I've just tried puppy linux for resizing a partition, but it would also be useful for anyone if their hard drive fails or their operating system stops working.
It loads from CD or USB into memory, is only 130 megabytes, autodetected everything and was very user friendly (apart from having to download a browser).
If you get it and burn it to a CD then if something goes wrong you can get on the internet and find out how to fix it or order a new drive.
Other versions of Linux can do the same but most are larger.
If you download something or change settings you can save it on a USB stick or apparently on the CD.
http://www.puppylinux.com/
(I used the Lucid Puppy version).
It loads from CD or USB into memory, is only 130 megabytes, autodetected everything and was very user friendly (apart from having to download a browser).
If you get it and burn it to a CD then if something goes wrong you can get on the internet and find out how to fix it or order a new drive.
Other versions of Linux can do the same but most are larger.
If you download something or change settings you can save it on a USB stick or apparently on the CD.
http://www.puppylinux.com/
(I used the Lucid Puppy version).