The Recovery Console is a feature of the
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...
,
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...
and
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003, codenamed "Whistler Server", is the sixth major version of the Windows NT operating system produced by Microsoft and the first server version to be released under the Windows Server brand name. It is part of the Windows NT ...
operating systems. It provides the means for administrators to perform a limited range of tasks using a
command-line interface
A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via command (computing), commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user ...
.
Its primary function is to enable administrators to recover from situations where Windows does not
boot as far as presenting its
graphical user interface
A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...
. The recovery console is used to provide a way to access the hard drive in an emergency through the command prompt. The Recovery Console can be started from
Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 Setup CD.
The Recovery Console can be accessed in two ways, either through the original installation media used to install Windows, or by installing it onto the hard drive and adding it to the
NTLDR
NTLDR (abbreviation of ''NT loader'') is the boot loader for all releases of Windows NT operating system from 1993 with the release of Windows NT 3.1 up until Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. From Windows Vista onwards it was replaced by the B ...
menu. However, the latter option is much more risky than the former one because it requires that the computer can boot to the point that NTLDR loads, or else the Recovery Console will not work at all.
Abilities
The Recovery Console has a simple
command-line interpreter
A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user-friendly alternativ ...
(or CLI). Many of the available
commands closely resemble the commands that are normally available in
cmd.exe, namely
attrib,
copy,
del
Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...
, and so forth.
From the Recovery Console an administrator can:
* create and remove directories, and copy, erase, display, and
rename files
* enable and disable services (which modifies the service control database in the registry, to take effect when the system is next bootstrapped)
* repair boot file, using the
bootcfg
In computing, bootcfg is a command (computing), command on Microsoft Windows NT-based operating systems which acts as a Wrapper pattern, wrapper for editing the boot.ini file.
Overview
The command is used to configure, query, or change Boot.ini f ...
command
* write a new
master boot record
A master boot record (MBR) is a type of boot sector in the first block of disk partitioning, partitioned computer mass storage devices like fixed disks or removable drives intended for use with IBM PC-compatible systems and beyond. The concept ...
to a disk, using the
fixmbr command
* write a new
volume boot record to a volume, using the
fixboot command
* format volumes
* expand files from the compressed format in which they are stored on the installation
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
* perform a full
chkdsk
In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a system software, system tool and command (computing), command in DOS and Microsoft Windows (and related operating systems), as well as Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 Operating System, 4 ...
scan to repair corrupted disks and files, especially if the computer cannot be started properly
Filesystem access on the Recovery Console is by default severely limited. An administrator using the Recovery Console has only read-only access to all volumes except for the
boot volume, and even on the boot volume only access to the root directory and to the Windows system directory (e.g. \WINNT). This can be changed by changing Security Policies to enable read/write access to the complete file system including copying files from removable media (i.e. floppy drives).
Commands
The following is a list of the Recovery Console
internal commands:
*
attrib
* batch
*
bootcfg
In computing, bootcfg is a command (computing), command on Microsoft Windows NT-based operating systems which acts as a Wrapper pattern, wrapper for editing the boot.ini file.
Overview
The command is used to configure, query, or change Boot.ini f ...
(introduced in Windows XP)
*
cd
*
chdir
*
chkdsk
In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a system software, system tool and command (computing), command in DOS and Microsoft Windows (and related operating systems), as well as Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 Operating System, 4 ...
*
cls
*
copy
*
del
Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...
*
delete
*
dir
* disable
*
diskpart
* enable
*
exit
*
expand
* fixboot
* fixmbr
*
format
*
help
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* Help (2010 film), ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* Help (2021 theatrical film), ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* Help (2021 TV ...
* listsvc
* logon
* map
*
md
*
mkdir
(make directory) command (computing), command in the Unix, DOS, Digital Research, DR FlexOS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows, and ReactOS operating systems is used to make a new directory (file systems), directory. It is also available in the Unified ...
*
more
*
rd
*
ren
*
rename
*
rmdir
In computing, rmdir (or rd) is a command which will remove an empty directory on various operating systems.
Implementations
The command is available in Unix (e.g. macOS, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX), Unix-like (e.g. FreeBSD, Linux), DOS, Digital ...
*
set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
(introduced in Windows XP)
* systemroot
*
type
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
* Data type, collection of values used for computations.
* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* ...
Although it appears in the list of commands available by using the
help
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* Help (2010 film), ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* Help (2021 theatrical film), ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* Help (2021 TV ...
command, and in many articles about the Recovery Console (including those authored by Microsoft), the
net command is not available. No protocol stacks are loaded, so there is no way to connect to a
shared folder on a remote computer as implied.
See also
*
Emergency Repair Disk
*
Comparison of command shells
References
External links
Description of the Recovery Console
{{Windows commands
Windows components
Windows command shells
Live CD