Overview of Windows XP Startup Troubleshooting Tools

Like any other operating system, Windows XP Professional is not immune from operational and startup problems. Windows XP provides a number of tools that administrators can use to gather information about a computer or to trou- bleshoot application, computer, and network problems. Table B.1 provides a listing of tools, commands and utilities found in Windows XP Professional. Table B.1 also provides a reference to the location within this book where information on tools, commands, and utilities can be found.

Table B.1: Windows XP Information Gathering and Troubleshooting Tools,

Commands, and Utilities	Tool/Command/Utility Reference
Remote Assistance	"Remote Assistance" in Chapter 3, "Help and Support"
Device Manager	"Device Manager" in Chapter 2, "Installing and Upgrading to Windows XP Professional"
System Information	"Tools" in Chapter 3, "Help and Support"
Task Manager	"Using Task Manager to Control Applications" in Chapter 4, "Application Management"
Troubleshooters	"Help and Support Center Troubleshooters" in Chapter 3, "Help and Support"
Error Reporting	"Configuring Windows XP Error Reporting" in Chapter 3, "Help and Support"
PING	"Testing Connectivity Using the PING Command" in Chapter 16, "Windows XP and TCP/IP"
TRACERT	"Tracing Network Communications" in Chapter 16, "Windows XP and TCP/IP"
Network Repair	"Repairing TCP/IP Connections" in Chapter 16, "Windows XP and TCP/IP"
System Monitor Extension	"Monitoring System Performance" in Chapter 13, "Performance Tuning"
Event Logs	"Managing Windows XP Event Logs" in Chapter 10, "Microsoft Management Consoles"

In addition to the tools, commands, and utilities listed in Table B.1, Windows XP Professional provides a collection of tools that assist in restoring Windows XP Professional to a previous state in the event that problems occur. Problems that could require restoration of Windows XP include:

• A malfunctioning device software driver.

• Critical system files are deleted or corrupted.

• System settings are incorrectly configured.

• A Windows update or new software application creates system instability.

Windows XP Professional supplies the following list of tools to assist administrators in recovering from these types of situations without having to resort to a complete reinstall of the operating system, its software, and its data files.

• Driver Rollback. Allows administrators to restore a device's software driver to a previously installed version

• System Restore. Provides the ability to restore critical system files and settings to a previous state using saved restore points

• Safe Mode. Provides the ability to start Windows XP Professional under conditions in which it will not otherwise start

• Last Known Good configuration. Starts Windows XP Professional using a set of configuration settings that were used to successfully boot the computer in the last logon session

• Recovery Console. Provides the ability to start Windows XP in a command line mode where recovery console commands can then be used to repair system problems

• FAT and FAT32 System Boot Disks. Provides the ability to create a floppy disk that can be used to boot a computer running FAT or FAT32 and to use Windows commands to repair system problems

• ASR. Provides a final recovery option in which Windows XP Professional is restored using an ASR floppy disk to restore data stored on the computer's disk drive

The rest of this chapter will focus on providing a more detailed description of each of these tools.