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General discussion

XP Pro, Recovery Console. Has anyone used the RC

Nov 18, 2003 9:54PM PST

to actually revive a dead system? If yes, can you tell which of the commands it was that performed the recovery???

I am studying the list of commands [and their limitations] and cannot find one that I would think that would bring a system back. Related thereto, how would one get any insight as to which command to try when the system isn't working to give any clues???

I've got a lot to learn.

Discussion is locked

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Re:XP Pro, Recovery Console. Has anyone used the RC
Nov 18, 2003 10:24PM PST

"to actually revive a dead system? If yes, can you tell which of the commands it was that performed the recovery???"

The recovery varies with the problem. There is no "do this" instruction sheet and your experience with Windows NT 3.0 to 4.0, Windows 2000 and beyond comes in handy as you disable services, rename files and stop drivers from loading.

Sadly, you get to keep digging up articles about how to use the commands, but nothing ever documented actual system repairs.

Bob

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So, are you saying that YOU have NEVER used it to
Nov 18, 2003 10:46PM PST

revive a dead XP Operating System?????XP

Seems as if you might be using it as a DOS like tool for convenience.

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Re:So, are you saying that YOU have NEVER used it to
Nov 18, 2003 10:55PM PST

I was unclear on the response, so I'll be more clear.

I was able to revive dozens of machines with the console. Most of the time it involved disabling a service or driver from being loaded so XP could start and use of the more friendly tools could proceed.

The issue is that there is no document telling you exactly what to do with the tools, but just how to operate them. Your knowledge of the OS and finding what driver, service or what not item is stopping XP is what can fix the OS enough to proceed.

Bob

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Re:XP Pro, Recovery Console. Has anyone used the RC
Nov 18, 2003 11:01PM PST

Ray,

Here are a few commands you can use for each situation/s:
To fix a corrupt boot.ini in a dual-boot setup use FIXMBR. For example you have Win98/XP dual-boot and you reinstall Win98 which leads to your not being able to boot into XP as the dual-boot may have been over-written in the process. FIXMBR will rewrite a new dual-boot file. An alternative is (if you remeber) backup/copy the dual-boot (boot.ini) onto a floppy disk and copy it back after reinstalling Win98.
You can also use BOOTCFG for boot configuration and recovery of the boot.ini.

FIXBOOT will write a new partition boot sector to the system partition you are logged on to or you can specify which drive if your XP is on the D or E drive.

COPY command lets you copy and replace corrupt system files. If you have a corrupt NTDETECT or ntldr file or you can replace the entire system files.
See this link for instructions:
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot2.htm

DISKPART is like the old Fdisk and does the same thing to let you delete/create partitions to your heart's content. But it only lets you format into NTFS. So if you want to format intop FAT32 for whatever reason you exit DISKPART after creating the partitions then after XP is set up use Disk Management to format the partition/s to FAT32 provided the partition does not exceed 32GB in size.
For larger partition you can boot with a Win98SE Startup Disk to format to FAT32.

Other useful commands are DELETE, CHKDSK, FORMAT, LOGON etc.

So you see the Recovery Console is the last line of defense before you have to reinstall XP.

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How does one get a clue as to what to "fix", when the system won't boot????
Nov 19, 2003 6:22AM PST

How would one know to use BOOTCFG, MBR et al ????

The systenm is not coming up so WHERE are the clues coming from ?????

How does one know that a corrupt file is causing the problem????

Certainly not a useful tool for the average user.


Also has anyone complained that a replier to a post cannot see the entire message that he is replying to. It sure makes it difficult to address the parts of the post that are not viewable.

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Yes. Not a tool for "everyone."
Nov 19, 2003 6:35AM PST

"How would one know to use BOOTCFG, MBR et al ????

The systenm is not coming up so WHERE are the clues coming from ?????"

The clue is in the non-boot. If you don't get the BIOS screen, then XP is not the issue and you repair the machine.

If you get a BIOS screen without a hard disk present, then you don't have a XP issue and repair that first.

Finally, you get past the POST and depending on what happens you decide which tool to use.

"How does one know that a corrupt file is causing the problem????"

A logged boot.

"Certainly not a useful tool for the average user."

This has been a topic of discussion for many years. The OS progresses in capability and complexity. Some users are best off with "something else."

"Also has anyone complained that a replier to a post cannot see the entire message that he is replying to. It sure makes it difficult to address the parts of the post that are not viewable."

Which is why I sometimes copy/paste the author's text as I did here. Lee Koo has stated the issues and such. No need to cover that again here.

Bob