Making a bootable rescue CD

[Joe Block <jpb@creol.ucf.edu>]

Marc Haber mentioned this yesterday and I mistakenly sent him a private
reply instead of replying to the list.

I'm also interested in creating a debian rescue floppy that either mounts
/usr from a CD or preferably from a server via nfs.

My goal is to be able to stick a floppy in an ailing W95/98/NT machine
and mount its HD and copy the useful data to a network server before
reformatting and reinstalling.  I've had some problems lately with client
machines that spontaneously (the users didn't make any changes, they _promise_)
stopped seeing their network card and required a reinstall of Windows from
scratch to fix the problem.

So, my question, I guess, is what exactly do I need to do to make the
inital rescue floppy? I presume I can just burn a copy of /usr to a CD, or
export it via nfs, but I'm concerned about how I'm going to get all the
necessary modules onto a floppy or two - naturally I have to cope with many
different cards, and while I'm willing to have several different boot
floppies, it'd be a lot more elegant to have just one.

thanks,

jpb
-- 
Joe Block <jpb@creol.ucf.edu>
CREOL System Administrator

Social graces are the packet headers of everyday life.