Windows 2000 provides a variety of options to use when a system will not start:

1. The first options to try are Safe mode and related startup options, which you can use to start the system with only the minimal necessary services. Safe mode options, including Last Known Good Configuration, are especially useful if a newly-installed driver is causing problems with starting the system.
2. An option to consider if safe mode does not help is the Recovery Console. This option is recommended only for advanced users or administrators. The method for starting the system is to use the Setup CD-ROM or floppy disks you created from the CD-ROM. Then you can access the Recovery Console, a command-line interface from which you can perform tasks such as starting and stopping services and accessing the local drive (including drives formatted with NTFS).
3. If safe mode and the Recovery Console are not workable in your situation, and if you made appropriate advance preparations, you can try the Emergency Repair Disk option, which is part of Windows 2000 Backup. Windows 2000 Backup includes a wizard that helps you create an Emergency Repair Disk. If a system failure then occurs, you can start the system with the Setup CD-ROM or floppy disks you created from the CD-ROM, and then use the Emergency Repair Disk to restore core system files.
4. If safe mode and the Recovery Console are not workable in your situation, and you do not have an Emergency Repair Disk, you can try rerunning Setup from the Windows 2000 Server CD-ROM. Setup might be able to repair the system, although some settings could be lost.