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Windows 2000 Startup and Recovery 

Introduction to startup and recovery 

Key Topics 

Windows Startup Phases 

Windows 2000 Startup Process Step1 

Windows 2000 Startup Process Step 2 

Windows 2000 Startup Process Step 3 

Kernel Loaded 

Windows 2000 Startup Initialization 

Windows 2000 Startup User Login 

Windows 2000 Initial Boot Files 

Windows 2000 Initial Boot Files 

Important Files Listed 

F8 Boot Options 

F8 Menu Options 

F8 Safe Mode 

F8 Safe Mode With Networking 

F8 Safe Mode Command Prompt 

Other F8 Options 

Last Known Good Configuration 

Other F8 Options 

Windows 2000 Common Problems 

Windows 2000 Recovery Solutions 

Windows 2000 Help 

Windows Help Searching 

Windows Help Contents 

Online Help 

Quick Command Help 

Windows 2000 Troubleshooting Help 

Drwatson 

Windows 2000 Memory Dump 

Creating The Boot Disks 

Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) 

What Is The Best ERD 

When To Create An ERD 

What Is Inside The ERD 

How To Create An ERD 

ERD Creation Process 

ERD Files 

Using The ERD to Recover Windows NT and Windows 2000 

System State Data 

System State Data Components 

What Is The Recovery Console 

Recovery Console Commands 

Copying In The Recovery Console 

Reinstallation 

Dynamic to Basic 

Mass Reinstallation 

Windows 2000  Startup and Recovery

Introduction to startup  and recovery

  • As you can see, windows 2000 has provided us with a startup  process which is a combination of windows 9x  and Windows NT .

  • We have all the functionality of the startup  menu used in windows 9x  combined with the stringent recovery  methods of windows NT such as using the startup disks, the ERD , Recovery console, backup data etc.

Key Topics

  • Windows Startup Phases

  • Windows Startup Process

  • Windows 2000  Initial Boot Files

  • F8 Boot Options

  • Last known good Configuration

  • Windows Recovery Solutions

  • Windows 2000  Help

  • DR. Watson

  • Emergency Repair Disk

  • System State Data

  • Recovery Console

  • Reinstallation

 

 

Windows Startup Phases

  • Windows 2000  provides two major startup  phases; the DOS  mode and the GUI mode

  • The DOS  mode phase gives you the choice of starting windows and initializing the windows 2000 environment.

  • If F8 is pressed during the DOS  mode, you are given the option of using the startup  menu.

  • The GUI mode  loads the kernel, then loads the windows environment including the registry  and finally allows the user to login to the system.

Windows 2000  Startup Process Step1

  • After the system POST  the master boot record (MBR ) is loaded which means the boot files  are loaded.

  • The Windows 2000  loader NTLDR  is loaded obtaining information  on system hardware and required drivers .

Windows 2000  Startup Process Step 2

  • The NTLDR  loads the BOOT.INI  file, which allows you to select the operating system  to load in a multi boot system and also contain the location of window2000 operating system.

Windows 2000  Startup Process Step 3

  • NTDETECT .COM  is loaded if Windows 2000  is selected which performs hardware scan and sets up certain hardware in Windows 2000.

  • BOOTSECT .DOS  is loaded which begins the second operating system  if Windows 2000  is not selected.

Kernel  Loaded

  • Since windows 2000 is selected the NTLDR  now loads the NTOSKRNL.EXE  from the c:\windows 2000\System32 directory  and passes control to the kernel.

  • The HAL  component of the registry  is now also examined and loaded for the required hardware.

Windows 2000  Startup Initialization

  • Now the Windows 2000  kernel will start to load the GUI environment , completing the boot process.

  • This phase of the startup  process also load the registry , activates plug and play, loads the system services  and processes, activates all the hardware devices  defined by loading the required drivers , and finally brings up windows explorer.

Windows 2000  Startup User Login

  • To complete the startup  process, the user must login to the system successfully initiating the creation of the backup of the registry  being made for the last known good configuration  option. This option of windows 2000is used incase something catastrophic happens to the operating system

Windows 2000  Initial Boot Files

  • Windows 2000  has a total of five files  located on the root directory  designed to initiate the boot process.

  • These files  include NTLDR , BOOT.INI , NTDETECT .COM , NTBOOTDD .SYS , BOOTSECT .DOS .

Windows 2000  Initial Boot Files

  • NTBOOTDD .SYS  is only applicable to SCSI  systems and BOOTSECT .DOS  is only required in dual boot  systems when booting in DOS.

Important Files Listed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


F8 Boot Options

  • At the beginning of the boot process of windows 2000, we can press the F8 key to view the advanced startup  options.

  • This F8 menu option was previously only available on windows 9x  and not in Windows NT .

 

F8 Menu Options

When F8 is pressed at windows 2000 startup  the following menu can be seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


F8 Safe Mode

  • Safe Mode: - This option is useful if normal startup  is not possible, and a GUI environment  is required to resolve the problem. It loads minimal drivers  to obtain the GUI environment, not activating non-essential devices

F8 Safe Mode With Networking

  • Safe Mode with Networking : -Same a Safe Mode but the networking features have been activated to allow for downloading of files  from the network  if required.

F8 Safe Mode Command Prompt  

  • Safe Mode Command Prompt : - Only loads command prompt  without loading Config.sys  and Autoexec.bat .

Other F8 Options

  • Enable Boot Logging : - Log the boot process and records the activation of driver /services  during the boot process and their success or failure.

  • Enable VGA  Mode: - This option is also available in Windows NT , which allows us to boot and load all drivers  required except the SVGA  drivers.

  • Boot normally: - allows us continue the normal startup  of windows 2000.

Last Known Good  Configuration

  • Windows 2000  stores a copy of the registry  that contains the working hardware configuration  on every normal system startup  called the last known good configuration  overwriting the previous backup.

  • If the system completes the startup  process and the user logs into the environment, then the previous registry  will be automatically overwritten.

  • The key within the registry  which contains the last known good configuration  is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE

Other F8 Options

  • Directory Services Restore  Mode: - used only on domain controller server to restore the systems Active directory

  • Debugging Mode:- This option can only be useful with  programmers which allows administrators to trace code problems and provides the opportunity for programmers to resolve the issue.

Windows 2000  Common Problems

  • There are a number of different problems that your system could encounter to which windows 2000 provides a different solution.

  • These problems could include hardware problems, software  problems, driver ’s activation and update issues, system configuration problems, system startup  boot problems, and system registry  problems.

Windows 2000  Recovery Solutions

  • Windows 2000  solutions that we will be covering include using the windows 2000 help, the Drwatson utility, the emergency repair disk (ERD ), dealing with the system state data, and reinstallation.

  • There are times that your system is so badly corrupted that no solution is available for its recovery , which leaves us with no alternative but to reinstall windows 2000.

Windows 2000  Help

  • Windows help is a database of all information  related to windows 2000 clearly explained.

Windows Help  Searching

  • The process of searching  has been simplified by either using its search tool or sifting through the complete index of information  topic provided to you at the launch of help.

Windows Help  Contents

  • We can also use the contents tab to search window 2000 topic by topic reviewing main topic and subtopics presented as books and sub-books.

Online Help

  • Windows 2000  help contains HTML  coding for the web , which allows it to connect to the Internet  to obtain the most up to date information  on a particular help search that may not be currently available with the systems help.

  • We could also save our searches within the favorites tab inside the help tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Quick Command Help

  • The old DOS  quick help technique of using the /? switch in front of the command that help is required for still exists, giving us a view of all the switch options of that particular command.

Windows 2000  Troubleshooting Help

  • Windows 2000  also has troubleshooting  information , which guides you step by step to diagnosing your most common hardware problem and also eliminating the problem.

  • This comprehensive help will ask you questions and diagnoses your problem from your responses, and also links you to the place where changes need to be made in the system.

Drwatson

  • The DR Watson utility is a tool that windows automatically activate on application errors . DR Watson generates a dump file with coded errors for farther investigation.

  • The log file generated is called Drwtsn32.log and is stored inside the Document and settings\All users\Documents\Drwatson folder.

  • The properties of Drwatson can be changed from the registry  key Hkey_Local_machine\Software\Microsoft\Drwatson.

Windows 2000  Memory Dump

  • When a windows 2000 stop occurs during startup , you can see the famous blue screen of death, a memory  dump file can be generated if the create crash dump file option was checked.

  • The generated dump file is called MEMORY.DMP  which contains coded binary  errors  to be investigated by the debugger and is stored in the windows folder.

  • Programmers and specialized personal can use any of the two utilities Dumpchk.exe  or Dumpexam.exe  to examine the memory  dump file MEMORY.DMP  in a diagnostic  investigation.

Creating The Boot Disks

  • Windows 2000  is provided with 4 boot disks that can be used during installation .

  • These disks can be created using the installation  CDROM  by viewing the contents of the CDROM.

Exercise(Creating startup  disks)

1.      Double the My computer icon

2.      Double click on the CDROM  drive

3.      Change  directories in to the I386  folder by typing CD  I386

4.      You need to type the command Winnt.exe/ox in a dos based environment or Winnt32.exe/ox in Windows NT  environment.

5.      You must provide the location of the installation  files  which is usually D:\I386

6.      You are finally prompted to insert four disks starting from disk 4 to disk1.

 

Emergency Repair Disk (ERD )

  • If your Windows NT  or Windows 2000  system runs into serious problems booting up, one method of recovering your system might be to use the ERD

What Is The Best ERD

  • You must try and generate ERD  when your system is functioning correctly so that when we recover  the system after using the ERD we will attain the best working system.

When To Create An ERD

  • It is advised that the

  •  ERD  should be generated after the installation , after any upgrades such as service packs, and finally after any major hardware configuration  changes such as add new devices  etc.

What Is Inside The ERD

  • The ERD  contains minimal information  that can be used to recover  your system including some registry  information and some files  location information etc.

  • The backup of the registry  can be found in the %SYSTEMROOT%\Repair directory  that can also be used to recover  your system.

How To Create An ERD

  • You can generate the ERD  by using the backup utility of windows and the Create an Emergency Repair Disk option from the options of the tools menu.

 

Exercise (Creating an emergency repair disk)

1.      Click on Start àProgramsàAccessories àSystem toolsàBackup

  1. From the welcome tab of the backup window click on the emergency repair disk button

  2. The system will prompt you to place a formatted disk in the A: drive

  3. Check the box to backup the registry  to the repair directory .

  4. And then click on the OK button.

 

ERD  Creation Process

  • The Create an Emergency Repair Disk option allows us to backup the current registry  in the %SYSTEMROOT%\Repair directory  if we check that option prior to the creation of the ERD  disk.

ERD  Files

  • The ERD  contains only three files  used to recover  the system, which are AUTOEXEC.NT , CONFIG.NT  and finally Setup.Log

  • The AUTOEXEC.NT  file and the CONFIG.NT  file can be used to bring up the DOS  environment and are copied from the %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\ directory  where the original files  exist.

  • The Setup.Log  file also originates in the %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\ directory  and contains a catalog of all the files  installed including a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) of the data required in the recovery  process.

Using The ERD  to Recover Windows NT  and Windows 2000

  • To recover  your system you must use the boot disks starting from disk 1.

  • The third disk will prompt you with a menu where you can use the R option to repair the system.

  • You will now be able to perform certain recovery  tasks including:-

  • Verify Windows NT  and windows 2000 system files  

  • Inspect registry  files

  • Inspect startup  environment

  • Inspect boot sector

System State Data

  • It is emphasized that the system state data should be backed up frequently for system recovery

  • The system state data contains different components depending upon the installation  of the windows 2000 operating system , which increase in number the of components the more powerful your system is on the network  

System State Data Components

  • Within windows 2000 professional the system state data includes:-

  • The System boot files

  • Important system files  which are protected by WFP

  • The system registry

  • The COM + class registration database files .

What Is The Recovery Console

  • One way of recovering our system when we cannot obtain a GUI environment  is to use the recovery  console.

  • The recovery  console is a command line utility that Windows 2000  provides giving the administrator  limited access to the filing system including the NTFS  filing system and allowing the administrator to start and stop certain services  to ensure the recovery of the operating system .

Recovery Console Commands

  • You can run most of the standard DOS  commands in the recovery  console and a few new added commands dealing with windows 2000 filing system and services . If a command is typed not in recovery console’s list  of commands an access denied message is produced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Copying In The Recovery Console

  • Because of security concerns the recovery  console does not allow the copying of hard drive  files  to a removable medium like a floppy, but the reverse is acceptable to windows 2000.

Reinstallation

  • Reinstallation is always an option when all other options fail in the system recovery  or the time spent trying to recover  the system cannot be justified.

  • You can either overwrite the current operating system  or make a clean installation , which means all the application may need to be reinstalled.

Dynamic to Basic

  • If you want to reinstall, make sure your dynamic drive is converted  back to basic or the installation  will not happen.

  • In order to go back to basic disk  from dynamic disk, you must delete all the volumes and then choose Revert to Basic Disk in the windows 2000 disk management utility or use a third party software  which can recognize dynamic disks

Mass Reinstallation

  • In large office environments RIS  servers prove to be especially useful in such circumstances where reinstallation is required, and the hardware and applications  used within the office are standard and identical.

Questions

 

  1. What are the boot files  of windows 2000? (Choose all that apply)

    1. NTLDR

    2. NTDETECT

    3. BOOT.INI

    4. BOOT.SYS

    5. COMMAND.COM

  2. What are the boot options of windows 2000? (Choose all that apply)

    1. Safe mode

    2. Safe mode with networking

    3. Safe mode with modem

    4. Enable boot logging

    5. Recovery mode

  3. What are the boot options of windows 2000? (Choose all that apply)

    1. Enable VGA  mode

    2. Directory service restore mode

    3. Command prompt

    4. Last known good configuration

    5. Previous version of DOS

  4. How can you create the ERD

    1. Using RDISK.EXE

    2. Using FDISK.EXE

    3. Using system backup utility

    4. Use the system tools

    5. Use the Disk management utility

  5. What are the features of the recovery  console? (Choose all that apply)

    1. It is a GUI environment

    2. It is a command prompt  environment

    3. It can work on FAT32  drives

    4. It can work on NTFS  drives

    5. It can be used to recover  windows 2000

  6. Which of the following are command of the recovery  console? (Choose all that apply)

    1. DIR

    2. Attrib

    3. Fixboot

    4. Fixmbr

    5. Compress

  7. Which of the following are command of the recovery  console? (Choose all that apply)

    1. MD

    2. CD

    3. Login

    4. Listsrv

    5. Help

 

Answers

1.      A,B,C

2.      A,B,D

3.      A,B,C,D

4.      C

5.      B,C,D,E

6.      A,B,C,D

7.      A,B,D,E

 

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