Using Windows Recovery Console to Fix Blue Screen of Death
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In the first part of the tutorial, we basically covered tips to back up files in a Windows XP computer that displays the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). We also introduced the Windows Recovery Console. In this part, the conclusion, we will cover the topic in detail.
I have fixed a BSOD problem in the past which I thought to be incurable. Restoring the registry using Windows System Restore solves the blue screen issue. If you have not read the fist part, I recommend reading it. It contains the necessary fundamentals to help you diagnose a computer with the blue screen issue.
Of course, correcting the registry does not guarantee it will remove the blue screen problem, especially if the problem is not registry-related, but a hardware-related issue instead. In order to sort out serious problems, however, you must test the possible causes one at a time. This is a more effective troubleshooting approach than proceeding directly to a solution without verification of the cause.
The solution outline in this article applies in all cases, whether the computer is bootable or not.
Windows Recovery Console – Correct Unbootable Issues (Step 1)
This step corrects booting issues caused by a faulty registry. For example, it can fix things if you are unable to successfully log in or boot Windows XP. The reference document is the official document from Microsoft.
After the successful installation/setup of Windows XP in your computer, Windows saves the very basic registry settings in a folder called “repair.” This registry does not contain software information for those applications that you will be installing in your computer, but it is enough to boot the computer without any problems.
The path for this repair folder can be found in c:windowsrepair. The actual corrupt/problematic registry path that contains all the software settings, user information, etc. can be found in c:windowssystem32config
Using Windows Recovery Console (a detailed procedure on how to log in is discussed in the first part of the article), the very first step we need to take is to create a temporary folder named “tmp” under C:Windows. Copy the registry (do a backup) located in c:windowssystem32config to that temporary folder C:windowstmp and then delete all the registries located in c:windowssystem32config
We will then copy the very basic registry located in c:windowsrepair to c:windowssystem32config and then quit out of Windows Recovery Console. The strategy is to delete the entire faulty registry and replace it with the default/basic registry needed to boot the computer. After implementing this step, you can now boot the computer, but all of the previous software settings will exist in the way they did as if you'd gone back to Day 1 of your computer.
You will then need to put in your Windows XP CD and boot to Windows Recovery Console. Assuming you have installed your Windows XP in drive C in such a way that the Windows folder can be found in C:WINDOWS, the following are the commands that you need to ype at the Windows Recovery console prompt: C:Windows , to implement the strategy needed for Step 1.
Since the command line is long, if you have a hard time understanding it, please download the text file containing the same commands above.
?----PRESS ENTER KEY--? means you need to press the enter key in your computer keyboard.
After typing the commands above, enter exit and restart the computer.
Next: Copy the Working (BACKUP) Registry from System Volume Information (Step 2) >>
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