Windows 7: If you run into a boot-up error with Windows 7 and don’t have a recovery disc handy, you’re usually in for some manic fiddling, or you’re just out of luck. NeoSmart’s recovery discs, however, can set things right.

Download NeoSmart's recovery discs for 32- and 64-bit systems, burn them to CD, and pop them into any system that claims it's unable to find the files needed to boot or is otherwise corrupted. These discs contain the same system recovery tools as a full Windows 7 disc, which are also given out by nice PC makers—and sold as an expensive accessory by skimpy Windows pre-installers.

Boot your system from NeoSmart’s CD, and you’ll get a stripped-down Windows system with a window offering startup file repair, Restore Point returns, recovery from a whole-cloth image, memory testing, and a command prompt for those dire moments when only frantically Google-d terminal instructions can save you.

These Windows 7 System Recovery Discs are a free download via BitTorrent from NeoSmart; alternately, hit the CyberNet link to grab a copy directly from file-hosting site MediaFire.