Windows XP Professional Resource Kit

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. Windows XP Professional Resource Kit Welcome > Part VI System Troubleshooting > Ch 28 Troubleshooting
. Introduction Startup > Following a Process for Startup and Recovery
+ Part I Deployment
+ Part II Desktop Management Using Recovery Console
+ Part III Security
If you cannot start your computer in safe mode or by using the Last
+ Part IV Networking
+ Part V Interoperability Known Good Configuration startup option, you can use Recovery

+ Part VI System Troubleshooting Console. With the appropriate permissions, you can use this
+ Part VII Appendices
command-line interface to start recovery tools, start and stop
. Glossary
services, access files on hard disks, and perform advanced tasks,

such as manually replacing corrupted system files. You can run

Recovery Console from the Windows XP Professional operating

system CD, or you can install it as a startup option.

Infrequently, startup files and critical areas on the hard disk become

corrupted. If the corruption is extensive, it might prevent you from

starting Windows XP Professional in normal or safe modes, or from

using the installed Recovery Console or using the Last Known Good

Configuration startup option. In these situations, you can run

Recovery Console from the Windows XP Professional operating

system CD.

To start Recovery Console from the Windows XP Professional

operating system CD

1. Insert the Windows XP Professional operating system CD into

the CD-ROM drive, and restart the computer. When prompted,
press a key to start Setup.

2. At the Setup Notification screen, press ENTER.

3. After the Welcome to Setup screen appears, select To repair

a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console by
pressing R.

A menu that lists one or more Windows XP Professional

installations appears.

4. Type the number corresponding to the installation that you want

to use, and then press ENTER.

5. At the prompt, enter the password for the local Administrator

account to access the contents of the local hard disk. Recovery
Console accepts only the local Administrator account password.

From Recovery Console, you can attempt to replace corrupted files

with undamaged copies stored on removable disks, such as a floppy

disk or the Windows XP Professional operating system CD.

To use the CD-based Recovery Console, you must set the CD-ROM as

the primary boot device (the first item listed in the boot order). If the

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Windows XP Professional Resource Kit

CD-ROM is not listed as a boot-order option in the computer

firmware, you cannot start your system by using the Windows XP

Professional operating system CD. You must use startup floppy disks

to start Windows XP Professional Setup. For more information about

startup floppy disks, see the Getting Started Guide, which comes with

Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional.

Note

● When you start your system by using the bootable Windows XP

Professional operating system CD, Setup checks the hard disk

for Windows XP Professional or another Windows operating

system, such as Windows 2000 or Windows Me. If another

operating system is found, you have the option of bypassing CD-

ROM startup by not responding to the Press any key to boot

from CD prompt that appears. If you do not press a key within

three seconds, Setup does not run and the computer passes

control from the CD-ROM to the hard disk.

To install Recovery Console as a startup option for x86-based systems

1. With Windows XP Professional running, insert the Windows XP

Professional operating system CD into your CD-ROM drive.

2. Click No when prompted to upgrade to Windows XP Professional.

3. In the Run dialog box, type cmd, and then click OK.

4. At the command prompt, type:

drive:\i386\Winnt32.exe /cmdcons

In the preceding command, drive represents the letter of the CD-

ROM or network drive that holds the Windows XP Professional

installation files.

5. Restart your computer. Recovery Console appears as an item on

the operating system menu.

Note

● Installing Recovery Console on the hard disk is an option only

for x86-based computers.

Using Recovery Console to Disable Services

If you are unable to start Windows XP Professional in normal or safe

mode, the cause might be an incorrectly configured driver or service

that has caused a Stop message. Stop messages might provide

information about the service or driver name, such as a file name. By

using Recovery Console, you might be able to disable the problem

component and allow the Windows XP Professional startup process to

continue in normal or safe mode.

To enable or disable services by using Recovery Console

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1. At the Recovery Console prompt, type listsvc.

The computer displays the service or driver name, startup type,

and possibly a friendly driver or service name. Record the name

of the driver or service that you want to enable or disable.

2. To disable a driver, type:

disable drivername

3. To enable a driver, type:

enable drivername start_type

Possible values for start_type are:

❍ SERVICE_BOOT_START

❍ SERVICE_SYSTEM_START

❍ SERVICE_AUTO_START

❍ SERVICE_DEMAND_START

For more information about Stop messages, see "Common Stop

Messages for Troubleshooting" in this book.

Using Recovery Console to Restore the Registry Keys

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
If the previously discussed recovery methods do not enable you to

start Windows XP Professional, you can try replacing the System and

Software files, which are in the systemroot\System32\Config folder,

with a backup copy from the systemroot\Repair folder. The System

and Software files are used by Windows XP Professional to create the

registry keys HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM and

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE. A corrupted copy of the System

or Software file could prevent you from starting Windows XP

Professional.

Try other recovery methods before using the manual procedure that

follows. The manual procedure enables you to start the operating

system, allowing you to perform further repairs by using Windows XP

Professional tools.

When using the following procedure, do not replace both the System

and Software files as part of a single attempt to start the computer.

First, replace one file, and then test whether this action resolves the

startup problem. If the problem persists, copy the other file. Which

file you decide to replace first (the System or Software file), depends

on the information that the Stop error displays (hardware or software

related).

Using Recovery Console to replace the System file

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1. At the Recovery Console prompt, locate the config folder by

typing:

cd system32\config

2. Create backups of the System or Software files by typing:

copy system <drive:\path\filename>

-or-

copy software <drive:\path\filename>

If they exist, save backups of other files that use file names that

start with "system" or "software," such as System.sav or

Software.sav.

3. Replace the current System or Software file by typing:

copy ..\..\repair\system

-or-

copy ..\..\repair\software

4. Answer the Overwrite system? (Yes/No/All): prompt by

pressing Y.

5. Restart the computer.

If you are still unable to start your computer, consider performing a

parallel operating system installation or an ASR restore operation. For

more information about these two recovery options, see "Performing

a Parallel Windows XP Professional Installation" and "Saving System

Files and Settings by Using Automated System Recovery" later in this

chapter. For more information about Stop messages, see "Common

Stop Messages for Troubleshooting" in this book.

Consider these points when you replace the System or Software file

with a backup copy from the systemroot\Repair folder:

● The System and Software files in the repair folder might not be

current. If the files are not current, you might need to update

drivers, reinstall applications and service packs, and perform

other configuration to bring your computer up-to-date.

● The Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) that was available in

Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 does not exist in

Windows XP Professional. The option to create an ERD for

updating the systemroot\Repair directory is not available.

To update the systemroot\Repair directory, use the option to save

system state in Backup (Ntbackup.exe). Whenever you perform a

backup operation with the System State option enabled, Backup

updates the repair folder.

For more information about Backup and saving system state, see

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"Backup and Restore" in this book. Also see "Tools for

Troubleshooting" in this book.

For more information about Recovery Console, see Windows XP

Professional Help and Support Center, and also see "Tools for

Troubleshooting" in this book.

Recovery Console Alternatives

For x86-based systems, you have another option in addition to

Recovery Console for accessing FAT16 and FAT32 partitions. If the

FAT16 and FAT32 partitions were formatted by using an MS-DOS

startup floppy disk (FAT16), or an emergency boot disk created in

Microsoft® Windows® 95 OSR2, Windows 98, or Windows Me, you

can start your computer by using these startup floppy disks. Using

the floppy disk method starts the system in a command-line

environment that enables read and write access to the disk without

using Recovery Console. You can pre-configure startup disks to

include commonly used tools and additional drivers that provide CD-

ROM or network access.

For information about creating and using a FAT16 or FAT32

emergency boot disk, see Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, or

Windows Me Help. You cannot use an MS-DOS boot disk or an

emergency boot disk to view the contents of NTFS volumes.

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