The following describes the functionality and limitations of the Windows Recovery Console. The Windows Recovery Console is designed to help you recover when your Windows-based computer does not start properly or does not start at all.

If safe mode and other startup options do not work, you can consider using the Recovery Console. However, this method is recommended only if you are an advanced user or administrator who can use basic commands to identify and locate problem drivers and files. The Recovery Console is a command-line console that you can use after starting the computer with the Setup CD-ROM (if the computer's CD-ROM drive allows this) or with floppy disks you created from the CD-ROM. For information about how to create floppy disks from the Setup CD-ROM, see "Creating Floppy Disks for Starting a Disabled System" earlier in this appendix.

You will have to log on with the Administrator account in order to use the Recovery Console. The commands it provides include commands that allow you to do simple operations such as change to a different directory or view a directory, and more powerful operations such as fixing the boot sector on the hard drive. You can display Help for the commands in the Recovery Console by typing help at the Recovery Console command prompt.

When you use the Windows Recovery Console, you can obtain limited access to NTFS, FAT, and FAT32 volumes without starting the Windows graphical interface. In the Windows Recovery Console you can:

• Use, copy, rename or replace operating system files and folders.
• Write data on a local drive (including drives formatted with NTFS),
• Enable or disable services or devices from starting when you next start your computer.
• Repair the file system boot sector or the Master Boot Record (MBR).
• Create and format partitions on drives.

The Recovery Console is particularly useful if you need to repair your system by copying a file from a floppy disk or CD-ROM to your hard drive, or if you need to reconfigure a service that is preventing your computer from starting properly. For example, you could use the Recovery Console to replace an overwritten or corrupted driver file with a good copy from a floppy disk.

Each time you use Backup to back up the System State, a copy of the registry is placed on the local system partition in a subfolder under systemroot\Repair. You can use the Recovery Console to copy files from systemroot\Repair to systemroot\system32\config (the location of the registry itself).

After you do this, the registry will contain the information it had when the system state was last backed up. Changes made after that time will be lost. Important Because the Recovery Console is quite powerful, it is recommended that only advanced users or administrators use it.