Medicat tutorial for PC diagnosis and repair

If your computer has ever decided to stop working on the day you needed it most, you've probably regretted not having a good emergency tool handy. Medicat USB lets you carry a real PC repair workshop in your pocketReady to restore order when Windows becomes corrupted, the hard drive starts to fail, or a malware It sneaks in where it shouldn't.

In this guide you will see everything in detail. What exactly is Medicat USB, what is it used for, and how to create your own bootable USB drive step by step?The idea is that you finish the article with a USB drive ready to boot any compatible PC, analyze it, repair boot errors, recover data, clean viruses, manage partitions and much more, without touching the system installed on the hard drive.

What is Medicat USB and what is it used for?

Medicat USB is an all-in-one portable operating system Designed for computer diagnostics, maintenance, and repair, it runs directly from a USB drive without installing anything on the computer. It's a kind of computer toolbox that boots independently of the operating system on your hard drive.

Instead of installing individual programs on your PC, Medicat brings together a huge repertoire of utilities on a single USB drive Ready-to-use: boot tools, backup utilities, data recovery software, antivirus, partition managers, hardware testing, Windows restore, password removal, and much more.

This project is inspired by classic solutions such as Hiren's BootCD, Ultimate Boot CD, SystemRescueCD, Rescatux or Trinity Rescue Kitbut offering a more modern environment, with a user-friendly graphical interface and a suite of up-to-date programs that cover virtually any typical PC problem.

One of its great advantages is that It works even when the computer's operating system won't boot.If Windows is corrupted, there are errors in the boot sector, or the system is stuck on the startup screen, simply select boot from USB in the BIOS/UEFI and Medicat takes control, running entirely from RAM.

Furthermore, Medicat USB is supported on Linux and VentoyIt's a very convenient system for managing multiple bootable images on the same USB drive. All this while maintaining a free and open-source philosophy, something highly valued if you like to know what you're using and have the freedom to adapt it to your needs.

Think of Medicat as a “portable computer repair shop” you turn to when something goes wrongYou plug it in, boot the computer from the USB drive, and choose the appropriate tool for the problem at hand. It's especially useful for technicians, advanced users, or anyone who wants to be prepared before disaster strikes.

Main tasks you can do with Medicat USB

The great strength of Medicat USB lies in its enormous variety of utilities It includes a variety of features and organizes them into clear menus so you don't get lost. It's not just "a boot disk," it's a complete environment for troubleshooting all kinds of problems.

Among the most common functions you can perform with this USB drive are: starter repairsIf your computer is stuck on the manufacturer's screen, gets stuck in a boot loop, or displays boot errors, you have specialized tools available to troubleshoot the issue. rebuild the boot manager, correct corrupted entries and bring the operating system back to life.

It also includes a comprehensive selection of hardware and software diagnostic utilitiesYou can analyze the condition of hard drives, check RAM, detect bad sectors, run stress tests, or review the overall performance of the computer to locate bottlenecks and incipient failures.

Another very important block is the backup and recovery toolsFrom Medicat you can clone disks, create complete system images, restore previous backups, or attempt to recover deleted files or lost partitions after an error, always working from an isolated environment to avoid worsening the situation.

The security aspect is not lacking: Medicat USB includes solutions for removing malwareIt analyzes the system in depth and cleans infections that your regular antivirus might not be able to eradicate when Windows is in use. Since it runs from outside the system, viruses have a much harder time hiding.

What's more, You can also manage advanced disk partitions: create, delete, resize, forma tearRepair damaged partition tables, change file formats, and organize disk space. storage more logically before installing systems or after a serious problem.

In situations where someone has forgotten their password, Medicat offers tools to reset user access On Windows systems, this allows you to log back into an account without losing all your data. This is especially useful on older computers or when official recovery methods are unavailable.

Finally, the Ventoy integrated into the USB itself allows install or reinstall OS from the same USB driveor boot different images as needed. This way you can have, for example, several Windows ISOs or Linux distributions on the same device along with Medicat.

Advantages of using Medicat as a bootable USB

The fact that Medicat runs from a bootable USB drive It offers several key advantages over installing individual programs on your PC. The first is that you don't touch the hard drive system at all: everything is loaded into memory and disappears when you turn off the computer.

This makes working with severely damaged equipment will be much saferBecause you're operating from outside the affected system. If there's file corruption, active malware, or drivers that cause errors, Medicat operates from a clean environment, without depending on the state of that broken Windows.

When running in RAM, The performance of the Medicat environment is usually quite agile.Even on older machines. You don't need a state-of-the-art PC to run disk tests, clone partitions, or make backups: virtually any x86 computer with a USB port will do.

Another strong point is portability. You can Carry your Medicat USB in your pocket and use it on any compatible computer. that you need to check: your home computer, a relative's computer, a work laptop... All you need is for the BIOS/UEFI to allow booting from USB and for you to have physical access to the computer.

If you're concerned about security, you'll be interested to know that Medicat creates an environment isolated from the regular systemIt does not modify partitions or install anything permanently unless you expressly indicate it using one of the utilities included for that purpose.

Ultimately, you have a “Swiss Army knife” full of maintenance and repair applications without needing to download a different program every time a different problem arises. For field technicians or advanced users, it's practically indispensable.

Medicat USB main applications and menus

When you boot a PC from your Medicat USBA clear graphical menu is presented, where the tools are organized by category. This allows you to quickly find your way around without having to memorize the name of each specific program.

One of the first blocks you'll find is the one for Antivirus toolsIn this section, you'll often find, for example, Malwarebytes in a version designed for a rescue environment, which allows you to thoroughly scan your system for Trojans, ransomware, adware, and other threats, and clean it up without the malware running.

Another essential section is that of “Backup and Recovery”This menu includes a number of programs specializing in disk cloning, creating complete images, and restoring data after disasters, covering different tastes and needs.

Among the utilities available in this block you can find solutions as well-known as AOMEI Backupper, Acronis Cyber ​​Backup and Acronis True ImageThese are widely used for full backups of Windows systems. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and EaseUS Todo Backup are also commonly included for file recovery and scheduled backups.

The repertoire is completed with tools like Elcomsoft System Recovery, Macrium Reflect, MiniTool Power Data Recovery, MiniTool ShadowMaker, Rescuezilla and Symantec Ghost. With all of them you can cover both regular backup and restore scenarios as well as emergency data recovery when a disk starts to fail.

Another very important category is “Boot Repair”Designed to solve problems when the operating system fails to boot correctly. Here you'll find utilities like Boot Repair Disk, BootIt Bare Metal, EasyUEFI, Rescatux, and Super GRUB2 Disk, all aimed at rebuilding boot managers and correcting errors during this critical phase.

On the menu “Boot an OS” Applications themselves aren't displayed; instead, you'll see options to boot or install different operating systems stored on your USB drive using Ventoy. From there, you can select the Windows or Linux ISO you want to launch at any given time.

Inside the section “Diagnostic Tools” The collection includes utilities designed to detect hardware problems. These include suites like HDAT2 and Spinrite for in-depth disk analysis, as well as Ultimate BootCD and the well-known MemTest86 and MemTest86+ for testing RAM modules.

the block of “Partition Tools” This section groups partition managers, which allow you to create, delete, resize, move, and format partitions, as well as repair damaged partition tables. This is where you organize your disk structure before installing an operating system or when you need to restructure your storage.

The section “Password Removal” This category is reserved for utilities that allow you to reset forgotten user account passwords, especially on Windows systems. Used responsibly, they can be a lifesaver when the legitimate owner of a computer has lost their password and has no way to recover it through normal methods.

One interesting section is “PortableApps”It's designed so users can add their favorite portable applications to the USB drive. This way, in addition to repair tools, you can carry your own set of everyday programs ready to run without installation.

Finally, in “Windows Recovery” The specific options for recovering and repairing Windows installations are grouped together, both using Microsoft's own tools and third-party utilities that make it easier to fix damaged system files or restore configurations.

Medicat VHDA: a virtual disk-based alternative

Along with the classic USB version, The developers of Medicat also offer a variant called Medicat VHDAThis edition functions as a virtual hard disk (VHD) with an environment Windows 11 prepared for diagnostic and repair tasks.

The idea behind this version is to provide you with a bootable Windows 11 loaded with tools, running as if it were an installed system, but encapsulated in a virtual disk file that you can boot from bootable media.

This approach is useful when You prefer to work in a full Windows environment for certain tasks.but without relying on local installation on the device. Although the philosophy is similar to that of Medicat USB, the charging method and base environment differ, which may offer more flexibility depending on the situation.

In any case, both Medicat VHDA and Medicat USB They share the same goal: to facilitate PC repair and maintenance with a wide collection of ready-to-use utilities for critical situations.

Requirements and preparation of the USB drive for Medicat

Before you start creating your rescue USB drive, it's important to be clear on the minimum requirements that your USB drive must meet and some preliminary details so that the process doesn't give you unnecessary problems.

To begin with, You will need a USB flash drive with at least 32 GB of capacityThe set of tools and files included with Medicat takes up quite a bit of space, so a smaller memory would quickly become insufficient and would limit your ability to add other ISOs if needed.

Keep in mind that All the contents of the USB drive will be erased during the Ventoy setup.If you have important files on that USB drive, make a copy elsewhere before continuing, because formatting and installing Ventoy will erase everything on it.

Another important detail is that, during the creation process, It is recommended to temporarily disable your antivirus or real-time protectionsSome security programs tend to block scripts, bulk decompressions, or changes to the MBR of the device, which could interrupt or corrupt the installation.

Of course, your team must be able to boot from USB and have a working USB portVirtually all modern x86 PCs support this, but it's advisable to ensure in the BIOS/UEFI that the "Boot from USB" option is enabled or at least accessible via a quick boot menu.

Finally, carefully review the minimum requirements that the developer of Medicat indicates on its official website, both in terms of RAM memory, architecture compatibility, and required space, as well as any other specific note about the particular version you are going to download.

Download Medicat USB from the official website

To obtain a reliable copy of Medicat, You should always go to their official website and the links provided by the project itself.From there you can download the images needed to create the Bootable USB such as installation scripts.

At the top of the page you will usually find separate buttons for Windows and Linux usersbecause the scripts that automate part of the process are different depending on the operating system from which you prepare the USB drive.

If you prefer a more manual approach, it is usually offered Direct download of compressed images from MedicatWhether via HTTP links, Torrent, or other alternative methods. In this case, you will have to handle the decompression and copying of the files to the USB drive prepared with Ventoy.

When you download the Medicat USB packages, you will see that They are distributed in compressed .7z files and, sometimes, in numbered .001 files. which you must extract correctly to obtain the complete folder structure that the USB drive needs.

It is advisable to use a compatible decompression program, such as 7-ZipYou need a program that handles these types of files well. Make sure you have enough free space on the disk where you're going to extract the content, because the total size once decompressed is considerable.

Step-by-step installation of Medicat USB with Ventoy

Once all the necessary files have been downloaded, the next step is Prepare the USB drive with Ventoy and copy the contents of MedicatBelow you have a detailed process for doing it from a typical environment.

The first will be disable your antivirus or any active real-time protectionAs we mentioned before, this prevents it from blocking scripts, writing to the MBR, or formatting operations on the USB drive.

Then you will have to Download and install Ventoy2Disk from its official website.Ventoy is the utility that will allow your USB drive to be bootable and also be able to handle several images or systems without having to reformat it each time.

With Ventoy already installed, connect your USB memory and Open the Ventoy2Disk application.In the interface you will see a drop-down menu where you can select the device you want to convert into a bootable USB drive, so carefully choose the correct drive to avoid accidentally deleting another disk.

Before installing, go into the Ventoy options menu and Configure the “Partition Style” in MBR (Option > Partition Style > MBR). This choice usually ensures greater compatibility with a wide variety of equipment, especially if you are going to use the USB drive on older machines.

Once you have selected the USB drive in the “Device” field, press on Click “Install” to have Ventoy prepare the USB driveThe program will display several warnings stating that the device's contents will be completely erased; accept these messages only if you are sure you have backups of everything you need.

When the process is complete, Ventoy2Disk It will confirm that the installation on the USB drive was successfulFrom that moment on, your memory is bootable and ready for you to copy the contents of Medicat and other ISO images onto it if you wish.

The next step is to Format the Ventoy partition using the NTFS file systemYou can do this using the Windows formatting tool, GParted in Linux, or similar utilities. It's important to adhere to this format so that the large files included with Medicat fit correctly.

With the USB drive formatted in NTFS, go to the folder where you saved the Medicat USB download and Extract the Medicat.7z file directly to the root of the USB driveUse a program like 7-Zip to decompress all files and directories while maintaining their correct structure.

If the download includes additional numbered files, such as a .001 file; you will also need to extract its contents to the root of the USB drive.Just like you did with the main one. This way, the entire set of tools will be located at the top level of the USB drive.

Finally, reopen Ventoy2Disk and Press the “Update” button to update Ventoy on your deviceThis is done to ensure that the boot manager correctly recognizes the current USB structure and is using the latest software version.

After completing these steps, Your Medicat USB should be fully ready to boot on any compatible PCFrom now on, whenever you plug in that USB drive and configure the computer to boot from it, you will enter the Medicat tools environment.

How to boot and start using Medicat USB

With the USB drive already prepared, the procedure for using it is relatively simple, although This may vary slightly depending on the BIOS/UEFI of each computer.The key is to tell the computer to boot from the USB drive instead of the hard drive.

To do this, turn off the computer on which you want to use Medicat, Insert the USB into an available port and turn on the computer. As soon as it starts, you will need to press the corresponding key to enter the BIOS/UEFI or the quick boot menuIt is usually Esc, F2, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12 or Supr, depending on the manufacturer.

Once inside the BIOS/UEFI, look for the section on “Boot” or “Boot Order” and set the USB drive as the first boot device.Some devices allow you to access a temporary "Boot Menu" instead of permanently changing the boot order, where you select the USB drive only for that one time.

When the system boots from the USB drive, You will see the Medicat USB initial menu appear on the screen.From there you can select the different options available, whether it's entering the main environment, launching a specific tool, or starting another integrated image using Ventoy.

From this point on, only one thing remains Navigate through the Medicat menus to choose the utility that best suits your needs.If you need to repair the boot process, go to the Boot Repair section; if you suspect a RAM failure, go to Diagnostic Tools and run MemTest86; if you want to recover deleted files, go to Backup and Recovery, and so on.

Overall, the graphical interface is quite intuitive and You shouldn't have too much trouble locating each categoryAs you use the USB in different real-world scenarios, you will become familiar with the tools that work best for you and the workflows that best suit your way of repairing equipment.

Having a USB drive like this makes all the difference between being stuck when a PC won't boot and always have a powerful and versatile "plan B" on handWith a properly prepared and updated Medicat USB, any software malfunction, system corruption, or boot problem becomes much more manageable.

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Isaac

Passionate writer about the world of bytes and technology in general. I love sharing my knowledge through writing, and that's what I'll do on this blog, show you all the most interesting things about gadgets, software, hardware, tech trends, and more. My goal is to help you navigate the digital world in a simple and entertaining way.