If your main aim is to recover Windows, then an easy way is to build a bootable
rescue disk image on CD or USB using: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Build a new image each time you need it, to make sure you have the latest virus
signatures etc.

(Unetbootin is also great for live CDs for many types of Linux)

Other than many types of Linux, the images available include:

* Parted Magic, a partition manager that can resize, repair, backup, and
restore partitions.
* SystemRescueCD, a system repair, backup and recovery tool.
* Super Grub Disk, a boot utility that can restore and repair overwritten
and misconfigured GRUB installs or directly boot various operating systems
* Dr.Web Antivirus, F-Secure Rescue CD, and Kaspersky Rescue Disk, which
remove malware from Windows installs.
* Backtrack, a utility used for network analysis and penetration testing.
* Ophcrack, a utility which can recover Windows passwords.
* NTPasswd, a utility which can reset Windows passwords and edit the
registry.
* Gujin, a graphical bootloader that can also be used to boot various
operating systems and media.
* Smart Boot Manager (SBM), which can boot off CD-ROM and floppy drives on
computers with a faulty BIOS.
* FreeDOS, which can run BIOS flash and other legacy DOS utilities.