Vic said:
Hey John, i'm not given the option to select the Windows installation, it is
automatically loaded... and after the loading is done on the RC mode, the
default is
C:\>
The Recovery Console should open at the Systemroot directory, usually
C:\Windows and you need to press a number for the installation and then
press <Enter> to log on to the Windows installation. The screen should
look something like this:
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
1: C:\WINDOWS
Which Windows Installation would you like to log on to
(To cancel, press ENTER)?
You can only run select commands without first logging on to the Windows
installation, you cannot create directories (md) without first selecting
the Windows installation and logging on.
[Quote from Technet documentation]
"If the registry is corrupted or missing or no valid installations are
found, the Recovery Console starts in the root of the startup volume
without requiring a password. You cannot access any folders, but you can
carry out commands such as chkdsk , fixboot , and fixmbr for limited
disk repairs."
[end quote]
This (starting at the C:\ root) is usually a sign of drive or file
system corruption, the prescribed fix would be to run chkdsk /r on the
drive, chkdsk is one of the few commands that can be run without logging
on to the Windows installation. After chkdsk is done you can try
issuing the LOGON command and see if it presents you with a list of
valid Windows installations.
i believe i need to be in my windows directory... not sure how to get there
when i'm in this directory
Try cd %systemroot% but I don't that it will run if you aren't logged on
to the installation. If you ran a chkdsk and are still starting at the
C:\ prompt then I would suggest that you run a diagnostic utility from
the drive manufacturer to check your drive. If you need or want to try
to salvage files you can mount the disk to another Windows installation
(slave it or put it in a USB enclosure) and see if you can access the disk.
If you can access the disk from another Windows installation you can try
to copy the registry files as suggested in the knowledge base article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545 With the disk mounted in another
Windows installation you can dispense with Steps 1 and 3 altogether, the
object of the exercise in KB307545 is to copy the registry files in the
Snapshot folder to the Config folder. From the Snapshot folder copy the
files:
• _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM
to the System32\config folder directly, making sure to rename them as
follows:
• Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM
These will in fact replace the present DEFAULT, SECURITY, SOFTWARE,
SYSTEM, and SAM files in the Config folder.
Once that is done, return the disk to the computer and if it boots
proceed to Step 4 as instructed in the article. To repair this you may
have no choice but to run chkdsk on the drive, if you do you may find
that the Snapshot files are not in the expected System Volume
Information folder, if that is the case look for FOUND.xxx folders in
the root of the drive, the Snapshot files may get dumped in there, they
may or may not be usable, you will only know by trial.
Good luck,
John
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc961858.aspx
Troubleshooting Tools and Strategies
