Recovery Console Help

[Jake]

I can't boot up WinXP from the hard drive using any configuration (e.g., Last Known, Safe Mode, etc.). The PC was turned off during boot up and now it can't boot. Of course I forgot to make a damn "Automated System Recovery Disk", so I can't fix it that way. I tried booting from the WinXP CD-Rom and using the Recovery Console. The problem is I don't havea clue how to use it and I'll probably screw things up even worst. Does anyone know how I should use Recovery Console to restore my Windows XP Professional to working order? I searched out various MS help articles but so far not too helpful. Thanks in Advance.<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">

[Iceman]

The reason for the repair thingy is so that you can use a fake DOS. You wouldn't be able to use a win 98 DOS disk as Windows XP runs on NTFS partitions. From the recovery console you can mess around with the files and stuff. What is the actual problem you are getting?

[ADRAMELK]

XP Pro can be installed on FAT32 or NTFS.<BR><BR>What error message are you getting when you try to boot?<BR><BR>

[Jake]

<BR>Okay, the problem is my home system won't boot to an XP login screen - it gets hung up. After the OS configuration is chosen and executed, the screen is blank, the hard drive light remains on, and I never get a WinXP login screen. In safemode, I believe the system is not able to process beyond the configuration settings in boot.ini. Anyway, I'm at work, so I'll have to go home and check that tonight again.<BR>Using WinXP CDROM to boot, after I hit "R" for recovery console, the system asks for the partition or configuration (something like 1. [C:Windows...WinXP Professional]. After choosing 1. (the only choice), the system takes me to a command line C: in the NTFS partition, which is the recovery console. All files and directories are accessible so the hard drive itself seems okay.<BR>Problem: The console function provides a set of DOS-like commands that require operator knowledge about what to do. I remember in NT4.0 you could recover from a floppy or let the WinXP OS fix it automatically, but the latter option doesn't appear to work in WinXP. In recovery console I'm not sure if I should execute the command "fixboot MBR" or something else? Also, there doesn't appear to be a text editor to manually edit boot.ini. Got any ideas about how to proceed in recovery console to fix the boot files (assuming that is the problem)? If I need to later reinstall drivers, geez, that's no big deal.<BR><BR>Thanks<BR>Jake

[Jake]

I think I may have found some helpful links and info for repairing XP (using recovery console) at bootdisk.com.