(The latest version of this document is at http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com. You may want to check there for changes).
You cannot avoid accidents and if it happens to linux systems then it may damage the master boot record (MBR) or LILO (Linux boot Loader). There may be cases where linux will not boot due to hard disk failures. The LILO may also fail if you accidentally re-partition the hard disk or you install another additional operating system like Windows 98/NT on the linux computer.
This document gives you some ideas, tips and quick guide to recover fast without wading through hundreds of pages of documentation on LILO or Linux.
To recover any Windows 95/NT/2000, OS/2, BeOS or Linux box you may need the tiny linux which fits on a single floppy disk. See the list of tiny floppy linux given below -