Recovering from Total Boot Failure

Sometimes a problem occurs that prevents a computer from starting, even with the Safe Mode options or Last Known Good configuration. For these situations, Windows XP Professional provides several options, including:

• Booting computers that use FAT or FAT32 with a special floppy boot disk

• Booting the computer using the Windows XP Professional CD and performing an ASR process

• Reinstalling Windows XP Professional and Windows applications and then restoring user data from backup files

Each of these options is discussed further in the sections that follow.

Floppy Boot Disk

If Windows XP Professional is installed on a computer that uses the FAT or FAT32 file systems, the administrator can boot the computer using a specially formatted system boot disk. This disk is then used to start the computer in text mode, allowing the administrator to use the Windows command prompt to diagnose and repair system problems.

Note 

Refer to Appendix A, "Windows XP Command Reference," for information on available Windows commands.

Unfortunately, booting off of a floppy boot disk only provides an administrator with access to FAT and FAT32 partitions and volumes. NTFS-formatted partitions and volumes will be unavailable. Floppy boot disks have several other limitations, including:

• Only command line access is provided.

• Network access is not available.

• No CD-ROM drivers are loaded.

• NTFS volumes and partitions cannot be accessed.

The following procedure outlines the steps involved in formatting a floppy boot disk.

1. Place a floppy disk in the computer's floppy disk drive.

2. Click on Start and then My Computer. The My Computer folder appears.

3. Right-click on the A: drive and select Format. The Format 3¹/₂ Floppy (A:) dialog appears, as shown in Figure B.8.

   
   Figure B.8: Creating a Windows XP startup disk for systems that use FAT or FAT32

4. Select Create an MS-DOS startup disk.

5. Click on Start. A pop-up dialog appears, warning that all data will be lost on the floppy disk. Click on OK.

6. Another pop-up dialog appears when the format process is completed. Click on OK.

7. Click on Close.

To use a floppy boot disk to start a computer, insert the floppy disk into the computer floppy disk drive and power the computer on. Once startup is complete, the Windows command prompt will be displayed.

Automated System Recovery

In some circumstances, problems created by applications, device drivers, and system misconfiguration may disable a computer in such a way that it cannot start. To attempt to recover from these situations, the administrator should first attempt to use the Safe Mode and Last Known Good configuration. In the event that these tools are unsuccessful, the administrator can attempt to use the ASR process.

The ASR provides a means of restarting the computer and restoring Windows XP Professional using an ASR floppy disk and a backup of system files. When used all changes made to configuration settings since the ASR backup was performed are lost. Although the ASR disk can be stored on any media, it is typically created on a floppy disk.

Creating an ASR Backup

The ASR backup stores data required to restart the computer in a compressed file on the computer's hard disk. The ASR floppy disk is used to boot the computer and contains the necessary information required to locate the ASR backup and initiate a restore. The data stored in the ASR backup includes:

• Data regarding the ASR backup

• Disk configuration information

• Information about system services

• Information about system state

• A backup of system files

In order to use the ASR process, the administrator must have previously created an ASR backup. The ASR backup should be recreated whenever a major change is applied to a computer, including changes that affect computer startup or system files. It is especially important that critical systems be identified and a regular schedule be set up for updating the computer's ASR backup.

The following procedure outlines the steps involved in creating an ASR backup.

1. Click on Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools and then Backup. The Backup Utility Wizard appears.

2. Click on the Advanced Link. The Backup Utility dialog appears, as shown in Figure B.9.

   
   Figure B.9: Creating an ASR backup

3. Click on the Automated System Recovery Wizard icon. The Automated System Recovery Preparation Wizard starts.

4. Click on Next.

5. Specify the filename for the ASR floppy disk, as shown in Figure B.10. The default file name is backup.bkf.

   
   Figure B.10: Creating an ASR floppy disk

6. Insert a blank 3.5-inch disk into the computer floppy disk drive and click on Next.

7. Click on Finish.

8. The ASR floppy disk is created. An ASR backup of the files and configuration settings required to start the computer is then created and stored on the local computer.

9. The Automated System Recovery Preparation Wizard displays a dialog providing detailed information of its progress. A summary is presented when the ASR operation completes. Click on Close.

Note 

The ASR backup does not back up user files. To completely restore a computer, a separate set of file backups must be maintained.

System Recovery Using the ASR Backup

The ASR recovery process is not reversible and should be used only as a last resort for restoring a computer. The following procedure outlines the steps involved in performing this process.

1. Insert the Windows XP Professional CD into the computer's CD-ROM drive. Start the computer and ensure that it boots from the Windows XP Professional CD.

2. Press F2 when prompted during the text mode part of setup.

3. Insert the ASR floppy disk into the computer's floppy disk drive when prompted, press any key, and follow the instructions that are presented.

Recovering User Files with Windows Backup

There may be times when an administrator is unable to restore a computer running Windows XP Professional to a working condition. In this case, a new installation must be performed, after which time the user's files can be restored. Windows XP Professional provides the Backup utility as a means for backing up user and system data.

Only administrators or members of the backup operators group can back up all the files and folders on the computer. Individual users and members of the power users group can back up files and folders, provided that they have one of the following permissions over them:

• Read

• Read and Execute

• Modify

• Full Control

Windows XP Professional can store backups on a number of different types of media, including:

• Backup tape drives

• Locally installed hard drives

• Network drives

• Writable compact disc drives

• Floppy disks

Every file and folder on a computer running Windows XP Professional has an archive attribute that the backup utility uses to determine if a file has been modified and if it should be backed up. Windows XP Professional supports five different types of backup operation, as listed in Table B.3.

Table B.3: Windows XP Supported Backup Types

Backup Type	Description
Normal	Makes a backup of all selected files and folders while clearing each file and folder's archive attribute, thus eliminating it as a candidate for other scheduled backups
Copy	Makes a backup of all selected files and folders without affecting any of the file and folder archive attributes
Incremental	Makes a backup of files and folders that have been modified since the last backup ran and then clears all file and folder archive attributes
Differential	Makes a backup of files and folders that have been modified without clearing each file and folder's archive attributes
Daily	Makes a backup of all files and folders that have been modified that day without clearing their archive attributes

Creating a Backup

Using the Backup Wizard, an administrator can back up some or all files and folders located on the computer for later restoration in the event of an unrecoverable system failure. The following procedure outlines the steps involved in creating a backup using the Backup Wizard.

1. Click on Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools and then Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard appears.

2. Click on the Advanced Mode link.

3. The Backup Utility dialog appears.

4. Click on Backup Wizard (Advanced). The Backup Wizard appears.

5. Click on Next.

6. Select one of the following options and click on Next.

   • Back up everything on my computer

   • Back up selected files, drives, or network data

   • Only back up the System State data

7. If the option to back up selected files, drives, or network data was selected, the Backup Wizard will prompt for the specification of the files, drives, or network data to be backed up.

8. Specify the location where the backup should be stored and assign it a name, as shown in Figure B.11. Click on Next.

   
   Figure B.11: Specifying the location and name of a backup file

9. The Backup Wizard displays a summary of the information that it has collected. Click on Finish to perform a normal backup. Alternatively, click on Advanced to specify additional backup options, such as selecting the type of backup to perform, whether the backup job should be verified, and whether the backup job should run now or be scheduled for later execution using the Scheduled Task Wizard.

10. As the backup executes, the Backup utility displays a dialog providing detailed information of its progress. A summary is presented when the backup operation completes. Click on Report to view a detailed backup report or click on Close.

Restoring Data Stored in a Backup

The Backup utility can also be used to restore one or more files and folders stored in a backup, in the event that the user accidentally deletes them or if they need to be restored as a result of a catastrophic system failure.The following procedure outlines the steps involved in completing this procedure.

1. Click on Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools and then Backup. The Backup utility starts.

2. Click on Restore Wizard (Advanced). The Restore Wizard appears.

3. Click on Next.

4. Specify the location of the backup file, as demonstrated in Figure B.12. Click on Next.

   
   Figure B.12: Specifying the location of the backup containing the files and folders to be restored

5. The Restore Wizard displays a summary of the information that it has gathered. Click on Finish to perform the restore. Optionally, click on Advanced to specify advanced options, such as the location where the restored files and folders should be copied and what the Wizard should do if files and folders of the same name as those in the backup already exist in the specified destination.

6. As the restore executes, the Restore Wizard displays a dialog providing detailed information of its progress. A summary is presented when the restore operation completes, as shown in Figure B.13. Click on Report to view a detailed backup report or click on Close.

Figure B.13: Examining the results of a restore operation

Note 

If files that reside on an NTFS volume or partition are restored to a FAT or FAT32 volume, information about each file will be lost. This information may include NTFS file permissions, encryption settings, and disk quota settings.