Repair overview

Safe mode lets you start your system with a minimal set of device drivers and services. For example, if newly installed device drivers or software are preventing your computer from starting, you may be able to start you computer in safe mode and then remove the software or device drivers from your system. Safe mode will not work in all circumstances, especially if your system files are corrupted or missing or your hard disk is damaged or has failed. For information about the safe mode options, see Safe mode startup options.

The Recovery Console feature provides you with a command-line interface that will let you repair system problems using a limited set of command-line commands. For example, you could use the Recovery Console to enable and disable services, repair a corrupted master boot record, or copy system files from a floppy disk or a CD-ROM. This feature gives you maximum control over the repair process and should be used only by advanced users and administrators.

The Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) feature helps you repair problems with system files, your startup environment (if you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system), and the partition boot sector on your boot volume. Before you use the Emergency Repair Disk feature to repair your system you must create an Emergency Repair Disk. You can do this using the Backup utility. Even if you have not created an Emergency Repair Disk you can still try to use the Emergency Repair Disk process; however, any changes you have made to your system, such as Service Pack updates, may be lost and may need to be reinstalled.