Recovery console is a command line-based tool provided by Microsoft that can be installed as a startup option or run form Windows installation CD. It can be used for troubleshooting different boot up problems that are related to corrupt system files or boot sector.
To start the computer and use the Recovery Console:
Insert the Setup CD and restart the computer from the CD drive.- When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts; choose the repair or recover option by pressing R.
- If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access from the Recovery Console.
- When prompted, type the password for the local administrator account.
- To exit the Recovery Console and restart the computer, type exit.
Common problems that can be solved using Recovery console:
1. NTLDR is missing.
Possible cause 1: Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
Solution:
Copy the below files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e."
copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
If you have only one partition ("local drive"), then the CD-ROM letter should be "d", for example.
Possible cause 2: Corrupt boot sector or master boot record.
Solution:
fixboot drive name
where "drive name" is the letter of system drive followed by colon. For example:
fixboot c:
fixmbr device name
device name can be found by running map command
