You may consider using the Recovery Console when Safe mode and other startup methods are not valid. It is recommended that only advanced users (who can use basic commands to identify and locate problematic drivers and files) Use this method. In addition, you are required to be a local administrator.
Installing the Recovery Console
You can install the Recovery Console on your computer so that you will be able to use it when you are unable to restart Windows. At startup, you can select the Recovery Console option from the list of existing operating systems. For critical server and IT staff workstations, it is a good idea to install the Recovery Console. This article describes how to install the Recovery Console for your Windows XP computer. You must have administrative rights on this computer to install the Recovery Console.
Although you can run the Recovery Console directly by booting from the Windows XP CD, it is more convenient to set it up as a startup option in the Startup menu. To start running directly from the CD, see the "Using Recovery Console" section later in this article.
To install the Recovery Console, follow these steps:
Insert the Windows XP disc into the CD-ROM drive.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type d:\i386\winnt32.exe/cmdcons, where D is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive.
The Windows Setup dialog box appears with the Recovery Console option displayed. You are prompted to confirm the installation. Click Yes to start the installation process. Restart your computer. The next time you start your computer, you will see the Microsoft Windows Recovery Console item on the Startup menu.
Note: You can also use UNC to install the Recovery Console from a network share.
Using the Recovery Console
You can enable and disable services, format drives, read and write data on local drives, including drives that are formatted to use NT file System (NTFS), and perform many other administrative tasks. Recovery Console is especially useful if you need to repair your computer by copying files from a disk or CD to a hard disk, or if you need to reconfigure a service that causes your computer to not start properly.
If you are unable to start the computer, you can run the Recovery Console from a Microsoft Windows XP startup disk or from the Windows XP CD. This article describes how to perform this task.
After you install Windows XP on your computer, you need to use the Windows XP startup disk or the Windows XP CD to start your computer and use the Recovery Console.
Note: To start the computer from the Windows XP CD, you need to configure the computer's basic input/output system (BIOS) to boot from the CD-ROM drive.
To run the Recovery Console from a Windows XP startup disk or a Windows XP CD, follow these steps:
Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
When prompted, click to select all the options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press the R key to start the Recovery Console. If you are using a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console. According to the prompts, type the administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, simply press the ENTER key. At the command prompt, type the appropriate command to diagnose and repair the Windows XP installation. To view a list of the commands provided by the Recovery Console, type the Recovery Console command or help at the command prompt, and then press Enter.
To view information about a specific command, type the help command name at the command prompt, and then press Enter.
To exit the Recovery Console and restart the computer, type exit at the command prompt, and then press Enter.
Using the Recovery Console command prompt
The Recovery Console provides a special command prompt that differs from the normal Windows command prompt. The Recovery Console has its own command interpreter. Type the administrator (local administrator, not domain administrator) password, as prompted by the Recovery Console, to enter its command interpreter.
When the Recovery Console starts, you can press the F6 key to install the Third-party SCSI or RAID driver required to access the SCSI or RAID hard disk. This hint works the same as during the installation of the operating system.
Recovery Console takes several seconds to start. When the Recovery Console menu appears, a numbered list is displayed listing all Windows (usually one-c:\windows-exists) installed on this computer. Even in the case of only one item, type a number and press Enter. If you do not select a number before pressing the Enter key, the computer restarts and repeats the process.
When you see the%SystemRoot% prompt (usually C:\Windows), you can start using the commands provided in the Recovery Console.
Command action
The following list describes the commands that are available in the Recovery Console:
Attrib is used to change the properties of a file or subdirectory.
Batch executes the commands you specify in the text file, Inputfile, and outputfile the output of the stored command. If you omit the outputfile parameter, the output is displayed on the screen.
Bootcfg is used to manipulate Boot.ini files (set up startup configuration and recovery).
The operation of the CD (Chdir) is limited to the system directory of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of all hard disk partitions, or the local installation source.
Chkdsk runs Chkdsk even if the drive is not flagged as being updated. The/R switch finds bad sectors and restores readable information, which contains the functions of/p. Chkdsk requires Autochk. Chkdsk automatically finds Autochk.exe files in the Startup folder. If Chkdsk does not find this file in the Startup folder, it will look for the Windows 2000 installation CD. If Chkdsk cannot find the installation disc, the user is prompted to provide the location of the Autochk.exe file.
The Cls is used to clear the screen.
Copy copies the file to the target location. By default, the target location cannot be removable media, and you cannot use wildcard characters. Copying a compressed file from the Windows 2000 installation CD will automatically decompress the file.
Del (delete) deletes the file. The scope of operation is limited to the system directory of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of all hard disk partitions, or the local installation source. Wildcard characters cannot be used by default.
Dir displays a list of all files, including hidden files and system files.
Disable disables Windows system services or drivers. The variable service _ or _ driver is the name of the service or driver that you want to disable. When you disable a service using this command, the computer displays the original startup type of the service before changing the type to service_disabled. Please note the original Startup type so that you can restart the service using the Enable command.
Diskpart manages partitions on a hard disk volume. The/add option creates a new partition, and the/delete option deletes the existing partition. The variable device is the device name (such as \Device\HardDisk0) for the new partition. The variable drive is the drive letter (for example, D) of the partition you want to delete, partition is the specific name (for example, \device\harddisk0\partition1) that you want to delete the partition and can be used instead of the drive variable. The variable size is the new partition in megabytes.
Enable Windows system services or drivers to be enabled. The variable service_or_driver is the name of the service or driver you want to enable, Start_type is the startup type that enables the service. The startup type uses one of the following formats:
Service_boot_start
Service_system_start
Service_Auto_Start
Service_demand_start
Exit is used to exit the Recovery Console and then restart the computer.
Expand expands a compressed file. Variable source is the file you want to expand; By default, you cannot use wildcard characters. The variable destination is the directory of the new file; By default, the target cannot be removable media or read-only; You can use the attrib command to remove the read-only property of the target directory. The option/f:filespec is required when the source file contains more than one file; This option allows wildcard characters to be used. The/y switch disables the overwrite confirmation prompt. The/d switch specifies that these files should not expand and display the file directory in the source file.
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