Looking for a live CD that can...

Bascially my Mum's PC won't boot her Windows anymore.
I'm thinking that the HDD is dead, but it may be a faulty install. I don't to try installing Windows if the HDD is faulty, but rather recover some information first.

So, does Knoppix have any HDD analysis tools or is there a different BootOS that does? Anything simple or with specific instructions is preferred since my Mum is not the best with computers.

She thinks she needs to buy a whole new one... so, let's not go there.