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How Do I Get a Broken Win 2000 PC to Boot?

Q: I can't get Windows 2000 to boot! Am I hosed, or is there something I can do?

A: Unlike its predecessor Windows NT, Windows 2000 includes the Safe Mode familiar from Windows 9x, which gets you access to the hard drive by booting with basic drivers only. Once you've managed to launch into Safe Mode you can make corrective changes, such as deleting a just-installed (and possibly problematic) driver or application.

Before the disaster, you want to have created a set of boot floppies and what Windows calls an Emergency Repair Disk. If the PC won't boot at all, even into Safe Mode, you may be able to use the ERD to repair the operating system and get back into the machine. With the ERD, you can replace system files and a corrupted Registry, and inspect and repair the Windows 2000 start-up process.

To make an ERD, grab a blank floppy disk, stick it in the drive, and select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup. Click the Emergency Repair Disk button, and in the dialog that pops up, check the box "Also back up the Registry to the repair directory." Click OK.

If disaster strikes as you boot up the PC, and you see the message "Starting Windows," press F8 to bring up the Windows 2000 Advanced Options Menu. This menu provides a number of options, including Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Network, and Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Try the simple Safe Mode first. We could fill a book on when and how to use the other boot options, but instead, we'll point you toward the online edition of the Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit, which discusses Safe Mode start-up strategies.

An even grittier path to the hard drive avoids Windows 2000 entirely: the Recovery Console. Don't bother with this unless you're a power user comfortable with mucking around with such tasks as disabling services, formatting drives, and rooting through data files. But the Recovery Console can be a godsend if you need to copy a file to the hard drive or reconfigure a service to get Windows 2000 to boot, and Safe Mode doesn't cut it.

To access the Recovery Console, put the Windows 2000 setup CD in the CD-ROM drive if it is bootable, or pop in the first of the four-floppy Setup set. (Refer to "How Do I Make a Boot Floppy?" for details on how to create the Setup floppies.)

Once the PC has started up, enter the Windows 2000 Setup and press Enter at the Setup Notification screen. Press R to repair a Windows 2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. You'll have limited use of the hard drive and will be able to access specific folders such as the %systemroot% folder (usually C:\WINNT), but not the entire drive.

You're not completely on your own here, though the task isn't for the faint of heart. For help, your best bet is the Recovery Console section of the Windows 2000 Resource Kit.

To use the ERD in case of emergency, boot the computer using the Windows 2000 Setup CD (if the PC's CD-ROM drive is bootable) or the first of the four-floppy Setup series you created earlier. At the Setup Notification screen, press Enter, then press R at the next two screens to begin the repair process. (You'll be asked to pick between Manual and Fast repair; press F for Fast.) Insert the ERD when prompted.

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