Windows 2000 Recovery: Part 4 - The Recovery Console

Continuing his look at the various options available when Windows 2000 will not start or load, this week Dave Cook shows you how to install the Recovery Console

Windows 2000 might be Microsoft's most reliable operating system to date, but it isn't foolproof. So when things wrong, it's nice to know that it offers numerous features aimed at quickly getting your machine back up and running.

Take the Recovery Console, for example. The Recovery Console is a text mode process that lets you tackle most of the important stuff that once upon a time would have been accomplished at the DOS prompt. This includes several tasks that you couldn't have managed in the past without enlisting the help of the Windows NT Server Resource Kit, or something even more exotic.

Advanced Users

What the Recovery Console lacks is a graphical user interface, such as the one found in Safe Mode. Be warned, therefore, that to feel at home with the console you need to be the type of person who is comfortable using text-only commands to identify and locate problem drivers and files. Assuming Safe Mode and other startup options such as the Last Known Good Configuration don't work, the Recovery Console can be regarded as the next logical step towards getting the system back to normal.

Because the Recovery Console is self-contained, you can use it (with Administrator privileges) to gain access to the Windows 2000 system files, read and write data on a local drive (including FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS partitions) and copy data from a floppy disk or CD. And that's just the start! Several built-in diagnostic tools such as Chkdsk, Fixboot, and Fixmbr are also available from the console, along with limited access to the Registry to help you enable or disable services.

Three Choices

Basically, the Recovery Console can be loaded in one of three ways:

1. Boot from the Windows 2000 installation CD (if supported by the computer) and select the Repair option.
2. Boot from the four Windows 2000 setup floppies and select the Repair option. If no boot floppies are available, run the makeboot.bat file located in the Bootdisk folder on the Windows 2000 CD.
3. Install the Recovery Console files on the local drive first. This adds the console to a boot menu that appears each time the computer is started.

The last option provides the greatest flexibility. It does require some extra work, though, since the console is not installed by default. To install the console, insert the Windows 2000 CD in the CD-ROM drive, and open a command session via Start, Programs, and Accessories. At the command prompt, switch to your CD-ROM drive letter and type i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons. Hit the Enter key and the Windows Setup window will open with a Recovery Console warning. Click Yes to install the console. Setup will then install the Recovery Console files, display a 'Successful Completion' message, and exit. Note that the i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons command performs the same system check as a clean Windows 2000 installation. But that shouldn't be a problem unless your system is mirrored.

All told, Setup copies approximately 7 MB of files to the Cmdcons folder on the system disk, starting with the contents of the boot sector of the Windows 2000 system partition, which is copied to Cmdcons\bootsect.dat file.

Congratulations! You've just added a boot menu to the startup screen that gives you the option to launch Windows 2000 or boot to the Recovery Console. This menu is basically the same menu you would use if you had more than one operating system installed on your computer.

Coming Up

That's it for now. Next time around we'll be covering the console in even greater depth, providing a list of commands that should help you get that computer back up and running, and in as short a time possible.

Dave Cook