Scribd
Upload
100 views6 pages

Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands

This document provides steps to repair Windows XP using commands in the Windows Recovery Console. The process involves 8 commands: navigating to the C: drive, modifying attributes of and deleting the boot.ini file, running bootcfg /rebuild to repair system files, running chkdsk to check the hard drive, and running fixboot. This process can fix issues preventing Windows startup due to corrupt system files.

Uploaded by

nikhilmyworld6932
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
100 views6 pages

Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands

This document provides steps to repair Windows XP using commands in the Windows Recovery Console. The process involves 8 commands: navigating to the C: drive, modifying attributes of and deleting the boot.ini file, running bootcfg /rebuild to repair system files, running chkdsk to check the hard drive, and running fixboot. This process can fix issues preventing Windows startup due to corrupt system files.

Uploaded by

nikhilmyworld6932
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CONFIG\\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup


using the original Setup CD-ROM.

Select 'R' at the first screen to start repair.

Which renders your PC inaccessible from the standard boot procedures of Windows XP.
You try safe mode, to no avail. You're particularly savvy and try issuing the FIXBOOT
and FIXMBR commands in the Windows recovery console, but after each reboot, you're
merely greeted with the same obnoxious and terrifying blue screen of death that's
preventing you from accessing your precious data.

Perhaps you've also seen these error screens:

Windows NT could not start because the below file is missing or corrupt:

X:\\WINNT\\System32\\Ntoskrnl.exe
_________________

Windows NT could not start because the below file is missing or corrupt:

X:\\WINNT\\System32\\HAL.dll
_________________

NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart
_________________

Invalid boot.ini
Press any key to restart

Get to the Windows Recovery Console for your particular Windows installation, navigate
to the root letter of your installation (C: in most cases), issue eight commands, and
reboot. The cornerstone of this process is a command called "BOOTCFG /Rebuild"
which is a complete diagnostic of the operating system loaded into the recovery console;
the purpose of the command is to remove/replace/repair any system files that were
preventing the operating system from loading correctly. Amongst the files it fixes are:
 Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)
 Corrupt registry hives (\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CONFIG\\xxxxxx)
 Invalid BOOT.INI files
 A corrupt NTOSKRNL.EXE
 A missing NT Loader (NTLDR)

The command process may apply to other types of blue screens or


Hive/HAL/INI/EXE/DLL-related stop errors, but I have not had the luxury of computers
in this type of disrepair. The process I am about to outline is virtually harmless, and if
you feel you may be able to correct your PC's boot-time blue screens and stop errors with
the sequence, feel free to try.

Let us now begin with a step-by-step instruction for correcting these issues.

Getting to the Windows Recovery Console


1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your CD and assure that your CD-ROM drive is
capable of booting the CD. Configuring your computer to boot from CD is outside
of the scope of this document, but if you are having trouble, consult Google for
assistance.
2. Once you have booted from CD, do not select the option that states: "Press F2 to
initiate the Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool." You're going to proceed
until you see the following screen, at which point you will press the "R" key to
enter the recovery console:

 After you have selected the appropriate option from step two, you will be
prompted to select a valid Windows installation (Typically number "1"). Select
the installation number, (As mentioned, "1" in most cases), and hit enter. If there
is an administrator password for the administrator account, enter it and hit enter.
You will be greeted with this screen, which indicates a recovery console at the
ready:
Continue to page 2 to proceed with the repair functions.

Proceeding With the Repair Functions


 There are eight commands you must enter in sequence to repair any of the issues.
These commands are as follows:
o C: CD ..
o C: ATTRIB -H C:\\boot.ini
o C:ATTRIB -S C:\\boot.ini
o C:ATRIB -R C:\\boot.ini
o C: del boot.ini
o C: BOOTCFG /Rebuild
o C: CHKDSK /R /F
o C: FIXBOOT
 To "Go up a directory" in computing is to revert back to the directory above the
current folder you're operating in. If, for example, you are in the
C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32 directory, and you want to get at a file in the
WINDOWS directory, you have to type CD .. and you would be taken out of the
SYSTEM32 folder and up one level to WINDOWS. We're going to do the same
thing here from the WINDOWS folder to get to the basic root of C:
Now that we are at C: we can begin the process of repairing the operating system and
that begins with modifying the attributes of the BOOT.INI file. Briefly, BOOT.INI
controls what operating systems the Windows boot process can see, how to load them,
and where they're located on your disk. We're going to make sure the file is no longer
hidden from our prying eyes, remove the flag that sets it as an undeletable system file,
and remove the flag that sets it as a file we can only read, but not write to. To do this, we
will issue three commands in this step:

 C:ATTRIB -H C:\\BOOT.INI
 C:ATTRIB -R C:\\BOOT.INI
 C:ATTRIB -S C:\\BOOT.INI

to remove the Hidden, System and Read Only flags.

Now that we've modified the attributes for the BOOT.INI file, it's up for deletion. The
syntax for it is simple: { DEL | FILE NAME }, e.g., C:DEL BOOT.INI deletes the
BOOT.INI file.
Now for the most important step of our process, the BOOTCFG /REBUILD command
which searches for pre-existing installations of Windows XP and rebuilds sundry
essential components of the Windows operating system, recompiles the BOOT.INI file
and corrects a litany of common Windows errors. It is very important that you do one
or both of the following two things: First, every Windows XP owner must use
/FASTDETECT as an OS Load Option when the rebuild process is finalizing. Secondly,
if you are the owner of a CPU featuring Intel's XD or AMD's NX buffer overflow
protection, you must also use /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN as an OS Load Option. Do not
set NOEXECUTE as a load option if you do not own one of these CPUs. For the
"Enter Load Identifier" portion of this command, you should enter the name of the
operating system you have installed. If, for example, you are using Windows XP Home,
you could type "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" for the identifier. This gives the
process some authenticity, if you're keen on being a perfectionist.
This step verifies the integrity of the hard drive containing the Windows XP installation.
While this step is not an essential function in our process, it's still good to be sure that the
drive is physically capable of running windows, in that it contains no bad sectors or other
corruptions that might be the culprit. No screenshot necessary here! Just type CHKDSK
/R /F at the C:> prompt. Let it proceed; it could take in excess of 30 minutes on slower
computers, when this is finished move on to the seventh and final step.

This last step also requires no screenshot. When you are at the C:> prompt, simply type
FIXBOOT. This writes a new boot sector to the hard drive and cleans up all the loose
ends we created by rebuilding the BOOT.INI file and the system files. When the
Windows Recovery Console asks you if you are "Sure you want to write a new boot
sector to the partition C: ?" just hit "Y," then enter to confirm your decision.

Results and Wrap-Up


It's time to reboot your PC by typing EXIT in the Windows Recovery Console and
confirming the command with a stroke of the enter key. With any luck, your PC will boot
successfully into Windows XP as if your various DLL, Hive, EXE and NTLDR errors
never existed. You've just saved yourself from many hours of work, frustration, potential
data loss and shelling out your hard-earned greenbacks at a brick 'n 'mortar operation.

You might also like