Section 2.5. Troubleshooting an Installation

2.5. Troubleshooting an Installation

Although the vast majority of the time Windows Server 2003 will install without a hitch, some issues (a piece of malfunctioning hardware, a power failure during installation, or a faulty download of a dynamic update) can cause the installation process to fail. Luckily, you can recover from a bugged-out installation in at least two ways: starting over or using the Recovery Console.

2.5.1. Starting Over

Sometimes it can be easier to cut your losses and restart an installation from the beginning, particularly if an error early in the process is preventing you from proceeding. The installation process changes three things on your drive, all of which you need to reverse to restart the installation (unless, of course, you want to format the hard drive and therefore aren't concerned with data loss):

Setup constructs the $win_nt$.~bt directory to store boot files, which instruct your computer to boot into Setup's post-first phases (that is, all phases after the initial reboot). Remove this directory.

Setup modifies your boot.ini file with a line such as this:

 Multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\$win_nt$.~bt="Microsoft Windows  Server 2003 Setup"

Remove this line as well.
Setup creates the $win_nt$.~ls directory and copies all files to the system in this directory to have data to work with if it cannot access the setup CD. Remove this as well, if it exists. (Some installation scenarios don't require its creation, such as ones initiated from a network share or a hard disk and not on a CD.)

At this point, no traces of the previous setup attempt remain on the machine, and you are free to restart the installation process.

2.5.2. Using the Recovery Console

For dealing with serious installation problems that don't allow you into the standard graphical interface, or for a once-functional installation that seems to have failed, Microsoft provides a tool that might help you rescue a system from the jaws of certain death. Available since Windows 2000, the Recovery Console is a text-based operating system extension that allows you direct access to the disk on which Windows Server 2003 is installed, and similar access to key configuration files and data. It also provides a convenient way around DOS's inability to read NTFS-formatted drives, which is an issue any administrator with troubleshooting experience has come up against.

2.5.2.1 Setting up the Recovery Console

To use the Recovery Console, first you must set it up. If you are using a working Windows Server 2003 system, it's prudent to go ahead and set up the console; that way, if it fails, using the console is as simple a procedure as selecting it from the start up menu at first boot. To do so, simply run winnt32 /cmdcons from within Windows. Setup will copy files and modify your boot configuration file to list the console within its options. Now you're prepared for disaster, should it ever strike. It's a good idea to make a habit of installing the console when you first install Windows Server 2003; it's not a difficult process and you can automate it using the /firstboot option in a preinstall script, which I'll cover later in this chapter.

If, on the other hand, you're working on the failed system, you still can set up the console; you'll just have to delve into Windows Setup to do so. Boot off the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM, select the option to repair an existing installation, and choose to do so using the Recovery Console, and Windows will copy the files, make the boot modifications for you, and launch the console. Note that if you use this method, and if you have oddball hardware that Windows doesn't support natively, you'll need to invoke the driver install utility by pressing F6 at the first appearance of Setup's blue-tinted screens (watch for the prompt at the bottom of the screen) so that the console knows how to access any drives that might be attached to a controller that Windows can't communicate with out of the box. Once you've pressed F6, simply insert the driver disk and press Enter, and Windows will detect and load the driver.

2.5.2.2 Working with the Recovery Console

Once the console has launched, it's a two-step process to the command-line:

Select the installation to repair.
Enter the administrator credentials for that installation.

Figure 2-5 shows the main Recovery Console screen.

Figure 2-5. The Recovery Console

Windows will approve your password and then dump you at a DOS-like prompt. You can move around the filesystem with common DOS commands such as CD, DEL, FORMAT, and the like, but you also can use the commands detailed in Table 2-3 that control special functions peculiar to the console.

Table 2-3. Selected commands for the Recovery Console
Command name	Function
DISABLE	Prevents a service, named in the argument syntax of this command, from starting up upon a normal boot.
DISKPART	Executes a disk partitioning utility much like that used in the initial text-based phase of Setup.
ENABLE	Explicitly instructs a service named in the argument syntax of this command to start upon a normal boot.
FIXBOOT	Like the old `fdisk /mbr` command from DOS days, this will restore boot sector information and make the drive contained in the argument syntax the default drive for booting.
FIXMBR	This command is like `FIXBOOT`, but it will touch only the master boot record of the drive; it won't alter default boot drives or create BOOT.INI files.
HELP	Lists all commands available in the Recovery Console.
LISTSVC	For use with the `DISABLE` and `ENABLE` commands, this lists all available services that can be started and stopped.
LOGON	Logs you out of an existing console and enables you to select another installation on which to perform recovery functions.
SYSTEMROOT	Goes to the default Windows directory without grappling with unwieldy "CD" (change directory) commands.

The Recovery Console makes it easy to correct simple errors, such as boot record misfires and incomplete driver or service installations, which used to require reinstallation. It is a good idea held over from Windows 2000, but yet still unknown to many.