How to install and use the Windows XP Recovery Console
Table of Contents
- What is the Recovery Console?
- How to install the Recovery Console to your hard drive
- How to start the Recovery Console
- Remove the prompting of a password
- How to use the Recovery Console
- Deleting the Recovery Console
What is the Recovery Console?
The Recovery Console is a special boot up method that can be used to help
fix problems that are preventing your Windows installation from properly booting
up into Windows. This method allows you to access the files, format drives,
disable and enable services, and other tasks from a console
prompt while the operating system
is not loaded.
It is suggested that the Recovery Console is to only be used only after Safe
mode and the other standard startup options do not work. I feel that the Recovery
Console is also useful in other situations such as removing malware files that
start in both Safe mode and Standard Mode and thus not allowing you to delete
the infection.
This tutorial will guide you through the installation of the Recovery Console
and how to use it. For those who are familiar with DOS or the command prompt,
you will find the Recovery Console to be very familiar. For those who are not
comfortable with this type of environment, I suggest you read through this
primer in order to get familiar with this type of interface:
Introduction to the Windows Command Prompt
How to install the Recovery Console to your
hard drive
I recommend that you
install the Recovery Console directly onto your computer so that if
you need it in the future, it is readily available. The Recovery Console only
takes up approximately 7 megabytes so there is no reason why you should not
have it installed in case you need it.
To install the Recovery Console on your hard drive, follow these steps:
- Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM drive.
- Click the Start button.
- Click the Run menu option.
-
In the Open: field type
X:\i386\winnt32.exe
/cmdcons , where
X is the drive letter for your CD reader,
and press the
OK button. An image of this step can be found
below:
- After pressing the OK button a setup window will appear similar to
the one below.
Simply press the Yes button to continue with the installation
of the Recovery
Console. The setup program will then attempt to do a Dynamic Update to make sure
you have the latest files as shown below.
Simply allow it to continue and then when it is finished, you will be presented
with a screen similar to the one below telling you so.
- Press the OK button and remove the CD from your computer.
Now when you start your computer you will have an option to start the Recovery
Console.
How to start the Recovery Console
To start the Recovery Console when it is installed on your hard drive
you would do the following:
- Reboot your computer and as Windows starts it will present you with your
startup options as shown in the figure below.
- With the arrows keys on your keyboard select the option listed as Microsoft
Windows Recovery Console and press the enter key on your keyboard.
- The Recovery Console will start and ask you which Windows installation you
would like to log on to. If you have multiple Windows installations, it will
list each one, and you would enter the number associated with the installation
you would like to work on and press enter. If you have just
one Windows installation, type 1 and press
enter.
- It will then prompt you for the Administrator's password. If there is no
password, simply press enter. Otherwise type in the password
and then press
enter. If you do not know your password then see this.
- If you entered the correct password you will now be
presented with a C:\Windows> prompt and you
can start using the Recovery Console.
- Proceed to How to use the Recovery Console.
To start the Recovery Console directly from the Windows XP CD you would do
the following:
- Insert the Windows XP cd in your computer.
- Restart your computer so you are booting off of the CD.
- When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press the R button on your keyboard
to start the Recovery Console.
- The Recovery Console will start and ask you which Windows installation
you would like to log on to. If you have multiple Windows installations,
it will list each one, and you would enter the number associated with the
installation you would like to work on and press enter.
If you have just one Windows installation, type 1 and press enter.
- It will then prompt you for the Administrator's password. If there is no
password, simply press enter. Otherwise type in the password
and then press enter. If you do not know your password then
see this.
- If you entered the correct password you will now be presented with a C:\Windows> prompt
and you can start using the Recovery Console.
- Proceed to How to use the Recovery Console.
Remove the prompting of a password
When the Recovery Console starts it will ask for your Administrator password
before continuing. In many cases when you have XP pre installed on your computer
the Recovery Console will not recognize your Administrator's password. In these
situations it is possible to edit a registry setting so that the Recovery Console
does
not ask for a password. This setting works on both Windows XP Home and Pro
editions.
To change this setting do the following:
- Click on the Start button.
- Click on the Run option
- Type regedit.exe in the open field and press the OK button.
- Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Setup\RecoveryConsole
- Change the value of SecurityLevel value to 1
- Close regedit
- Reboot your computer.
Now the Recovery Console will no longer ask for a password.
How to use the Recovery Console
Though the Recovery Console looks similar to a
standard command prompt it is not the same. Certain commands work, while others
do not,
and
there are
new commands available to you. There is no graphical interface, and all commands
must be entered by typing them into the console prompt with your keyboard and
pressing enter. This may be confusing for those who are not familiar with this
type of interface, but after doing a few commands it does becomes easier.
The following is a list of the available commands that you can use in the
Recovery Console. When using the recovery console you can type help followed
by the command to see a more detailed explanation. For example: help
attrib.
Command |
Description |
| |
|
| Attrib |
Changes attributes on a file or directory. |
Batch
|
Executes commands that you specify in the text file, Inputfile. Outputfile
holds the output of the commands. If you omit the Outputfile parameter,
output appears on the screen. |
| Bootcfg |
Allows you to modify the Boot.ini file for boot configuration
and recovery. |
| CD |
(Chdir) Change directory. Operates only in the system directories of
the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of
any
hard disk
partition,
or the local installation sources. |
| Chkdsk |
Checks a disk for drive problems or errors. The /p switch runs Chkdsk
even if the drive is not flagged as dirty. The /r switch locates bad sectors
and
recovers
readable
information.
This
switch implies /p. Chkdsk requires Autochk. Chkdsk automatically looks
for Autochk.exe in the startup folder. If Chkdsk cannot find the file in
the startup folder, it looks for the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM. If Chkdsk
cannot find the installation CD-ROM, Chkdsk prompts the user for the location
of Autochk.exe. |
| Cls |
Clears the screen |
| Copy |
Copies one file to a target location. By default, the target cannot
be removable media, and you cannot use wildcard characters. Copying a compressed
file from the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM automatically decompresses the
file. |
| Del |
(Delete) Deletes one file. Operates within the system directories of
the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of
any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources. By default,
you cannot
use wildcard characters. |
| Dir |
Displays a list of all files, including hidden and system files. |
| Disable |
Disables a Windows system service or driver. The variable service_or_driver
is the name of the service or driver that you want to disable. When you
use this command to disable a service, the command displays the service's
original startup type before it changes the type to SERVICE_DISABLED. Note
the original startup type so that you can use the enable command to restart
the service. |
| Diskpart |
Manages partitions on hard disk volumes. The /add option creates a new
partition. The /delete option deletes an existing partition. The variable
device is the device name for a new partition (such as \device\harddisk0).
The variable drive is the drive letter for a partition that you are deleting
(for example, D). Partition is the partition-based name for a partition
that you are deleting, (for example: \device\harddisk0\partition1) and
can be used instead of the drive variable. The variable size is the size,
in megabytes, of a new partition. |
| Enable |
Enables a Windows system service or driver. The variable service_or_driver
is the name of the service or driver that you want to enable, and start_type
is the startup type for an enabled service. The startup type uses one of
the following formats:
SERVICE_BOOT_START
SERVICE_SYSTEM_START
SERVICE_AUTO_START
SERVICE_DEMAND_START |
| Exit |
Quits the Recovery Console, and then restarts the computer. |
| Expand |
Expands a compressed file. The variable source is the file that you want
to expand. By default, you cannot use wildcard characters. The variable
destination is the directory for the new file. By default, the destination
cannot be removable media and cannot be read-only. You can use the attrib
command to remove the read-only attribute from the destination directory.
The option /f:filespec is required if the source contains more than one
file. This option permits wildcard characters. The /y switch disables the
overwrite confirmation prompt. The /d switch specifies that the files will
not be expanded and displays a directory of the files in the source. |
| Fixboot |
Writes a new startup sector on the system partition |
| Fixmbr |
Repairs the startup partition's master boot code. The variable device
is an optional name that specifies the device that requires a new Master
Boot Record. Omit this variable when the target is the startup device. |
| Format |
Formats a disk. The /q switch performs a quick format. The /fs switch
specifies the file system. |
| Help |
If you do not use the command variable to specify a command, help lists
all the commands that the Recovery Console supports. |
| Listsvc |
Displays all available services and drivers on the computer. |
| Logon |
Displays detected installations of Windows and requests the local Administrator
password for those installations. Use this command to move to another installation
or subdirectory. |
| Map |
Displays currently active device mappings. Include the arc option to
specify the use of Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) paths (the format for
Boot.ini) instead of Windows device paths. |
| MD |
(Mkdir) Creates a directory. Operates only within the system directories
of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory
of
any
hard disk
partition,
or the local installation sources. |
| More/Type |
Displays the specified text file on screen. More will display a text
file one page at a time, while Type displays the entire text file at once. |
| Rd |
(Rmdir) Removes a directory. Operates only within the system directories
of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory
of
any
hard disk
partition,
or the local installation sources. |
| Ren |
(Rename) Rename a file or directory. Operates only within the system
directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root
directory
of
any
hard disk
partition,
or the local installation sources. You cannot specify a new drive or path
as the target. |
| Set |
Displays and sets the Recovery Console environment variables. |
| Systemroot |
Sets the current directory to %SystemRoot%. |
Deleting the Recovery Console
Warning: To
remove the Recovery Console you need to modify the Boot.ini file. Modifying
this file incorrectly can prevent your computer
from starting properly. Please only attempt this step if you feel comfortable
doing this.
To remove the Recovery Console from your hard drive follow these steps:
- Double-click on My Computer and then double-click on the drive you installed
the Recovery Console (usually the C: drive).
- Click on the Tools menu and select Folder Options.
- Click on the View tab.
- Select Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide
protected operating system files.
- Press the OK button.
- Now at the root folder delete the Cmdcons folder and the Cmldr file.
- At
the root folder, right-click the Boot.ini file, and then click Properties.
- Click
to clear the Read-only check box, and then click the OK button.
- Click on Start, then Run and type Notepad.exe c:\boot.ini in the Open:
field and press the OK button.
- Remove the entry for the Recovery Console. It will look similar to this:
C:\cmdcons\bootsect.dat="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
Make sure you only delete that one entry.
- When you are done, close the notepad and save when it asks.
- Right click again on the boot.ini file and select Properties.
- Put a checkmark back in the Read-only checkbox and then
press the OK button.
The recovery console should now be removed from your system.
--
Lawrence Abrams
Bleeping Computer Advanced Microsoft Tutorials
BleepingComputer.com: Computer Help & Tutorials for the beginning computer
user.
Have a problem and would like to ask us for help? To learn how to ask your question Click Here!
Do you have popups or other malware infecting your computer? If so, Start Here!
Are you having trouble using this site? Then you should visit the New User Orientation Center!
BleepingComputer.com -> Tutorials -> Advanced Microsoft Topics -> How to install and use the Windows XP Recovery Console
