There are times when the computer's operating system crashes, perhaps because the internal disk has broken or ruined, or because of a serious error that does not resolve itself at all. In these cases, as we have learned, data can be recovered using a portable operating system on DVD or USB stick, which can be started instead of Windows and which allows access to all the files to extract them from the disk and save them in a new one. memory unit.
Also, as we know, when you reinstall Windows, both with Windows 7 and with Windows 10, you can make sure that the data on the disk is not erased.
However, if you do not have another computer with which to create the recovery disk or USB stick, we find out here how you can use an Android smartphone or tablet to restore your PC and recover files.
In other words, let's see how to mount ISO from an Android smartphone to install Windows or Linux on a PC or to run a data recovery system from which to start the computer.
READ FIRST: How to turn on the PC if Windows does not start "> install Linux on USB stick, different programs to burn ISO to USB and also how to create a USB stick to install Windows 7 10 and 8
With an Android smartphone it takes a special application to make the ISO bootable on PC and there are two possibilities:
1) The first possibility is the DriveDroid app, free and very popular among professional systems engineers.
This application allows you to store bootable ISO files on Android, to create a real operating system installation file directly in the phone, so that, by connecting the smartphone to the computer, you can then load the alternative operating system, or the installation, directly from the phone memory.
The application also provides direct links to download the ISO or IMG installation images of the main Linux distributions, making it even easier to use.
You can then connect the Android device to the PC and restart it from USB to load the operating system stored in the phone.
This app is ideal for testing Linux distributions on your computer or always having an emergency operating system with you to use to recover data from a broken computer.
The limitation of this app is that it requires an unlocked Android smartphone with root to be used.
If we don't have the root, go to the second solution.
2) The second possibility to use an Android smartphone as a base for uploading ISO images or installing operating systems on a PC (which could also be the Windows installation file) is the ISO2USB application.
ISO2USB allows you to burn an ISO file directly to a USB flash drive via USB-OTG .
This app does not require root permissions and can be used on any Android phone, even if it has an important limitation.
This app does not allow you to use your phone as a USB drive for your computer, but can instead upload and make an ISO image bootable to a USB stick connected to the phone.
In practice, it provides support to prepare, from the smartphone, the bootable USB stick to be used on the computer to install or load a Linux, Windows operating system or any recovery program.
The only requirement for an Android device to be used as a PC is that you have an OTG data transfer cable, which stands for USB On-The-Go.
Thanks to the OTG cables it is possible to connect a USB stick as Extra memory of an Android smartphone, and also to connect the mouse and keyboard to the smartphone to use it as a PC.
If there is this function, that This includes a mouse, keyboard or even a USB storage device.
An OTG cable can be purchased on Amazon for less than 5 Euros, with MicroUSB or even USB-C output depending on the phone used.
Once connected to the phone, the OTG adapter cable allows you to connect a USB flash drive on which to write the downloaded ISO.
From the application you can select the connected USB drive and then select the ISO file inside it.
Once finished, remove the USB device, insert it into the PC and boot the computer from the stick.
Remember, of course, to change the boot order in the computer BIOS to enable booting from USB.
READ ALSO: If the PC does not start, fix with Boot CD and Rescue disk repair
