Recovering Windows XP using the Recovery Console

When the system displays on booting a message of "missing" NTLDR or NTDETECT,
you can copy these files via Recovery Console from the CD-ROM.


Insert your Windows 2000 / XP installation CD-ROM and boot from CD-ROM


Windows 2000:
On the "Windows 2000 Professional Setup" menu, select "R" for repair.

as Repair option, select "C" to use the "Recovery Console".

Windows XP:
On the "Windows XP Professional Setup" menu, select "R" for Recovery Console.

Windows 2000 / XP :
You will be prompted to select the Windows installation to repair (usually just "1" )

You will need to enter the Administrator password !

make sure to be on the root of the C:-drive (please make : CD \ ).

In this example, the CD-ROM drive is Drive D: , allowing to make a copy of the files

NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from the i386-directory to the C:\ - root directory.

type : EXIT to restart the system.





If there is a problem with the Boot-sector on the C:-drive, you can use "fixboot" to write
a new boot-sector.
If there is a problem with the Master-Boot-Record of the disk (maybe damaged by a virus),
you can use "fixmbr" to write a new MBR.



Extract files from CAB-files using "expand" :

example: I have copied a CAB-file from CD-ROM, display the content of the CAB-file
using "expand xxx.CAB /d /f:*" and then extract the required files via : "expand xxx.CAB /f:yyy"

Partition problems:
You can use "diskpart" to manage disk partitions.

If called up without an option, you get a simple user-interface :

Services and Devices

Use "listsvc" to display a list of all devices and services :