Re: New DOS shell for Windows coming

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 17:36:46 -0400, Jason Gurtz <ask@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>On 6/30/2005 21:47, George Macdonald wrote:
>
>> There are recent versions of the principal system files stored in the
>> %SystemRoot%\repair folder but their use/recovery is less simple than
>> Win9x...
>
>All good points...
>
>> I've never had to do a serious repair on WinXP yet so I have no experience
>> but if you can't boot from the hard disk to any maintenance mode, the only
>> option is to boot from the WinXP CD-ROM and choose Repair.
>
>Bart PE is your friend. Also, the Recovery Console that can be optionally
>(G.O.K. why it's optional!) installed can be a huge help if it's just some
>missing or corrupted system files, or bad drivers. chkdsk and friends all
>run in there and U can copy files around and configure services.

I guess they figure running it from the CD is err, "suitable" - they tend
to treat the average user -- i.e. anybody who hasn't taken the M$ CSE
course -- as a moron. There are also a bunch of utilities which you only
find out are downloadable *after* you need them. Now it appears they're
going to do a proper CLI but it would not surprise me if they limit its use
to people who are "qualified".

I'll take a look at Bart PE - thanks.

>It's also a good idea to learn how to make an NT Boot disk. This is
>useful for when the ntldr or boot block is slightly hosed but the rest of
>the system is A-OK. After booting, then you can then use fixboot or
>fixmbr (last ditch, may be dangerous) utilities
>
>> The ability to boot *and* login to a Win2K/XP
>> system is definitely much more fragile than the old DOS-based systems and
>> recovery is always a PITA - it's really very scarey.:-)
>
>Yea, this is true. Then again, the more times you have to recover the
>less of a PITA it is because you can remember what you learned before.
>Any broken system is scary, esp. when there's no backup!

Oh I've had quite a few tangles with Win2K Server and there always seems to
be some twist I haven't seen before or I've forgotten from the last time.
This was a system which was upgraded from WinNT Server and the contortions
I've gone through with it over its evolution from legacy workgroup server
to Active Directory Domain Controller have about driven me nuts. IOW I'm
quite familiar with the cold sweat that breaks out when you've been up all
night and you still have a broken server at 7a.m.:-)

--
Rgds, George Macdonald
.

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