by Lance Jensen Executive Software Technical Support Director
In the first article of this series, we described making an
Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). In this article, we cover using the ERD.
Running a Repair
Someday you may find your Windows NT system behaving oddly. Perhaps when you
boot up, it will fail, complaining that some system file is missing or failed a
check, or that it can't find the boot sector. Maybe you'll suffer a power surge
or a virus or hack attack and find your applications won't start or you can't log
in.
Now what do you do?
This is what Microsoft designed the ERD to handle. You could reinstall everything,
from Windows NT up through all of your applications and data (hope it was backed
up!), but it is much easier to do a repair, if you have a current ERD. You will
need the Windows NT Installation CD-ROM, the three bootable Windows NT Setup floppy
disks, and the ERD.
Insert Setup Disk #1 and turn on the computer. When prompted to do so, insert
Setup Disk #2. Now you will get the Welcome to Setup screen. This gives you the
options to Install Windows NT, Update Windows NT, or Repair Windows NT. Press R
to select Repair.
Next you get the Repair Options list. The options are:
· Inspect Registry Files
· Inspect Startup
· Verify Windows NT System
· Inspect Boot
By default, all of these options are selected. You must de-select any you do not
want by highlighting it and pressing enter. How do you decide what to select?
Well, here's what they do:
Inspect Registry Files is used to repair the Registry hives. If you don't have
a current ERD, do not select this option, because it will "roll you back"
to the date of the ERD. Any system changes you have done since the ERD was made
will disappear; any applications you have installed since that time will lose their
Registry entries, and probably won't run any more. Remember, changes to the Registry
can make your system completely unusable.
If you do select this option, it will offer you a sub-menu which is a list of Registry
hives:
SYSTEM (System Key)
SOFTWARE (Software Key)
DEFAULT (Default User Profiles)
NTUSER.DAT (New User Profiles)
SECURITY (Security Key)
SAM (SAM Database)
If you know enough about the Registry, you may know that the problem you are repairing
is caused by a particular hive. If that's the case, select the file or files for
that hive. But watch out for the Security and SAM files. Remember from the first
article that these files might not be backed up on your ERD. If that is the case,
do not select Security or SAM!
Inspect Startup Environment replaces Windows NT startup files as needed from the
Windows NT installation CD-ROM.
Verify Windows NT System Files does a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) on the Windows
NT files. In essence, a CRC done on a file produces a number called a Checksum.
If the file is changed in any way, the Checksum will be different. The correct
Checksums for the files are stored in SETUP.LOG. If the CRC produces a different
Checksum, you will be told the file name and asked if you want to replace it.
Inspect Boot Sector checks and repairs the boot sector. I've never come across
a situation where selecting this option would cause damage. In fact, aside from
the Inspect Registry Files, these options should be safe to select, as long as you
don't skip the last step below, reinstalling any Service Pack.
When you've finished selecting options, you highlight Continue and press enter.
This brings you to the Mass Storage Detection menu. Just as it says, this tells
the repair to detect your mass storage devices. Even though it does add a few minutes
to the procedure, I recommend you always select it. In many cases, if you do not
select it, the repair process won't be able to find your CD drive, and you'll have
to start over.
Next you are prompted to insert Setup disk #3. After that you will be asked if
you have an ERD. Press enter if you do, or Esc if you don't. Esc tells the repair
to try to locate %systemroot%\Repair folder and use the files there in place of
the ERD. This can be a lifesaver, but don't count on it working. Many problems
that require repair also make it impossible to access these files.
If you have an ERD, you will now be prompted to insert it. The repair process
will then display a list of suspect Registry files which will be replaced. You
can override the selection of any file by removing the X next to it, but don't make
any changes unless you know what you are doing.
If you selected Verify Windows NT, this is where it will be done. Just follow
the prompts. If any file does need to be replaced, you will be prompted to insert
the Windows NT Installation CD-ROM. Let it spin up to speed before continuing,
or you'll get an error message. When this procedure finishes, you will be prompted
to remove the floppy disk and CD-ROM and restart.
When the system comes back up, there is one more important step that is very commonly
skipped. Reinstall your latest Service Pack. The repair replaces files from the
Windows NT Installation CD-ROM. These are the original files, before any Service
Packs. If you don't do the reinstall, you will probably have a mix of file versions,
some from the original build, some from the Service Pack. System performance will
be unpredictable.
Next
Response to the first article in this series was very gratifying. Thanks, everyone!
I have several automated ERD update procedures, shortcuts and pitfalls, and a shareware
utility I'm testing that looks very sweet! There will be at least two more ERD
articles to cover this material.
Lance Jensen
Technical Support Manager
Executive Software International, Inc.
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------------------------------ Lance Jensen
is Executive Software ace Tech
Support Director, and has great experience with both Windows NT and Digital's OpenVMS
operating systems. He can be reached at dknt_support@executive.com.
Please feel free to write to him with questions or comments about this article. Visitit the Execute Software website: http://www.execsoft.com/
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