How to reformat boot disk and hard disk?

Whenever an error occurs in an operating system or any important programs or whenever system collapses. The question arising is, is there any boot disk? Some people ask booting disk! What is this all about? Others feel for not creating such things.
To avoid you from facing this problem I am giving this tip.

What is boot disk?

A boot disk & booting disk is all the same. These are not different. Basically the disks that consist of programs, which help a computer to function and startup, are called a boot disk. Mostly the computer boots from their hard disk only. We go for boot disk only when there is the problem in the hard disk. A boot disk can be a floppy disk, ACD, or DVD. For a boot disk to perform its function it should consist of files. Computer should know to understand and accept this files. The disk should consist of all O/S files or at least essential O/S files.

When and how you will use boot disk?

Whenever the operating system or the files of operating system in hard drive does not get loaded properly in to the memory, we use boot disk. How this happens? This happens when the system is not able to read OS files in the hard drive due to data blocks or due to some other error. The data block can be remove using the disk repair or the hard drive can be formatted and the operating system can be reinstalled.
Our friends suggest reformatting the disk whenever small errors are taking place. But before reformatting think carefully and act.

First of all what is formatting?

We can see what happens when it is done. When we start to reformat. Its start from the hard disk of the computer. We here only important information in the computer is saved. Any way it becomes like clean state after you have reformatted. Some people would reformat their disk ones in 6 months or a year. This is the good idea but not essential one as some IT companies will provide boot disk or installation CD this will help us to reformat, because of this computer attains the state when it first came to you whenever you can do a reformat whenever or program crashes without any explanation and the computer collapses and all or measures to repair it fails you can reformat. There are 5 stages in the reformatting. I will explain the basic stages here.

1. First of all you have to take a backup of all the files in the hard drive of or computer. Here the files means not only that data files and also program files, application files, software files, the favorite website addresses and e-mail are to be back up. You have to remove the unwanted files from you are system no need of back up such unwanted files.
2. Next you have to create a boot disk in the case of you don’t have boot disk. You have to select the boot disk as floppy or CD according to your computer and check the boot disk it correct or not because its important for next stage.
3. In the third stage is little more confused don’t work. It’s easy when we understand .In this stage we have to reformat and partition the hard disk partition means dividing the hard disk for our facility. Due to this we can handle the drive partitions. Depends upon our file types. When we reformat the drive the files and in formations are fully deleted, so that only we create the back up. When we partition the hard disk its ready to get the files.
4. The major part of formatting the hard disk is finishes after that we have to installed all the programs first of all we have to install OS for that we should have installation CD feed the CD into the drive and install. It as per the commands
After that you have to install the programs and copy the files from your back up. After finishing this you get a Internet connection to view your favorite website and listen music your hard drive get new look you can use your computer as new.
5. The above all basic hints only it explain the common stages in the process.
Do you want to know briefly you can get it from websites? It contains more explanation and pictures. Down load it to read.


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Problems and Tips while using USB ports

Some readers says that while is inserting flash drive in USB port. The system didn’t recognize it how could we overcome it.

First of all we should know the two types of USB ports.

USB 1.1: This is the first type of USB. It designed as per the speed of transferring 1.5mb/sec data’s. This is designed instead of serial and parallel port for the use of USB port. This is basically used only for connecting mouse and keyboard. System would be struggled for data overloading.

USB 2.0: This kind of USB ports is used for large scale into data transfer. More readers ask that how to identify these two kind of USB ports. To identify the model use the following commands. Start=>My computer=> properties. And click Hardware tab after than select Device Manager. Now you got the list. In that list select the plus symbol that is located after “Universal Serial Bus controllers” if your system have USB 1.1 mean it displays as “Host controller (or) Open Host Controller”. Else USB 2.0 is used mean it displays like.” Enhanced host controller (or) USB 2.0 controller.

Your windows operating system says that the connected USB get speeded. When you are connecting the high speed USB to logo speed USB port of the system, but most of the reader saying that while connecting the USB device to the system. The device was not getting detected. Commonly while inserting an USB device to the system. Window XP will say new hardware found. This message will display in the hard disk. While inserting the USB device it will get auto play, and enquire whether to open the files as file (Or) audio format (Or) video format? It assigns a drive letter for it. If all the details mentioned above had not displayed means the inserted device had not matched with your operating system. You can solve this by doing below.

Go to Start => control panel =>Administrative Tools and click in administrative tool. After that double click on Computer Management.
In that left side select Disk Management, at the right side a drive displays with the name of a removable drive. This is the drive thus containing to same name of already using drive.
To change it right click on the while bar then a got a list.
Now select “change drive letters and paths”.
Now you can select the letter that you want. Click the “change” option.
The letter that you selected it should be already used one.
After finishing this you should get a warning message.
Now click ok to it.
Now close the computer management console while clicking the My computer icon.
You can see the USB drive’s letter.

We face more problems on problem on using USB port. Some part may become in accessible due to the power shortage of computer. These kinds of problems happen on USB 1.1 ports only. These problems happen only on windows 2000 and the before edition while getting these kind of problems. We just disconnect the instruments after that connect one by one.

Now a days the new version computer consists of at-least four USB ports. Two ports are fixed in backside and the remaining two parts are fixed in front side. Windows XP packages will manage these ports without any problems.


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How to print all files in a folder in a single command?

We can print one document in Windows XP. But how to we print all files in the folders? Ok. If one folder has 10 files we can open all files and then give print command. If 100 files are there and you have to take a printout of all of them what can we do? Here only notepad comes to our help here we can write a batch file and command it to print from a right place. Lets see briefly how is this done.

First of all open note pad, through Start, All Programs, Accessories, Notepad then type the following code without fault.


@echo off

dir%1/-p/o: gin>

“%temp%\listing”

Start/wnotepad/p”%temp%\listing”

Del”%temp%%\listing”

exit

Save the file as printdir.bat, then save it in c:\windows folder. A small tip: - you can save this file in any name but you must give the extension as .bat only. Now you have successfully created a file to print. Now, let’s see how to print all files in a folder,

1) First double click the My Computer icon.
2) Select Folder options from the Tools menu
3) Then Click File types tab, it will be in the upper side of the screen.
4) You will find a file type below” Registered file types”
5) Select it and click Advanced Tab
6) This opens Edit File Type. In this you can see a button “New” click it
7) New action dialog box opens
8)Type print directory in action tab
9) Browse for c:\windows\printdir.bat through browse button at application used to perform action
10) Click ok and close all the dialog boxes

If lot of files is to be printed we can create a folder and put them inside it, now right click on the folder and select print directory option in it, if you select this all files in the folder will be printed.


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How to maintain your computer and keep it secure?

You can maintain the computer by taking these following steps. We have websites helping you out to clear your doubts. You can use their articles and software’s in them. We need some software’s and hardware devices like Screwdriver, Nose flyer to maintain the computer. We can learn some thing about them here.

Software tools:

If you install good antivirus software’s in you can guard your computer from virus attack. We can buy quality software like Norton antivirus, McCabe. If you don’t want to spend your money you download AVG ( http://www.grisoft.com ). A Vast of Home Edition ( http://www.asw.org ), Antivirus Personal Edition ( http://www.freeav.com ) as they are available for free.. The utilities used for computer maintenance. This utility used for avoid the mistakes easily and simply in the computer. System suite E, Norton system works 2004, Win cleaner utility Suite 8, System meathanic 4 professional these are some utilities. You can install ay one from these.

If you enter the browsing the hackers will be attack your system. So you have to install Firewall software to your system. But generally the software firewall is enough. You can use Zone alarm firewall. If you are not wishing to spend money for this you can get this software as free.

You must keep the Booting floppy or CD-Rom disc. Now a days most of the computer’s boot by using CD-Rom disc. If your computer not having this features then you can boot by using booting floppy.

Hardware tools:

If your computer gets collapsed, while you repairing it you need to know some tools. Now we can see about those tools. First we have different size of Screwdrivers. Nose pliers and Tweezfrs are used for repair the spare parts. We need Vacuum Cleaner for clean the dust and hairs. First we should disconnect the earth from our body, then only we should touch the computer parts. If you failed to do this it may spoil your system. You must open your system by using Antistatic strip belt wear in hand.( Suppose you not having the belt touch a water pipe made of metal. After that you should open the system).

Websites:

If you hadn’t update your antivirus in your system, it leads easy way to entry of new viruses from Internet. To avoid this you can test the viruses in online. Mac fee, Norton and some other antivirus software companies have online testing. You can also enter the websites like http://housecall.antivirus.com/ , www.peptistop.com.antivitus/defanlt.asp .
If your ports are open in your system means it make easy way to enter your system by the hackers. So you must know about the open port in your system. Steve Gibson produced an analysis called Shields up which gives the report about your ports. You can get this software from http://www/gre.com/ .

Pepitslop’s software analyzes and give the report about computer hardware and software’s. This is also test the price of the disk, test the memory conditions and it can also test the speed of your computer Internet connection. You can get this software from http://www.pepitslop.com . Some of the websites used to find the speed of the Internet connection and say how to increase the speed \. The websites are http://www/broadbanfreports.com/


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Computer Monitor troubleshooting steps

Consider now your computer works properly. But the monitor has a problem. The monitor problems irritate us while we want to get things done fast. Follow these steps to troubleshoot your monitor.


1. First of all check if the power supply to the monitor is ON. In old type of computers the power supply is given in the CPU but in recent computers the monitors have own power cable.. Check if it is fixed correct and If the switch is on. If the power supply comes to the monitor the LED will glow in the monitor. Otherwise it does not glow.

2. After that you have a switch control in monitor for adjusting the monitor setting. You can adjust to get display. Children may change the settings mistakenly. We can check it out.

3. After that check whether video cable is connected to the CPU firmly.

4. If you have any other monitor you can connect with CPU by using the same video cable and also the problem continuous that means the video cable has a problem.

5. If you can connect your monitor with another CPU then we decide the problem is in your monitor. You have to change your monitor or repair the monitor by the technician.

6. When booting the computer the monitor that is identified maybe incorrect then we decide the problems in your display card. Try to change the monitor driver if you have the CD. Or change the video card.

After fixing new display card, if the problem continues then change your monitor. Don’t buy a second hand monitor. Buy a monitor based on new technology releases when you buy a new monitor. Recently the flat LCD monitors are cheep.


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Disable CD Autorun, simple computer tweak

This trick involves only three simple steps:

1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC

2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.

3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.


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Speeding Up Your Pentium 2 by 50%

We all know that you really shouldn't try to run Windows XP on anything less that
about a Pentium 3 of some sort if you are out for speedy operations and amazing reaction times, but for those of us with the good old Pentium 2's who want to see just how well we can run XP, we have to tweak as much as we can where-ever we can.

A real killer to the system's performance is Windows Media Player. Although it may look desirable and fancy with it's rounded off edges and 3rd-Dimensional appearance, the truth is, it takes up a large amount of that precious processing power.
All of these troubles however, lead to one thing in particular with this 'new-look' over-rated music and video player...the Visualizations.
The look-great I'll admit but like a lot of software these days, it has no purpose. If you run the task manager, and click the Performance tab along the top, you'll see that when Windows Media Player is running and nothing else is active, it takes up around 50% of the processors power.
Once these visualizations are turned off, it barely takes up 2-3% of the processors power, which leaves much more room for other applications to work efficiently.


Here's how to disable the feature:
•Open Media Player.
•Make sure the Now Playing tab on the left is selected.
•Click the View menu along the top.
•Go down to Now Playing Tools.
•In the sub-menu that has just 'popped-out', uncheck Show Visualization
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Increase BROADBAND

This is for broad band connections, though it might work for dial up.
•Make sure your logged on as actually "Administrator".
•Start->Run->type gpedit.msc
•Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch.

•Expand the "Administrative Templates" branch.
•Expand the "Network Branch".
•Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window.
•In right window double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting.
•On setting tab check the "Enabled" item.
•Where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0.
Effect is immediate on some systems, some need to re-boot. This is more of a "counter
what XP does" thing. In other words, programs can request up to 20% of the bandwidth be
reserved for them, even with QoS disabled.
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Increase Your Cable Modem or DSL Speed in XP

This tweak is for broad band cable connections on stand alone machines with WinXP
professional version - might work on Home version also. It may also work with networked machines as well.

This tweak assumes that you have let WinXP create a connection on install for your
cable modem/NIC combination and that your connection has tcp/ip - QoS - file and print sharing - and client for Microsoft networks , only, installed. It also assumes that WinXP will detect your NIC and has in-box drivers for it. If it doesn't do not try this.
•In the "My Network Places" properties (right-click on the desktop icon and choose
properties), highlight the connection then at the menu bar choose "Advanced" then "Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in the lower half for the
bindings for File and Printer sharing and Client for MS networks. Click OK.
•From the Windows XP CD in the support directory from the support cab, extract the
file netcap.exe and place it in a directory on your hard drive or even in the root of your C:\ drive.
•Next, open up a command prompt window and change directories to where you put
netcap.exe. then type "netcap/?".
It will list some commands that are available for netcap and a netmon driver will be
installed. At the bottom you will see your adapters. You should see two of them if using a 3Com card. One will be for LAN and the other will be for WAN something or other.
•Next type "netcap/Remove". This will remove the netmon driver.
•Open up Control Panel->System->Dev Man and look at your network adapters. You
should now see two of them and one will have a yellow ! on it. Right-click on the one
without the yellow ! and choose uninstall. YES! You are uninstalling your network
adapter, continue with the uninstall. Do not restart yet.
•Check your connection properties to make sure that no connection exists. If you get
a wizard just cancel out of it.
Now re-start the machine.
•After re-start go to your connection properties again and you should have a new
connection called "Local area connection 2". Highlight the connection, then at the menu bar choose "Advanced" then "Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing and Client for MS networks. Click OK.
•Choose connection properties and uncheck the "QOS" box.
•Re-start the machine.
After restart enjoy the increased responsiveness of IE, faster page loading, and a
connection speed boost.
Why it works, it seems that windows XP, in its zeal to make sure every base is covered installs two separate versions of the NIC card. One you do not normally see in any properties. Remember the "netcap/?" command above showing two different adapters? The LAN one is the one you see. The invisible one loads everything down and its like your running two separate cards together, sharing a connection among two cards, this method breaks this "bond" and allows the NIC to run un-hindered.
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Configure Thunderbird To Use SSH SOCKS Proxy Tunnel

Before you do this, PuTTY needs to be configured to connect to your SSH account and to open the encrypted tunnel. Click here for instructions on doing this first.

Thunderbird is a free E-Mail program designed for security. Download Thunderbird for free if you have not done so already.

1. Open Thunderbird.
2. Click 'Tools' at the top to pull down the Tools Menu. Select 'Options' from the menu. This opens the Options window.
3. Click 'Advanced'.
4. Click the 'Network & Disk Space' tab.
5. Under 'Connection' where it says '"Determine how Thunderbird connections to the Interenet.' click the 'Connection...' button. This opens the Connection Settings window.
6. Click 'Manual proxy configuration:'.
7. Where it says 'SOCKS Host:' enter localhost into the box.
8. Where it says 'Port:' enter 9853 into the box.
9. Click 'OK'.
10. Click 'OK' on the previous window.
11. Close Thunderbird and restart it.

Click here for instructions on configuring Firefox to use the secure tunnel. You will also find out how to download it if you do not have it already.

Click here to sign up for VectroProxy SSH tunnel and go online anonymously.
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Configure Pidgin To Use SSH SOCKS Proxy Tunnel

Pidgin is a free Instant Messaging alternative to AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). It uses the same network and you can chat with the same buddy list you use on AIM. It is just a different program to use for the same thing. Pidgin can be configured to use a secure SOCKS proxy tunnel.

Before you do this, PuTTY needs to be configured to connect to your SSH account and to open the encrypted tunnel. Click here for instructions on doing this first.

If you have not done so yet, download Pidgin (opens in a new window) and install it. Then, open it and add your usual instant messenger screen name(s). Close Pidgin and follow the steps below.

Instructions for configuring Pidgin to work with the secure tunnel:

1. Open Pidgin.
2. Click the 'Cancel' button when it asks you to sign in.
3. In the Pidgin main window click 'Tools' at the top to pull down the Tools Menu. Select 'Preferences' from the menu. This opens the Preferences window.
4. Click the 'Network' tab.
5. Under 'Proxy Server' where it says 'Proxy type:' and has 'No proxy' selected, click on 'No proxy' to pull down the menu and select 'SOCKS 5'.
6. Where it says 'Host:' enter localhost.
7. Where it says 'Port:' enter 9853
8. Click the 'Close' button.
9. Close Pidgin entirely and re-open it. Log in when it asks you to and you are now connected securely.

NOTE: If you plan on using Pidgin later without using the secure tunnel, you will have to repeat steps 1 through 5 and switch back to 'No proxy' on step 5.

Click here for instructions on adding even more security to Pidgin by configuring encrypted chats with your friends.

Click here for instructions on configuring Firefox to use the secure tunnel. You will also find out how to download it if you do not have it already.

Click here to sign up for VectroProxy SSH tunnel and go online anonymously.
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How To Automatically Clear The Windows Paging File When The Computer Shuts Down

Windows has a nice feature called "virtual memory" which converts hard drive space into RAM. This works in addition to the RAM already installed in your PC. The file is named pagefile.sys. The purpose of this is to have more memory available for running applications. As much as the paging file is a helpful feature, there is one drawback: Data remains there even after the computer has been shut down and started back up. If the machine is infected or has been hacked into, this is one thing the intruders might look for since information such as passwords and browsing history can be stolen from it. There is a simple value that can be added to the registry to have Windows automatically clear the paging file when the computer shuts down. This may slow the shutdown time by one to two minutes, but is worth it to be safe in the long-run.

NOTE: It is very important that if you do not feel comfortable editing the registry or have never done it before that you avoid doing this right away and learn more about the Windows registry. Changing the wrong setting or changing a setting incorrectly can cause Windows to not function correctly.

Here are the step-by-step instructions to automatically clear the Windows paging file when the computer shuts down:

1. Click "Start"
2. Click "Run..."
3. Where it says "Open:" type "regedit"
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
5. Look for a an entry on the right side of the window (where the list of REG_DWORD entries are) for an entry called "ClearPageFileAtShutdown". If you see it, skip to step 11. If you do not see it, continue to step 6.
6. Right-click any blank space on the right frame of the window (a good place would be underneath where all of the REG_DWORD values are, in the blank white space). You will see a menu come up that says "New".
7. Highlight the word "New" so it opens up a submenu.
8. In the submenu, select "DWORD Value"
9. A new value will be created and with the highlited text "New Value #1".
10. Delete the text "New Value #1" and rename it "ClearPageFileAtShutdown".
11. Right-click it to pull down a small menu and select "Modify".
12. Where it says "Value data:" and has a text field with the number "0" entered, change that to "1" (without the quote marks of course).
13. Click "OK".

Finished! The changes will take effect after you reboot your computer.
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How To Customize Google And Remove Browser Tracking And Ads

Want to take control of Google? There is a magnificent Firefox add-on which allows users to Customize Google. This extension is called CustomizeGoogle and is free from CNET's download.com. This neat tool filters the output of Google when you perform a search. It will actually change the way the results look based on your liking. Some possibilities are removing ads, disabling Google analytics and tracking for privacy, adding links to results from other search engines and placing a history link under each result. The history link can be used to quickly access the WayBackMachine to view older versions of a particular site.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for how to customize google:

1. Download the CustomizeGoogle Firefox extension from download.com
2. When the Software Installation window opens, click the "Install Now" button. It may take 5 seconds after the window opens before this button becomes available.
3. Once the extension is installed, close Firefox and open it again.
4. Click "Tools" in the Firefox menu, then click "Add-ons". This opens the list of add-ons installed in Firefox.
5. Click "CustomizeGoogle" once to highlight it.
6. Click the "Options" button. This is where you can set preferences to customize what Google will look like from now on. It is reccommended that you select the option that says "Remove ads". "Remove click tracking" is another suggested option to select for privacy reasons. Another helpful feature is "Add links to the WayBackMachine (webpage history)". For those not familiar, the WayBackMachine is a large cache of old versions of web sites. To view an older version of a site, click the "History" link for any given site when browsing within the Google search results. From here you can also select any other options which may be of use. Click each item in the list on the left (Web, Images, Groups, News, etc.) one at a time to configure options for each feature.

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Differences between the XP Home and Professional Edition !

Windows XP is based on Windows NT4 and Windows 2000 technology.
Microsoft is positioning the Windows XP Professional Edition to replace Windows NT4 and
Windows 2000 Professional. In addition, the Windows XP Home edition will be replacing
Windows 95/98/ME.

But do NOT expect to receive full Window NT4/2000 functionality when using the XP Home Edition:
There is a substantial difference in price, and that is reflected in some reduced functionality in the
XP Home edition compared to the XP Professional Edition : features turned off !

This is NOT a complete list, I am just listing the features related to networking:

Windows XP Home Edition	Windows XP Professional Edition
	User management	Limited to 2 security levels, no policies	Full User Management and Security Policies
	Workgroup networking/ Joining domains	Limited to Workgroup network (unable to join a domain)	Workgroup networking and able to join a Domain
	Security on sharing disks and folders	no security, everybody has access to shared data	Full security based on User Management
	Limit of simultaneous file-sharing connections	max 5 simultaneous file-sharing connections	max 10 simultaneous file-sharing connections
	Security of disks and folders (NTFS drives)	limited Security, made difficult to use	Full Disk/Folder Security based on User Management
Group Policy Editor	not included	Included
	Remote Desktop Access	not included.	Remote Desktop Access
	Backup Program	only included via VALUEADD	Included
	ASR Automatic System Recovery	not included	Included

The lack of the possibility to join a domain and the lack of securing a shared network resource
will prevent the use of the XP Home edition in most office networks, even in configurations where
Windows95/98/ME could be used.

More differences will be listed, once I encounter the item during my work.

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Backup Program on Windows XP Home :

The default installation of Windows XP Home does not include a Backup program (as part of "Programs" / "Accessories" / "System Tools"

If you have a copy of Windows XP Home on a Recovery CD-ROM : sorry.

If you have a retail copy ( as sold in the shops) of Windows XP Home, have a look on the CD-ROM to: VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP, which allows to install now the Backup program.

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Connecting Windows XP to Multiple Networks: Office and Home

Are you using at work a notebook computer connected to your company network ?

If your company network uses TCP/IP protocol and a network server, then you will have your
notebook most probably configured to get the IP-address via DHCP:

Properties of the Network connection :


When you verify your network settings in the Properties of the Network,
checking the "Status" of your LAN connection:


you should see that your TCP/IP-address was "Assigned by DHCP"

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You carry your notebook home and connect it to your home-network, to exchange some
files with other computers used in your family. Most probably there will be no server installed
at your home or another system able to act as DHCP-server, so Windows XP ( like Windows98,
WindowsME and Windows 2000) will now assign an Automatic IP-address:


If all other systems at home are also configured to use this Auto-IP-Address generation,
then you can use the network without having to reconfigure the TCP/IP-settings on your
notebook.

But if you use at home manually assigned IP-addresses (example: 192.168.1.x- range),
then you are required to adjust on your notebook the IP-address to match it up with the
IP-address range used at home.

You have to do this manually on previous versions of Windows.
Windows XP allows you to automate this step: In the Properties of Networking,
display the Properties of your LAN network connection ,
display the Properties of the TCP/IP-protocol and select the tab
"Alternate Configuration" :

By default, Windows XP will assign an IP-address via Automatic IP-address generation,
if no DHCP-server was located on the network.
You have now the possibility to change this, to define to use a "User Defined" setting,
allowing to define a static IP-address to be used in case that no DHCP-server was located :


This will be indicated in the "Status" of your LAN connection:



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Recovering Windows XP using the Recovery Console

Most Windows NT installations used a system-drive ( C: ) with FAT-filesystem, to allow
access to the drive via a DOS-boot-floppy to be able to copy files (like : updated DLL's)
to the system.

These screen dumps have been made using : "VMWARE Workstation 3.0" of VMWARE. ( more details on this very powerful program )

Windows 2000 and XP allow to use on the system-drive ( C: ) the NTFS-file-system,
maintaining data-security but allowing limited access to the disk via the

Recovery Console

to repair a damaged system (like to fix boot problems).

Insert your Windows 2000 / XP installation CD-ROM and boot from CD-ROM :
(note : some Windows XP Revovery CD-ROM's do not allow to start the Windows SETUP,
in such cases you can try to use to create Windows XP Boot Floppy disks and boot from floppy).

Windows 2000:
On the "Windows 2000 Professional Setup" menu, select "R" for repair :


as Repair option, select "C" to use the "Recovery Console" :


Windows XP:
On the "Windows XP Professional Setup" menu, select "R" for Recovery Console :


Windows 2000 / XP :
You will be prompted to select the Windows installation to repair :
(usually just "1" ) :


You will need to enter the Administrator password !


At the command-prompt, type any valid command.
To get an overview on the supported commands, type : HELP




To get more detailed information on any of these commands, type the commannd followed by "/?",
which will then display the specific Help-information.

You have access to :
- the root directory of all disks
- the Windows system directory (and all sub-directories), usually : C:\WINNT
- to removable disks (floppy disk and CD-ROM drives)

You have NO Access to any other directory !

You can copy files FROM Floppy disk to the directories on disk, to which you have access.
You can NOT copy files from disk to Floppy Disk !


type : EXIT to restart the system.

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Recovering from Bootup problems :
When the system displays on booting a message of "missing" NTLDR or NTDETECT,
you can copy these files via Recovery Console from the CD-ROM :

make sure to be on the root of the C:-drive (please make : CD \ ).
In my example, the CD-ROM drive is Drive D: , allowing to make a copy of the files
NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from the i386-directory to the C:\ - root directory.


If there is a problem with the Boot-sector on the C:-drive, you can use "fixboot" to write
a new boot-sector.
If there is a problem with the Master-Boot-Record of the disk (maybe damaged by a virus),
you can use "fixmbr" to write a new MBR :

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Extract files from CAB-files using "expand" :


example: I have copied a CAB-file from CD-ROM, display the content of the CAB-file
using "expand xxx.CAB /d /f:*" and then extract the required files via : "expand xxx.CAB /f:yyy":

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Partition problems :
You can use "diskpart" to manage disk partitions :

If called up without an option, you get a simple user-interface :

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Services and Devices
Use "listsvc" to display a list of all devices and services :



You can use "enable" and "disable" to switch on/off :

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The Recovery Console can be installed on the harddisk as an additional boot-up selection:
at a command-prompt: drive:\i386\Winnt32.exe /cmdcons,
where drive is either the CD-ROM or disk with the Windows XP installation files :


The Windows 2000 Recovert Console has been successfully installed.

To use the Windows 20000 Recovery Console, restart your computer and then select
Windows 2000 Recovery Console from the Startup Menu.

For a list of commands you can use with the Recovery Console, type HELP at the
Recovery Console command Prompt.

When starting up Windows 2000 / XP, there will be a boot-selection menu displayed,
where you can startup Windows or the Recovery Console :



If the default selection is to start the Recovery Console and you like to change it to start Windows,
or if you like to reduce the bootup-delay or if you like to remove the Recovery Console from
the boot-menu, you can change the default boot selection :

In the Control-Panel, select the System icon: (or right-click "My Computer" on the desktop and select Properties) Select the tab: "Advanced" and then use in the section : "Startup and Recovery" the button : "Startup and Recovery"

Select from the drop-down menu the system to boot as default, and define a delay value (5 sec is a good choice, allowing time to change the default but not delaying the boot too long ). If you think that you do not need the selection anymore, you can turn off the display of the boot-menu by un-checking "Display list of operating systems" :

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If you have a Windows XP Recovery CD-ROM, then you may not have the option to select "Recovery Console".
For such cases, Microsoft have made the Windows XP setup process (to get to the Recovery Console) available as
a download via Q310994 in different languages (note: there are different downloads for the Home and Professional Edition).
You have to execute the download file, which will create 6 boot floppies. You then can boot from the first floppy :
You will get first the message : "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration..."

You will be prompted to insert the additional floppy disks :
Windows Setup

Please insert the disk labeled
Windows XP Professional Setup Disk #2
into Drive A:
Press ENTER when ready

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Troubleshooting Startup Problems

Troubleshooting is merely the methodical application of common sense and technical knowledge to the inevitable problems that crop up in a fallen world. If common sense can be codified (and perhaps it can with AI) then it starts with answers to simple questions like: Why? How? What? In this article I'll try to distill the issues, tools and procedures of troubleshooting Windows XP/2003 boot problems into a small amount of easily digestible information that you as a system administrator can write on the back of a note card or store in your PDA for easy access when the proverbial poop hits the fan. Let's begin with the Why question.

Why do startup problems happen?

Windows may fail to start for a variety of reasons, and generally speaking in order of decreasing likelihood here they are:

• Hardware failure
• Bad driver
• Corrupt file or volume
• System misconfiguration
• Virus infection

Let me elaborate. A common reason systems fail to start is because some element of the system's hardware has failed. This could range from the simple (someone kicked the power cord out of its socket) to the obvious (smoke emitting from the machine) to the mysterious (something transient that happens only when the moon is full or during sunspot minimum). Next most common is when you update the driver for some piece of hardware (or the BIOS for that matter) and the system won't boot afterwards. After that comes those mysterious messages we'll talk about shortly that usually indicate some key operating system file has somehow become corrupt or gone missing. Misconfiguration is another possible source of boot problems, but this is somewhat rare as in most cases you'll still be able to boot but one or more services may fail to start or your applications may not function as expected. Finally, virus infection can cause a system to fail to boot, but I've listed this in last place because I'm assuming you've got an antivirus solution in place and you're keeping the antivirus signature files updated, right?

Now that we know why Windows may fail to start properly, let's ask the logical next question: How can we know which of these underlying causes is the one that might be preventing Windows from successfully booting?

How to diagnose startup problems

Here is where we need to apply our brains and use a bit of common sense to determine what the cause of startup failure might be. Think of the previous list above as a list of disease-causing viruses, and now you have to play doctor and figure out which virus the patient (your sick computer) actually might have. For if you skip this step and try blasting the patient with every possible remedy in your doctor's bag, two things may happen:

• One of the remedies you try may actually make the patient worse and indeed could prove fatal.
• You'll waste a lot of time and the recovery of your patient will be delayed, and your boss may get upset with you as a result since her business is losing money due to downtime.

So careful diagnosis is a step you should always take time for and never avoid, and just like in the medical profession such diagnosis usually begins with your senses. For example, do you smell something burning? Better unplug your system immediately and wait for things to cool off, then open the case and inspect the damage. Do you hear your CPU fan making a slow grinding sound? Power down your system and replace the fan before your processor burns out and needs replacing. Is your video display flickering? Maybe try reseating the video card after checking if the video cable is seated properly.

OK let's assume its not such a simple and obvious problem. Instead, say you get a black screen with one of the following dreaded messages when you try and boot your system:

• "NTLDR is missing"
• "A disk read error occurred"
• "Invalid partition table"
• "Error loading operating system"
• "Could not read from selected boot disk"
• "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt"

Or you might get a blue screen (called a STOP screen) with some obscure message on it. Or if you're lucky you might make it all the way through the Windows splash screen to the logon box and then suddenly get a dialog box saying "One or more services failed to start". Or your mouse pointer might freeze and your system hang either before or immediately after logon. How can you match these symptoms to the underlying condition that might be causing them? First let's look at some possible "black screen" messages that can occur after the BIOS POST routine finishes but before the Windows splash screen appears:

Symptom	Probable Cause
"Invalid Partition Table" "Missing Operating System" "Invalid Partition Table"	Master boot record is corrupt due to hard disk errors or virus infection
"NTLDR is missing" "A disk read error occurred" System hangs after BIOS POST finishes	Boot sector is corrupt due to hard disk errors or virus infection
"Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem" "Could not read from selected boot disk" "Check boot path and disk hardware"	Boot.ini file is corrupt, missing, or needs updating.
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt"	Boot volume is corrupt or the referenced system file is missing.

In addition to these error messages, a variety of other startup problems can occur including:

• Blue screens. These are typically caused by hardware failure or driver problems but can also be due to virus infection.
• Hung system. These are typically caused by buggy drivers or by registry corruption but can also be due to virus infection.
• Dialog box saying "One or more services failed to start". This is typically caused by misconfiguration or registry corruption but can also be caused by application incompatibility of some form.

So what should you do to resolve such problems?

How to resolve startup problems

Like a doctor's mysterious black medical bag full of medical instruments (at least in old movies on TV) the system administrator also has a set of tools provided by Microsoft for resolving startup problems like the ones in the table above. In a nutshell, here's a quick inventory of the main tools:

• Last known good. Restores the HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet portion of the registry its version during the last successful logon to the system.
• Safe mode. Starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and creates a record of which drivers load in %windir%\Ntbtlog.txt.
• System Restore. Windows XP only feature to restore system to previously saved configuration.
• Recovery Console. Boots to a command line that allows you to run various commands, see this article by Johannes Helmig for more info.
• Automated System Recovery (ASR). Restores the boot volume from backup, see this article by Johannes Helmig for more info.
• Repair. Run Windows Setup from your product CD and select the option to try and repair your installation.

Which tool should you use to address each of the symptoms we described earlier? Assuming there is no obvious hardware problem (no funny smell) and you've already asked yourself the Golden Question ("What was the last thing I did to this system?") then here's a quick outline that maps the type of knife (may be several in order of severity) to the kind of surgery (underlying problem or visible symptom) you need to perform on your system:

Problem/Symptom	Tool(s) to Use
Corrupt master boot record	Recovery Console (fixmbr)
Corrupt boot sector	Recovery Console (fixboot)
Corrupt or missing boot.ini	Recovery Console (bootcfg /rebuild)
Corrupt system file	Recovery Console (chkdsk) Restore from ASR backup Perform a Repair install
Corrupt registry	Recovery Console (chkdsk) System Restore (XP only) Restore system state from backup Perform a Repair install
Blue screen	See this resource first Last known good System Restore (XP only) Safe mode (roll back suspect driver using Device Manager)
Hung system	Last known good System Restore (XP only) Safe mode (roll back suspect driver using Device Manager)
"One or more services failed to start"	Don't logon! Reboot and select last known good, log on, undo the last configuration steps you performed. Safe mode (undo last configuration steps you performed)

Conclusion

A good physician understands diseases, can recognize their symptoms, and knows how best to treat them. Fortunately if you toast your system while trying to repair a startup problem, you can always buy another. But by using a combination of common sense and an understanding of the causes of, symptoms of, and tools for treating startup problems, you can usually bring your systems back to perfect health and earn your pay as a system administrator!

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Building and Using a Windows XP Boot Disk

In this article we will learn how to make a boot disk for a Windows XP system. A boot disk can start the operating system on a computer running Windows XP if it will not boot properly and the damage is suspected to be in the files that start Windows.

Use the procedures in this article to work around the problems that hinder your system from starting. Problems that can occur are (but not limited to) boot sector damage, missing files, a virus, improper drivers and so on. In this article this is what we cover. We cover some terminology and the boot process, possible problems and situations and then show you how to make a boot disk and use it. A non booting Server is not a good thing when it’s hosting a thousand web pages for a company. I recommend this disk be created and kept nearby in case you are in a jam and need to get a system up and running that will not boot.

Terminology

In this section we will cover terminology that will be used throughout the chapter and define it.

• POST: Power On Self Test. When a computer starts or boots, the BIOS carries out a procedure that verifies that all the system's components are operating properly. Hearing beeps are indicators of a BIOS trying to either indicate a successful transition, or it’s giving you a beep code that helps you figure out a problem most likely in the BIOS.
• MBR: Short for Master Boot Record, a small program that is executed when a computer boots up. Typically, the MBR resides on the first sector of the hard disk. The program begins the boot process by looking up the partition table to determine which partition to use for booting
• BIOS: An abbreviation for Basic Input/Output System. On PC systems, the BIOS is used to perform all necessary functions to properly initialize that system’s hardware when power is first applied. The BIOS also helps with the boot process.
• CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor. A chip which uses small amounts of electricity. It is used typically on battery-powered computers and to save configuration information on other computers when they are turned off.

Boot Process

The boot process once understood will help you visualize why putting certain files on a floppy disk will help you so much. Let’s look at the boot process. Click to visit Microsoft.

• The first thing that happens when you power on your PC is you have a POST. The POST stands for Power on Self Test and it tests your system hardware.
• Hardware such as Memory is tested as well as all other hardware on the system being verified. This can usually be seen on the monitor as the system starts.
• Once POST completes, the PC will attempt to locate a bootable device configured via the system BIOS/CMOS.
• Once the bootable device is found, the MBR (Master Boot Record) is loaded into memory
• The MBR locates the active partition and loads the boot sector into memory.
• The boot sector contains the code that starts Ntldr which is the boot strap loader for Windows XP. Ntldr must be located in root folder of the active partition along with Ntdetect.com, boot.ini, bootsect.dos (for dual booting) and Ntbootdd.sys (needed with some SCSI adapters)
• The operating system is ‘selected’ by NTLDR.
• NTLDR will use the Ntdetect.com, boot.ini, and bootsect.dos files to get the proper OS selected and loaded
• The system starts in 16-bit real mode, then moves to protected mode at 32-bit.
• Once NTLDR switches into 32-bit mode, the file system is loaded (NTFS, FAT32, etc) so that the boot.ini can be read and then checked.
• Once the boot.ini is checked, you select the OS you would like to load.
• Selecting XP from the boot menu causes Ntldr to run Ntdetect.com to get information about installed hardware.
• Ntldr then uses the ARC path specified in the boot.ini to find the boot partition. It may look something like this:

default=multi (0)disk (0)partition (2) \WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP" /fastdetect

• Ntdetect.com can start to gather information about your systems hardware (such as):
  • Computer ID
  • Bus/adapter type
  • SCSI adapters
  • video adapters
  • keyboard
  • Com ports
  • Parallel ports
  • Floppy disks
  • Pointing devices
• Once Ntdetect.com collects the needed information, NTLDR loads Ntoskrnl and passes control to it.
• Ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll are loaded. Ntoskrnl.exe and Hal.dll must be located in the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder.
• Next, the Registry is loaded and a hardware profile is selected. If you have multiple hardware profiles created, you may be asked to select from one to load.
• After you have selected the proper hardware profile (or if the default one just loads), then you will next be greeted by the login prompt.
• Ntoskrnl.exe starts Winlogon.exe which starts Lsass.exe (Local Security Administration), this is the program that displays the Welcome screen and allows a user to log on with their credentials (user name and password).

To get to this point, you have to have a healthy set of files to get you there. As with any other data, they are prone to corruption, damage or sabotage just like any other source of data. A boot disk is nothing more than a set of the most critical files that if they become damaged need to be replaced to allow the system to boot and load. You can use a boot disk in a time of disaster to get the system to the winlogon process and running to get to critical data or to bring the server up and operational to serve.

Booting Problems

Problems occur, issues arise, and most times it’s unavoidable. Corruption or a boot sector virus can render just about any system dead in the water. So what could happen? In this section we cover some basic issues that can occur so that you just what your up against and why a boot disk can be very handy.

• Boot Sector Damage
• MBR (master boot record) Damage
• Virus Issues
• Missing or damaged files (Ntldr or Ntdetect.com)
• Incorrect Ntbootdd.sys driver
• To boot from the shadow of a broken mirror

Boot Disk 101

Now that you know the boot process and can see what could happen to hinder that process, let’s look at how to make and use the boot disk.

To create a boot disk for Windows XP for an NTFS or FAT Partition you will need to have a formatted floppy. It needs to be blank and virus free. You will also need the Windows XP CD-ROM or an operational Windows XP-based computer.

1. Format your Floppy.

2. Copy needed files (Ntldr, Ntdetect.com, and the boot.ini. Copy them from a system running Windows XP as long as it’s not virus infested and/or a Windows XP setup CD-ROM.
3. Edit the boot.ini file you copied over to floppy. You will need to set the path correctly so you will need to understand the ARC naming convention. You will find what you need to know using Microsoft’s documentation.
4. Start your computer by using the floppy disk, and then log on to Windows XP.

Boot.ini Example: [boot loader] timeout=30 Default= multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows="Windows XP"

Note:

• If your computer boots from a SCSI hard drive, you may need to replace the multi(0) entry with scsi(0) under [operating systems]
• It is possible to disable the Windows XP boot splash screen and speeds up the boot process very slightly. Its more so if you would like practice editing the *.ini file and if you want to 'see' the boot process that this logo hides
  • Edit the boot.ini
  • Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".
  • Once you reboot the splash screen will be gone.
  • It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch

Troubleshooting

At times, even if you use the boot disk, you may still encounter solvable problems. Its not ‘that’ easy to use so lets look at some helpers and tips to get you through the most common jams:

• You may want to put a copy of edit on the boot disk to edit the boot.ini file with.
• The Boot.ini file will most always be the problem with the boot disk unless the boot disk is corrupted, damaged, infected, etc.
• You may see error messages about ‘ARC’ and if you do, its very common that your boot.ini file is not configured properly. If you don’t know the boot.ini syntax inside and out, then you may want to print out a copy of it and keep it with your boot disk or put a small text file on the floppy as well with a simple explanation so you can figure it out if you need to.
• 3^rd party companies (makers of NTFSDOS for example) have products that can ‘mount’ an NTFS drive which can allow you to copy the files if needed (if you don’t have a FAT partition to get into), as well, to see the boot.ini current to the system if you need to get ideas on what was in the boot.ini in the original system that failed.

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