back with Anthony where he walked people through PopOS, and getting it installed

IT's based on Ubuntu, so great for beginners.

Just the fact that a Linux live bootable usb drive, like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc., runs on a pc with Windows that is having problems tells me this. That it is the Windows partition that is having the problem, whether that’s due to corrupt files, possibly a driver issue, possibly infection from a virus, maybe some bad sectors. The Linux live drive runs without being installed on your drive, just from the usb stick and uses RAM. I would test a few apps from it, including running the default browser (Firefox) that comes with it to check networking and audio/video. If there are no errors in all of this, then I know that all the other main components of my pc ( like CPU, power supply, etc.) are working fine and that it points to problems within the Windows partition. There are tools available for checking the status of files and disks.

Yeah, @mackie makes a good point.

If you can boot up a linux distro from a USB key, you have a running operating system on the machine. This means all the core hardware components are in a functional state. Else, the system wouldn't be up and operational. Unless you were just testing for something like a bad sound card, or video capture card, or a network card.

Is the issue beyond the point of diminishing returns, then?

On the other hand, I see so many utilities, for free or for fee, that claim to do hardware diagnostics (and more). What do service professionals use out in the field?

Haydon said:

Is the issue beyond the point of diminishing returns, then?

On the other hand, I see so many utilities, for free or for fee, that claim to do hardware diagnostics (and more). What do service professionals use out in the field?

Click to expand...

My view is that a load of them are just like "Financial advisors" etc -- and just take money from people who really could do a lot of the stuff themselves.

Probably also like a lot of those banks in the Cayman Islands who know where the money comes from but don't do anything about it.

Cheers
jimbo

Alright, then, a different slant to the same issue:

Is there a way to run

msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic

under WinPE/WinRE/Macrium Reflect Rescue media?