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 and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), releas ...

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 upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...

and

Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is the sixth version of Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows NT family of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on March 28, 2003 and generally available on April 24, 2 ...

operating systems. It provides the means for administrators to perform a limited range of tasks using a

command-line interface A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

. Its primary function is to enable administrators to recover from situations where Windows does not

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

as far as presenting its

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

. The recovery console is used to provide a way to access the hard drive in an emergency through the command prompt. As such, the Recovery Console can be accessed either through the original installation media used to install Windows, or it can also be installed to the hard drive and added 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, relying on the latter is much more risky because it requires that the computer can boot to the point that NTLDR loads, or else it would not work at all.

Abilities

The Recovery Console has a simple

command-line interpreter A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

(or CLI). Many of the available commands closely resemble the commands that are normally available in

cmd.exe 





Command Prompt, also known as cmd.exe or cmd, is the default command-line interpreter for the OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Microsoft Windows (Windows NT family and  Windows CE family), and ReactOS operating systems. On Windows CE .NET 4.2, Windo ...

, namely attrib,

copy 
Copy may refer to:

*Copying or the product of copying (including the plural "copies"); the duplication of information or an artifact
**Cut, copy and paste, a method of reproducing text or other data in computing
**File copying
**Photocopying, a pr ...

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 Rename may refer to: * Rename (computing), rename of a file on a computer * RENAME (command), command to rename a file in various operating systems * Rename (relational algebra) In relational algebra, a rename is a unary operation written as \r ...

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 on Microsoft Windows NT-based operating systems which acts as a  wrapper for editing the boot.ini file.
 Overview
The command is used to configure, query, or change Boot.ini file settings. A similar command exist ...

command * write a new master boot record 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 data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

* perform a full

chkdsk 

In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a  system tool and command in DOS, Digital Research FlexOS,  IBM/Toshiba  4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and related operating systems. It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and at ...

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 Internal may refer to: *Internality as a concept in behavioural economics *Neijia, internal styles of Chinese martial arts *Neigong or "internal skills", a type of exercise in meditation associated with Daoism *''Internal (album)'' by Safia, 2016 ...

commands: * attrib * batch *

bootcfg In computing, bootcfg is a command on Microsoft Windows NT-based operating systems which acts as a wrapper for editing the boot.ini file. Overview The command is used to configure, query, or change Boot.ini file settings. A similar command exist ...

(introduced in Windows XP) * cd *

chdir The command, also known as (change directory), is a command-line shell command used to change the current working directory in various operating systems. It can be used in shell scripts and batch files. Implementations The command has been ...

chkdsk In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a system tool and command in DOS, Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and related operating systems. It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and at ...

* cls *

copy Copy may refer to: *Copying or the product of copying (including the plural "copies"); the duplication of information or an artifact **Cut, copy and paste, a method of reproducing text or other data in computing **File copying **Photocopying, a pr ...

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 In computing, diskpart is a command-line disk partitioning utility included in Windows 2000 and later Microsoft operating systems, replacing its predecessor, fdisk. The command is also available in ReactOS. Overview The diskpart is a utility ...

* enable *

exit Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange ...

* expand * fixboot * fixmbr *

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

help Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress. Help may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film * ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film * '' ...

* listsvc * logon * map * md *

mkdir The mkdir (make directory) command in the Unix, DOS, DR FlexOS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows, and ReactOS operating systems is used to make a new directory. It is also available in the EFI shell and in the PHP scripting language. In DOS, OS/2, ...

more More or Mores may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka S ...

* rd * ren *

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 Resear ...

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 Although it appears in the list of commands available by using the

help 

Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.

Help may refer to:

  Arts, entertainment, and media 
  Films 
*  ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
*  ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
*  '' ...

command, and in many articles about the Recovery Console (including those authored by Microsoft), the

net 


Net or net may refer to:
  Mathematics and physics 
* Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence
* Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2
* Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...

command is not available. No protocol stacks are loaded, so there is no way to connect to a

shared folder In computing, a shared resource, or network share, is a computer resource made available from one host to other hosts on a computer network. It is a device or piece of information on a computer that can be remotely accessed from another compu ...

on a remote computer as implied.

References

External links

Description of the Recovery Console
{{Windows commands Windows components Windows command shells

Abilities

Commands

See also

References

External links