Windows XP: What is Recovery Console?

The Recovery Console is designed to restore an operating system that boots incorrectly or does not load at all. With the help of the Windows Recovery Console, you can gain limited access to volumes without running the GUI. Using the Recovery Console, you can copy, rename, replace files and folders in the operating system, allow or deny the start of services or devices the next time the computer boots, fix the boot sector or master boot record (MBR), create and format partitions on disks.

Access to the Recovery Console is restricted to administrators who are authorized by Windows. Thus, in some, especially severe cases of OS destruction, it is not possible to use the recovery console. But when solving problems with OS downloads that arise when installing new drivers or software, as well as for problems with boot record, the recovery console will be an indispensable and convenient tool that allows solving the problem in a matter of minutes.

How do I start the Recovery Console?

You can start the Recovery Console in the following way:

1. Boot from the Windows 2000 installation CD.

Fig. 1. Welcome to setup screen.

2. On the Welcome to setup screen, shown in Figure 1, press F10. The window shown in Figure 2 opens.

Fig. 2. Recovery Console.

3. Using the buttons 1, 2, 3 (depending on the number of installed installed OS), select the copy of the operating system to which you want to enter for recovery.

Fig. 3. Request a password.

4. Enter the Administrator password that you specified when installing the OS. After the password is entered, the current path will be installed in the system folder of the OS copy you selected to restore. The screen will look like the one shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 4. Access to the console is received.

In this way, you can start the Recovery Console, but after logging out and rebooting, if you need to access the console again, you will have to repeat all the steps again. The console is not installed on the hard drive.

How do I install Recovery Console?

If there is a need for frequent use of the Recovery Console, it is easier to install it on a disk than every time you run it from a CD. To install the console to disk, you must run Windows from the Windows 2000 installation disk

D: \ I386 \ winnt32 / cmdcons

Replace D in the command with the drive letter of the CD. After that, the message shown in Figure 5 will be displayed.

Fig. 5. Install the Recovery Console.

After an affirmative answer to the question about installing the Recovery Console on the hard disk, the console will be installed fully automatically and after the installation is complete, a message will be displayed on the screen, which is shown in Figure 6.

Fig. 6. The Recovery Console is installed on the disk.

Now, to start the console, just select the appropriate item in the boot menu at the start of the operating system. An example of the boot menu after installing the Recovery Console is shown in Figure 7.

Is. 7. Select the Recovery Console from the boot menu.