Recovery Connsole

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roger
  • Start date Start date
R

Roger

Has anyone here installed and used the Recovery Console in the XP Home
Edition?

Did it work? How would you rank the ease of use?


Could you provide a link as to how to do this with the Home Edition or is it
the same in all XP editions?

I see instructions at Microsoft on installing and using it in XP but can't
tell which edition they are talking about.

My computer crashed last night during a defrag session and the only thing
that would come up on the "DOS like screen" was "Press a key to reboot" and
this command kept recycling over and over. It would not go into safe mode.
Finally I spent all night reformatting and reinstalling everything.
Thinking maybe if I had the Recovery Console installed it might have saved
me some work.

Roger
 
Before formatting and starting over, you might have done a repair install as
follows, it is generally much easier to do than using the Recovery Console:
NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if
something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start
over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up,
you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive and you have an
actual XP CD as opposed to a recovery CD, boot with the XP
CD in the drive and perform a repair install as outlined below. If the
system isn't set to boot from the CD or you are not sure, you need to enter
the system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter set press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

When the system boots, a few screens into the process you may see a message
instructing you
to hit any key in order to boot from the CD along with a countdown. When
you see this be sure to
hit a key on the keyboard, if you miss this instruction and the system fails
to boot from the CD, it's too
late, you'll need to reboot and try again.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console. ***The selection you want at this screen is
"Setup Windows,"
NOT "Repair Windows Installation.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.

Note, in some cases, you won't receive the repair option, only an option to
reinstall. We have discovered that sometimes this is caused by damaged
boot.ini file that can be repaired as follows and also note, in the
instructions, "K" refers to the CD drive in which you have placed the XP CD,
replace that drive letter with the appropriate letter on your system, "K" is
simply an example.

Reboot, this time taking the immediate R option (this is the section I told
you to skip above. In this case, you will need to get to the Recovery
Console to perform the function below), and if the CD letter is say K: give
these commands

COPY K:\i386\ntldr C:
COPY K:\i386\ntdetect.com C:
(two other files needed - just in case)
ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\boot.ini
DEL C:\boot.ini
BootCfg /Rebuild

Once you've completed this function, reboot and see if you can access XP as
sometimes, the problem is the damaged boot.ini. If you still cannot access
XP, then reboot and re-run the repair install instructions at the beginning
of this message.

If you only have a recovery CD, your options are quite limited. You can
either purchase a retail version of XP which will allow you to perform the
above
among other tools and options it has or you can run your system recovery
routine with the Recovery CD which will likely wipe your drive, deleting all
files but will restore your setup to factory fresh condition.

For information about the Recovery Console, open Help and Support on the
Start Menu, type Recovery Console in the search box and press enter.
 
Roger--

Bottom Line: Repair/Inplace/ Install is considerably more reliable than
trying to get things fixed from the Recovery Console.

Given your circumstances last night *the only thing I would have used the
Recovery Console for in case it might have helped with some endless booting
loop you were in would have been one of the 13 commands it borrows from
dos--"chkdsk /r" to see if by any chance that would have broken that loop
and helped you boot.

Then, I would have tried as Michael references an inplace upgrade/repair
install. It's a tool everyone should be ready to reach for in an emergency
if you can't get to Safe Mode/System Restore, because it's easy to use, the
odds are good it will work, and you lose nothing if it does. Nothing's
guaranteed as Michael says. Neither is System Restore.


The reason is that I think your success would be much much higher than using
the RC and you would be back with all your data and settings. Here are a
couple links on that type of install that you could have done, and also on
the Recovery Console. If you can't F8 to Safe Mode to try System Restore,
then you might give Last Known Good a wink and a nod and try it, and when it
(Last Known Good) doesn't work because it has the chance of an icecube in
Hell of working, I would go to the repair install. Besides LKG has the
distinct disadavantage of being a return to a snapshot of the last time you
booted and a lot of changes to settings could have happened since then.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;315341

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308041&Product=winxp

You asked:

"Did it work? How would you rank the ease of use?" It's not hard to use
but whether it works or not depends on what you are trying to get done. The
Recovery Console is a powerful tool and it depends on what you're using it
for as to whether it works and whether it can help repair what needs fixing.
I think you should context it as a very last ditch tool, with the exception
of a chkdsk /r which you can run from the run box or command prompt. It has
the advantage that you can get things done within Windows when you can't
reach it. It theoretically can repair a number of things but it might not
and it could make them worse.

All you have to do to get info on the Recovery Console is to put "helpctr"
in your run box or go to Start>help and Support, and in the Help and Support
Search box type "Recovery Console." I know most people never touch Help and
Support in Windows XP which is pretty decent and links to the MSKB, If you
go to http://support.microsoft.com and put in "Recovery Console" you'll come
up with these information and several MSKB articles. Also see:

Recovery Console in Windows XP
http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/wxprcons.htm

Recovery Console in Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_rec.htm

MSKB Recovery Console Articles
http://tinyurl.com/54czh

http://tinyurl.com/3oq2y

Recovery Console Overview
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...g/productdoc/en/recovery_console_overview.asp

Recovery Console And Emergency Startup XP Resource Kit:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prmc_str_yfol.asp

hth,

Chad Harris








Has anyone here installed and used the Recovery Console in the XP Home
Edition?

Did it work? How would you rank the ease of use?


Could you provide a link as to how to do this with the Home Edition or is it
the same in all XP editions?

I see instructions at Microsoft on installing and using it in XP but can't
tell which edition they are talking about.

My computer crashed last night during a defrag session and the only thing
that would come up on the "DOS like screen" was "Press a key to reboot" and
this command kept recycling over and over. It would not go into safe mode.
Finally I spent all night reformatting and reinstalling everything.
Thinking maybe if I had the Recovery Console installed it might have saved
me some work.

Roger
 
Thanks, Michael and Chad, you provided good info and got me pointed in the
right direction!!

Roger
 
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