DOCUMENT:Q103280 13-DEC-1993 [W_NT] TITLE :Using an Emergency Repair Disk Created by Windows NT PRODUCT :Windows NT PROD/VER:3.10 OPER/SYS:WINDOWS KEYWORDS: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Windows NT operating system, version 3.1 - Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server, version 3.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= Page 348 of the "Microsoft Windows NT System Guide" states "To repair the boot files on a WINNT.EXE installation, you may have to rerun the Repair program using the Setup disk set or CD-ROM used to create the original network share." This is generally not true. With both Windows NT and Advanced Server, it is possible to use an Emergency Repair Disk created by the WINNT.EXE installation to verify startup (boot) files and re-create them. MORE INFORMATION ================ Something happens to your computer hard drive to corrupt or change your startup system files. For Example: You have a Windows NT system that allows you to specify which operating system to start (MS-DOS or Windows NT) by using the boot loader menu. If the MS-DOS SYS command is inadvertently run on drive C, you will no longer be able to start (boot) Windows NT. You will only be able to start MS-DOS. The boot loader is a small program that resides in the first physical sector[s] of the active partition. Windows NT stores the old boot loader code into a new file called BOOTSECT.DOS. Windows NT replaces the boot loader sector with a new loader program stub. This new loader finds the program NTLDR and executes it. NTLDR switches into protected mode operation and loads a mini-file system, which then reads BOOT.INI. BOOT.INI presents the boot loader information used to start your system with Windows NT or MS-DOS. In the above example, when the SYS command was run from MS-DOS, the boot loader sector was overwritten by MS-DOS's boot sector. This MS-DOS boot sector does not know anything about Windows NT or boot loader. NOTE: The Emergency Repair Disk created by a Windows NT installation can ONLY be used with the Verify Boot Files On Your C: Drive and Inspect Registry Files options. You CANNOT use the Verify Windows NT System Files option with an Emergency Repair Disk Created by a Windows NT installation because the installation was done from the network or an unsupported CD-ROM. REPAIR PROCEDURE ================ The procedure below explains how to re-create the Windows NT boot sector information, allowing the dual boot features to be re-activated using the Emergency Repair Disk created during installation: 1. Start your system using Disk 1 - Setup Disk for Floppy Disk Installation, or the CD-ROM Installation Disk 1 if Windows NT was installed from CD-ROM. 2. At the first blue screen, press R for Repair. 3. When prompted to do so, insert the Emergency Repair Disk that was originally created for this computer. 4. Reinsert Disk 1 when prompted. (This is the same disk with which you started your system). 5. You will see three selections. All three will be selected by default. Move the selector bar with the arrow keys to highlight the options. Use the SPACEBAR to select/clear the options. 6. Select the option Verify boot files on your C: drive. Move the selector bar to the line that says to Continue and press the ENTER key. 7. The software will run CHKDSK and verify startup files and rebuild if necessary. 8. You will be prompted to restart your machine when the procedure is complete. When you restart your system, the Windows NT Flex Boot Loader screen appears, allowing you to choose between MS-DOS or Windows NT. ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION ================================= - For more information about using the Emergency Repair Disk, see Chapter 12, "System Maintenance with Windows NT Setup" in the "Microsoft Windows NT System Guide." See the section on "Using the Emergency Repair Disk." - For more information about creating an Emergency Repair Disk, see Chapter 19, "Installing Windows NT" in the "Microsoft Windows NT System Guide." KBCategory: KBSubCategory: stp ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.