If your computer no longer starts due to malware corrupting the operating system, or you suspect the security program has been compromised, you can use the F-Secure Rescue CD to securely boot up the computer and check the programs installed. The Rescue CD can also be used for more advanced repair and data recovery operations.

The Rescue CD contains Knoppix (a derivative of Linux), an operating system that runs totally from the CD and allows access to your computer's Windows operating system and hard disks.

Note: the Rescue CD cannot scan encrypted disks.

You can also download the Rescue CD updates to a USB drive (minimum 256 MB of free space) using a healthy computer with Internet access. You can use this USB drive to fix a computer that cannot connect to the Internet. Instructions on how to do this are included in the Rescue CD User's Guide.

When to Use the Rescue CD
There are two main situations when you should use the Rescue CD:
* The computer no longer starts, as the operating system has been corrupted by malware. In this case you can use the Rescue CD to scan the computer and quarantine the malware. This may allow the operating system to start properly again.
* If you suspect that your security program has been compromised by malware. You can use the Rescue CD to check this, as it is independent of the operating system

If the computer cannot be recovered, you can also use Rescue CD and a USB drive to save important data. Note that if you copy data from the computer to the USB drive, this data may contain malware. The Rescue CD cannot scan encrypted disks. This includes for example, Windows Vista BitLocker disk encryption.

Using the Rescue CD on a working operating system may rename essential system files and so cause your operating system to no longer start. If this happens you can use your operating system repair disk to reinstall the operating system. Note that this may reinstall a fresh operating system and so remove any personal settings and files you have.

To use the F-Secure Rescue CD, the computer must meet the following minimum requirements:
* x86 compatible
* at least 512 MB of RAM
* startup from a CD
* connected to the Internet or be able to use a USB drive

How to create F-Secure Rescue CD
1. Download F-Secure Rescue CD ISO file
2. Burn the F-Secure Rescue CD ISO images to disk media using burner software.
3. Boot up the computer with the CD and you'll see a screen that looks like the image below. 4. You have 15 seconds to press ENTER to start the CD or it will boot normally via hard drive. Once pressing "Enter" button, it will start uncompressing Linux and boot the OS kernel.
5. Once F-secure rescue CD is loaded, Select Next and hit " Enter " key again for updating F-secure virus definition database via internet access or manually by using a USB drive. The virus definition update process will roughly take few minutes depending your internet access connection.

Using the Rescue CD
1. Place the F-Secure CD in your CD drive and switch the computer on. After a few seconds you should see a prompt that shows F-Secure Rescue CD. Press ENTER within 15 seconds after you see the prompt to start Rescue CD.
3. Use the arrow keys to select Next and press ENTER.
4. Wait for the latest virus definition database to be downloaded from F-Secure. This is finished when you see the End User License Agreement window.
5. Press PAGEDOWN to read the agreement and then select Next and press ENTER.
6. Select I Agree and press ENTER if you agree to the terms.
7. Select which drives you want to scan.
8. Select Proceed to scan and press ENTER.
9. When the scan is finished, press ENTER to see the scan report.
10. If any malware were found, you can see which files were renamed by the Rescue CD. Select Next and press ENTER when you are ready to continue.
11. Select Restart and press ENTER.
12. Wait for 5 seconds for the computer to switch off. The computer restarts.
13. If you see the same screen as you did in step 1, wait for 15 seconds for the computer to start normally.

You can download the Rescue CD updates to a USB drive using a healthy computer that has an Internet access. This USB drive must have at least 256 MB of free space. You can use this USB drive to fix a computer that cannot connect to the Internet and so cannot download the Rescue CD updates.
Recommended method:
1. Create a new directory called fsecure to the USB drive.
2. Go to the fsecure directory and create a directory called rescuecd under the fsecure directory.
3. Start the Rescue CD while the USB drive is still connected to the computer. When the Rescue CD starts, it finds the USB drive you have configured for it.
4. Select Next when the Rescue CD notifies you that the memory stick has been found.
5. The Rescue CD starts to download the latest databases. The Rescue CD has finished downloading databases when the end-user license agreement appears.
6. The memory stick is ready and you can remove the CD and the memory stick.
7. Insert the memory stick to the computer you want to fix and use the Rescue CD to boot the computer.

You can set up a USB drive to make the Rescue CD process almost automatic. This drive must be 256 MB or outstandinger in size. You can:
* Preload virus definition database updates to the USB drive to fix a computer without Internet access.
* Define proxies that Rescue CD will use to download updates.
* Set Rescue CD to skip the wizard and automatically clean the computer.

To set up your USB drive:
1. Create a new directory called fsecure to the USB drive.
2. Go to the fsecure directory and create a directory called rescuecd under the fsecure directory.
3. Start the Rescue CD while the USB drive is still connected to the computer and run through the steps described in Using the Rescue CD. This USB drive now contains a virus definition database and is ready to use.

The license of this software is Freeware, you can free download and free use this boot cd software.