If you have prepared an Emergency Repair Disk beforehand, you can use it to repair system files (after you start the system using the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM or floppy disks you created from the CD-ROM).

Important The Emergency Repair Process relies on information that is saved in the Systemroot\Repair folder. You must not change or delete this folder.

To use an Emergency Repair Disk for system repairs

1. Insert the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM, or the first floppy disk you created from the CD-ROM, in the appropriate drive.
2. For systems that cannot start from the CD-ROM drive, you must use a floppy disk.
3. Restart the computer, and if using floppy disks, respond to the prompts that request each floppy disk in turn.
4. When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Choose the repair option by pressing R.
5. When prompted, insert the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM in the appropriate drive.
6. When prompted, choose the emergency repair process by pressing R.
7. When prompted, choose between the following:
   • Manual Repair (press M). Only advanced users or administrators should choose this option. Using it, you can repair system files, partition-boot sector problems, and startup environment problems.
     However, this option does not allow you to repair problems with your registry. If you want to manually repair individual registry files or replace your entire registry, use Recovery Console.
     Important The manual repair option should only be used by advanced users or administrators.
   • Fast Repair (press F). This is the easiest option to use, and doesn't require user input. If you choose this option, the Emergency Repair Disk program will attempt to repair problems related to system files, the partition boot sector on your system disk, and your startup environment (if you have a system that has more than one operating system installed).
     The fast repair option uses a backup copy of the registry that was created when Windows 2000 Setup was first run on your computer. If you select this option, you may lose settings or preferences you created since Setup was first run.
8. Follow the instructions on the screen and, when prompted, insert the Emergency Repair Disk in the appropriate drive. During the repair process, missing or corrupt files are replaced with files from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM or with files from the systemroot\Repair folder on the system partition.
   Replacement files from either of these sources will not reflect any configuration changes made after Setup.
9. Follow the instructions on the screen. To help diagnose how the system was damaged, write down the names of files that are detected as faulty or incorrect.
10. If the repair was successful, allow the process to finish. The computer's restarting indicates that the replacement files were successfully copied to the hard disk.

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional