DFSee logo
(Current version is: 17.0, released 2022-October-25)
Bootable Solutions DFSee 17.5 disk reflection
Home  |  Downloads  |  Purchase Options  |  Support and Documentation  |  Contact info and Photos/Videos JvW

DFSee USB, CDROM and other bootable data recovery solutions

DFSee USB stick To improve usability, bootable solutions are offered like a bootable CDROM, USB-stick and diskette-image. These have the big advantage that they can be used for recovery tasks on systems that support booting from CD, USB or diskette, without the need to install anything on the (possibly damaged) harddisk.

DFSee is available on a bootable CDROM for a small cost, covering media creation and shipping

These bootable media are based on FreeDOS, Pendrive Linux and Puppy Linux with user supplied additions.

DFSee 12cm CDROM

Disclaimer for ALL bootable solutions offered
The bootable solutions offered here are NOT part of the DFSee product! They are a convenience offering only, making it easier to use the software with freely available software (Open Source, freeware) like FreeDOS and Linux

Allthough every effort is taken to make these solutions as useful as possible, no formal support will be given on other software than the DFSee program itself and the supplied analysis scripts

Fsys Software can take no resposibility for any consequences resulting from use of these bootable solutions ...



DFSee bootable USB stick, PUPPY Linux based

DFSPUPPY front The BEST and EASIEST way to use the power of DFSee, use this bootable USB-stick!

You can buy a ready-made, DFSee branded, 16GB DFSPUPPY stick from the webshop.
This bootable USB stick will work out-of-the-box (OPEN SOURCE EDITION, 17.0 and up)

Or you can also create your own DFSPUPPY stick from an installed DFSee program.

Updating to newer DFSee releases can be done from the DFSee 'Help' menu itself, as long as the booted DFSPUPPY has a working Internet connection.
DFSee Bionic64 desktop (PUPPY)

The DFSPUPPY releases, based on an official PUPPY distribution are:

DFSPUP64
BionicPup64
8.0
The latest one, both BIOS and UEFI capable but requires a 64-bit CPU
DFSPUP32
BionicPup32
19.03
The latest one, BIOS based, and will run on a 32-bit CPU too
DFSPUPPY
Slacko
6.3.2
The original, BIOS only, and will run on a 32-bit CPU too

Creating such a stick is integrated in the DFSee Script menu, just like the previous USB-bootable, but it WILL require a separate download of the disk-image for that, since this is too large to include in the standard distribution package.

Downloading the extra required image, plus downloading and installing program updates is automated too, and available from the Help menu.

This procedure is almost self-documenting when run from the menu, but some additional information can be found in dfspuppy.txt. A summary for the current stick variants follows below.

Create new stick, DFSPUP64

You can create a DFSPUP64 bootable USB stick using the latest STABLE DFSee and add the DFSPUP64 image (400 MB) from the menu:

Help -> Program Updates / Downloads -> Get DFSPUP64 UEFI capable IMZ

Then, to actually create the stick, use the menu:

Scripts -> Make Puppy64 boot (USB) disk -> select your stick

Note that at least a 2 Gb stick is required, but larger is better, so log files and reasonably sized image files can be stored right on the stick itself. The remaining space on the stick is directly accessible from DFSee, and is set as the default location for logging and analysis files, and can be used for images too. On disks/sticks larger than 64 Gb, a second FAT32 partition will be created to be able to use that for additional storage.
DFSee Bionic32 desktop (PUPPY)

Create new stick, DFSPUP32

You can create a DFSPUP32 bootable USB stick using the latest STABLE DFSee and add the DFSPUP32 image (300 MB) from the menu:

Help -> Program Updates / Downloads -> Get DFSPUP32 BIOS based IMZ

Then, to actually create the stick, use the menu:

Scripts -> Make Puppy32 boot (USB) disk -> select your stick

Note that at least a 2 Gb stick is required, but larger is better, so log files and reasonably sized image files can be stored right on the stick itself. The remaining space on the stick is directly accessible from DFSee, and is set as the default location for logging and analysis files, and can be used for images too. On disks/sticks larger than 32 Gb, a second FAT32 partition will be created to be able to use that for additional storage.
DFSee Slacko desktop (PUPPY)

Create new stick, DFSPUPPY

You can create a DFSPUPPY bootable USB stick using the latest STABLE DFSee and add the DFSPUPPY image (270 MB) from the menu:

Help -> Program Updates / Downloads -> Get DFSPUPPY BIOS-only IMZ

Then, to actually create the stick, use the menu:

Scripts -> Make Puppy boot (USB) disk -> select your stick

Note that at least a 2 Gb stick is required, but larger is better, so log files and reasonably sized image files can be stored right on the stick itself. The remaining space on the stick is directly accessible from DFSee, and is set as the default location for logging and analysis files, and can be used for images too. On disks/sticks larger than 32 Gb, a second FAT32 partition will be created to be able to use that for additional storage.

Internet connection, activate wireless on a booted DFSPUP stick

As downloaded, the sticks will default to use a wired interface, and when a cable is connected, your Internet connection will most likely just work. However, if you need to use a wireless interface, it is a bit more complicated.

The most reliable way I found to get wireless with WPA/WPA2 encryption working on PUPPY Linux is:

Update existing stick

When you have a working Internet connection when booted to the stick, you can update the DFSee program on the stick directly from within the DFSee menu:

Help -> Program Updates and Downloads -> Get latest Stable update

or, when you want to use the latest BETA/Experimental release:

Help -> Program Updates and Downloads -> Get latest Experimental update

When there is NO Internet connection with the stick, use a system with Internet access and download either the Stable ZIP, or the Experimental ZIP.

Copy the downloaded ZIP to the 'dfsee' subdirectory on the stick (x:\dfsee\), then boot from the stick again, and in the DFSee menu use:

Help -> Program Updates and Downloads -> Install a program update


DFSee bootable USB stick, multi-ISO (FreeDOS)

This is the original DFSee bootable stick, allowing to run the FreeDOS DFSee version (ISO) as well as PartedMagic Linux.
DFSee Splash PenDrive

If you want to use Linux however, it is advised to use the newer and much more flexible DFSPUPPY, described above.

This is a very flexible solution, based on some excellent work from the linux community allowing booting almost any (CDROM) ISO file stored on a memory-stick from a selection menu. The DFSee solution uses this UNCHANGED, you just add a Linux ISO (PartedMagic), the DFSee CD-ISO and linux files to the stick and are ready to boot into FreeDOS or Linux and use DFSee.

You can create your own custom stick in any size using the instructions supplied on the PenDriveLinux website (which requires a Windows system to make the stick bootable).

However, it is much easier to restore the DFSee prepared imagefile using the install script dfsusb32.dfs, through the Scripts menu (requires EXPERT mode from version 12.x onwards). The script prepares a fully bootable stick, and all you need to add are the actual ISO files to be booted.

For FreeDOS, you can download the BARE ISO file with the the corrrect DFSEEDOS.ISO name right here!

For Linux you need the appropriate Linux ISO as documented in DFSUSB32.TXT, the DFSee linux files so you can run them from the Linux desktop. This procedure is almost self-documenting when run from the menu, but some additional information as well as instructions for manual creation of similar sticks can be found in dfsusb32.txt.

When setup properly the stick provides a boot-menu as shown on the right:

So this gives you the following options:



DFSee 17.x bootable CDROM

DFSee CDROM


The perfect recovery solution!

With a bootable FreeDOS and DFSDOS available, it can be used for recovery tasks without having to install anything!

Your CDROM will be burnt on demand, at the moment you order it, so you will always receive the latest available DFSee version.

Buy the CDROM here or just click on the large CDROM image ...


If you can burn CDROMs yourself, you can also download the ISO file for FREE, and create your own CDROM. (See below)


DFSee bootable CDROM, ISO image

If you can burn your own CD's, this might be the best recovery solution for you.

This is a ZIP file with the latest ISO image for the bootable CDROM, plus a few small programs that are used to customize the ISO before burning it to CDROM, or copying it to a bootable USB stick:


Instructions to use these programs and burn the CDR are included in the ZIP file as well.

dfsee cd     Download latest DFSee ISO image (55 Mb ZIP)
Download the CD ISO files separately, to create a custom ISO with additional tools. (54 Mb ZIP)


Download the standard DFSee CDROM labels in JPG and TIF format (2 Mb ZIP)
The label is designed to fit 12cm CDROMs when scaled properly ...

cdlabel example

Example CD, buyer info is printed on the greenish label field


DFSee bootable diskette image

For evaluation, or simply to get a nice bootable recovery solution, this image will get you a bootable FreeDOS diskette with DFSDOS.

This is a ZIP file with a self-extracting diskette-image (Thanks to Daniel Valot).
It can be extracted on any platform capable of running DOS or OS2 textmode executables.
Simply run the enclosed 'bootdisk.exe' and it will write to a (formatted) diskette,
or use 'bootdisk /h' for other usage ...

dfsicon   Download latest DFSee bootdisk image (1 Mb ZIP)


DFSee CDROM ordering and pricing

Just click on the Mensys logo below to go to the dedicated DFSee page in their online shop, that includes the CDROM deliverables. These CDROMs are burned on-demand with the latest available DFSee version, and with custom DFSee artwork including your registration details printed on the front.

Mensys      Mensys online shop

Home  |  Downloads  |  Purchase Options  |  Support and Documentation  |  Contact info and Photos/Videos JvW
(Bootable Solutions page) DFSee USB, CDROM and other bootable data recovery solutions
Views: 606610 Viewable with Any Browser Created by Jan van Wijk:   May 2005, last update:   2022-Oct-25 Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional