AVG have just released a free rescue CD that can be used to recover your computer when the system cannot be loaded normally, such as after an extensive or deep-rooted virus infection.

The AVG Rescue CD enables you to fully remove infections from an otherwise inoperable PC and render the system bootable again

This could also be handy for folks who this week were locked out of their PCs by a faulty update installed by BitDefender and Bullguard (which uses the same engine and signatures) which rendered many 64 bit machines useless.

The AVG Rescue CD aims to help people so affected to recover their system. Essentially, it is a portable version of AVG Anti-Virus embedded in a version of Linux so it doesn't need Windows to operate.

You can choose to download for use with either as a bootable CD or USB stick.  Apart from the AV program the software also contains a variety of useful system tools for restarting a PC such as such as a file manager and registry editor.

The AVG Rescue CD is completely free of charge. There is a FAQ and free forum for the product, but only people with an AVG commercial license are entitled to receive technical support. The AVG Rescue CD is currently only available in English. More information and download links here:

http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-rescue-cd#tba2

 A user guide for AVG Rescue CD is available here :

http://www.avg.com/us-en/226386

The user guide contains steps to make the bootable CD, and also step by step guide to create a USB bootable device. Some steps are to be given proper attention while preparing the USB stick, as a wrong step in choosing the proper disk may render Windows unbootable. So, please read the steps carefully. The user guide also shows how to use the Rescue CD, along with screenshots. Users are advised to read the user guide carefully, before attempting to create CD/USB stick, and also before using the Rescue CD.

Video tutorials on using the AVG Rescue CD are also available on this page :

http://www.avg.com/us-en/tutorials