User Guide

ERD Commander 2000
Winternals Software LP Page 1
1 Introduction
When problems arise in Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 that render a system
unbootable, there is always the possibility of booting off of a DOS floppy disk
so that the drives of the machine can be accessed for repair and salvage.
This boot-floppy approach to system recovery is often the only way to correct
problems that even "automatic" system repair utilities fail to correct.
Previously, Windows NT/2000 administrators went without this recovery
option. Now, ERD Commander 2000 brings boot functionality to unbootable
Windows NT and Windows 2000 systems.
ERD Commander 2000 enables you to boot Windows NT/2000 not only from
a set of floppy disks, but also from a CD-ROM or from the system’s hard disk
in order to access and repair a damaged or dead NT/2000 installation. It is a
command-line shell that provides you with full access to non-bootable
systems with a set of familiar command-line file manipulation tools. Any
Windows NT/2000 system is accessible with ERD Commander 2000, and all
file systems – including FAT, NTFS, and CDFS – are visible. Note that ERD
Commander 2000 does not rely on data located on a system’s hard disk for it
to boot and run – Windows NT/2000 can actually be booted from floppies or
CD-ROM. The operating system does not even have to be present on the
computer in order to use ERD Commander 2000 to access the machine's
drives.