MEPIS is very good at providing a clean, easy-to-use, graphic environment for new-to-linux users, or for more experienced users who want a simple desktop system that "just works". If you're looking for a system rescue CD, there are several options that work quite well:
1) SystemRescueCd (http://www.sysresccd.org/), as previously mentioned is specifically designed for the task.
2) Slax (http://slax.linux-live.org/) is an excellent small (Pocket CD) distribution based on Slackware, it's good
     for those who prefer a command-line interface, but still want the system to have some of the extras, besides
     it does a great job of automounting existing drives in the system, something that can be very helpful when trying
     to recover or restore a damaged system.
3) D*** Small Linux (http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/) is designed to fit on a 50M "business card" CD, and works
   great as a "always on hand" Linux system (you can get this pre-installed on a 128M USB pen drive too, too cool)

If you're more interested in a general Live CD for exploring or using Linux, here are some other options I've tried and liked.
1) Knoppix (http://www.knoppix.net/) is the most popular Live CD, and works very well as both a "system on CD" and
     as a Rescue CD. This is a good CD to have handy at home or work, because it has some of the widest support,
     is available in a DVD version with tons of stuff loaded in, and has tools to deal with just about anything already
     loaded.
2) SimplyMEPIS (http://www.mepis.org/book/view/1462) is, as noted previously, a distribution for exploring Linux, and is
     most appropriate for users who want the system to "just work". It includes a number of drivers and other components
     that are not "free as in speech", but are still "free as in beer".
3) Sentry Firewall CD (http://www.sentryfirewall.com/) is a complete secure Firewall/IDS system on Live Linux CD,
     Good for setting up a firewall using spare hardware. This will even run on systems with no HD, making the firewall
     system even more secure. Security settings can be stored to a floppy, allowing for a full restore to previous state on
   reboot.
4) GISIX (http://www.geomancers.net/gisix.html) is a complete GIS system on live CD,
     great for convincing local governments to look at Linux.
5) SourcePole GIS-Knoppix (http://www.sourcepole.com/sources/software/gis-knoppix/) is another GIS system on live CD,
   also good for convincing government bureaucrats.
6) Puppy Linux (http://www.goosee.com/puppy/) is intended to bring older systems to full use,
     and is great for salvaging that old boat-anchor in the garage for the kids to use.

vodhner@cox.net wrote:

I just burnt a MEPIS CD for rescue purposes and have had the
following problems:

  
1. It can't grok my weird S3 video card, so I'm stuck at low rez.
I have to get rid of that board, but I'm just out of money.
Anyone got a nice vanilla SVGA card, PCI or AGP, that I could
buy off you cheap? I'm not a gamer, so 3D and display speed are
not very important; but I do like 1200+ resolution.
I live at Thunderbird and SR51, and work at Raintree & 101 (Pima).

2. It can't open my network: VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adaptor.

3. I can't see how to just get to a command prompt so I can
rearrange my partitions in prep for an install. (Does a nice
job of presenting all the drives though, including my NTFS
partition.)

4. OK, so what I really need is a nice rescue disk that will put
me in command at a root prompt. Don't need no stinkin GUI.
Would like a whole bunch of the usual command-line tools,
including parted and filesystem building tools.
Oh: and even maybe some man pages for those things? ;-)

Yeah, I've got my XP pretty well settled down, but I don't
like it very much. And I *hate* that all my old apps are
broken because the old registry is invalid. Microsoft totally
lost their mind when they went with that monolithic registry.
So I'm eager now to build a new Linux environment (replacing
my Red Hat 8) and start doing more of my work there.

I set up Thunderbird and Firefox to keep their stuff on
a Fat32 partition where I can share it from Linux.
That will be a major step towards letting me stay in Linux,
since I often had to switch back to Windows just to use
my mailbox and bookmarks there.

BTW, the CD I just made is SimplyMEPIS-2004.06. I'm also
interested in recommendations for other live CDs I should
try as I move towards my new setup. I'll have room to
set up several distros, and I have become a Grub wizard.

Thanks,

Vic