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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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\[Link] /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 [Link] or
[Link].
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 ([Link]). 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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