ERD Commander 2002 User’s Guide Winternals Software LP 3101 Bee Caves Road, Suite 150 Austin, Texas 78746 (512) 330-9130 (512) 330-9131 Fax www.winternals.
ERD Commander 2002 Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................ i 1 Introduction................................................................................... 1 2 Overview of Use............................................................................ 2 3 ERD Commander 2002 Setup ...................................................... 5 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Requirements ..................................................
ERD Commander 2002 15.8 COPY...........................................................................................31 15.9 DATE ...........................................................................................31 15.10 DEL/ERASE.................................................................................32 15.11 DIR 33 15.12 ECHO ..........................................................................................33 15.13 EXIT...........................................................
ERD Commander 2002 1 Introduction When your Windows XP, 2000, or NT system becomes unbootable, you can rely on ERD Commander 2002 to provide you full access to your dead system with a familiar desktop environment. ERD Commander 2002 supplies the tools you need to help you quickly diagnose and repair the problem that is preventing your system from booting. ERD Commander 2002 makes any Windows XP/2000/NT file system, including FAT, NTFS and CDFS, accessible through a graphical interface.
ERD Commander 2002 2 Overview of Use ERD Commander’s built-in tools allow you to perform many different types of system diagnosis and repair. A few of the ways that ERD Commander 2002 helps you solve problems include: Removing or Replacing Buggy Drivers You can use ERD Commander 2002 to delete or replace the image files of drivers or services that, because of a bug or misconfiguration, prevent Windows 2000/NT from booting.
ERD Commander 2002 Correcting Registry Problems A significant number of Windows XP/2000/NT boot problems are the result of misconfigured Registry values. The ERD Commander 2002 Registry editor has all the capabilities and the same interface as the Windows XP/2000/NT Registry editor, making it easy for you to inspect and change Registry settings. Copying Important Files off of a Dead System ERD Commander 2002 enables you to access files on a Windows XP/2000/NT system that fails to boot.
ERD Commander 2002 Enabling and Disabling Services and Drivers You can list and modify the start types of a system's drivers and services with ERD Commander 2002’s Service and Driver Manager utility. The utility implements an interface similar to the Windows XP/2000 Services MMCsnap-in, which makes it easy to identify services and drivers and to disable those that are preventing a system from booting.
ERD Commander 2002 3 ERD Commander 2002 Setup 3.1 Requirements ERD Commander 2002 requires that the target system have a bootable CDROM drive, and one of the following operating systems: ♦ Windows NT 4. Although you can use ERD Commander 2002 on systems that do not have Service Pack (SP) 4 or higher, ERD Commander 2002 updates NTFS volumes to a version that requires the NTFS driver from SP 4 or higher. ERD Commander 2002 prompts you before updating NTFS volumes on pre-SP 4 systems.
ERD Commander 2002 burning software. You will need several items in addition to successfully create a bootable CD-ROM from the ISO image the Boot CD-ROM Wizard creates: ♦ CD-ROM burner ♦ CD-R or CD-RW disk ♦ CD-ROM burning software that supports the formatting of CD-ROMs from CD-ROM ISO images This section guides you through the use of the wizard to create a CD-ROM ISO image using the Boot CD-ROM Wizard. 3.
ERD Commander 2002 Figure 3-1 3.4 Password Protection The Boot CD-ROM Wizard offers the option to password protect the ERD Commander 2002 CD-ROM that you create (see Figure 3-2). This is helpful if it is desired that use of the bootable CD be restricted to authorized personnel.
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ERD Commander 2002 3.5 Image Location The Boot CD-ROM Wizard’s final interactive step prompts you to specify the destination of the generated ISO image (see Figure 3-3). The image requires approximately 180 MB (graphic below indicates 150 MB size) of disk storage, and because most CD-ROM burning software requires ISO images to have a .iso file extension, the Boot CD-ROM Wizard also requires that extension. Figure 3-3 3.
ERD Commander 2002 4 Functional Overview Once ERD Commander 2002 boots, a stripped-down version of Windows XP will start and run the ERD Commander 2002 windowing environment. It’s important to keep in mind that, although this graphical environment looks like Windows and even has similar utilities, it is not Windows code and therefore behaves slightly differently.
ERD Commander 2002 ♦ TCP/IP Configuration ♦ Logical Volumes ♦ Locksmith Winternals Software LP Page 11
ERD Commander 2002 5 Logon When ERD Commander 2002 boots it executes the Winternals Logon application. If the ERD Commander 2002 CD-ROM was generated by the Boot CD-ROM Wizard, the Logon application displays the licensing information entered during execution of the wizard. Otherwise it will prompt you to enter ERD Commander 2002 license text or specify a file containing an ERD Commander 2002 license.
ERD Commander 2002 Figure 5-1 If the system you wish to repair is not in the list or the operating system is displayed as "unknown", then some or all of the Registry hives for that installation are damaged or missing. Registry hives are the Registry’s ondisk storage files and are stored under \SystemRoot\System32\Config (where SystemRoot is the system root directory of a Windows XP, 2000, and NT installation).
ERD Commander 2002 The Logon application allows you to choose a keyboard layout and time zone using the respective drop down controls. The default selections for keyboard layout and time zone are taken from the installation you have currently entered into the installation selection field if the Registry of that installation is accessible. Selecting an installation starts the ERD Commander 2002 Windowing Shell, which is described in the next section.
ERD Commander 2002 6 Windowing Shell The ERD Commander 2002 Windowing Shell has a strong resemblance to Microsoft Explorer’s shell (see Figure 6-1). It has a task bar, Start menu, and desktop shortcuts. However, you cannot move the Window Shell’s task bar, edit the items on the Start Menu, move or modify existing desktop shortcuts, or create new desktop shortcuts.
ERD Commander 2002 7 System Information The ERD Commander 2002 System Information utility (see Figure 7-1) is accessed via the Administrative Tools folder of the Start menu. This utility reports an extensive amount of information about the system you are repairing, including the operating system version, service pack, hotfixes, registered owner and organization and more.
ERD Commander 2002 8 File Explorer ERD Commander 2002 Explorer (see Figure 8-1), accessible from the Start menu, allows you to browse the system’s volumes as well as the NetBIOS network neighborhood. (Active Directory browsing is not supported). The Explorer window has a treeview on the left and a listview on the right that displays the contents of the folder selected in the treeview. The My Computer and Network Neighborhood desktop shortcuts open instances of Explorer that select the associated folder.
ERD Commander 2002 items. It also allows those file shares exported by other systems on the network to be mapped to local drive letters. ERD Commander 2002 Explorer obtains icon information for file being repaired. If the Software hive is corrupt or missing Explorer displays only basic icons. Note that, unlike the default behavior of Windows Explorer, ERD Commander 2002 Explorer displays hidden folders and files (those with the hidden attribute set), displaying them with faded icons.
ERD Commander 2002 9 Volume Properties Selecting the Properties menu entry from a volume’s context menu (accessible by right-clicking on a volume) or the Properties entry in the File menu launches a dialog (see Figure 9-1) that displays information about a volume, including statistics on total size and free space. See Chapter 11 for a description of the Reset Permissions button.
ERD Commander 2002 10 Folder Properties You can view detailed information (see Figure 10-1) about a folder by choosing the Properties menu entry from the folder’s context menu or the Properties menu entry in the File menu when the folder selected. The Map Network Drive button enables when you select a folder that represents a network share, allowing you to map the share to a local drive letter. Find more information in Mapping Network Drives in Chapter 12.
ERD Commander 2002 11 Resetting Permissions One cause for a system becoming unbootable is that permissions have been set on NTFS folders or directories that prevent the operating system itself from accessing files it requires for the boot process. The Reset Permissions button on a volume or folder Properties dialog changes the permissions on the volume folder, and optionally on child folders, to a security descriptor that gives the Everyone group (all users) full access.
ERD Commander 2002 12 Mapping Network Drives ERD Commander 2002 Explorer provides a Network Neighborhood folder for you to navigate to file shares. However, because only NetBIOS browsing is supported, in some cases it may be more convenient to access a file share through a mapped drive letter. To map file shares to a drive letter, use the Map Network Drive menu item in the Tools menu or the Map Network Drive button on a file share’s properties dialog.
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ERD Commander 2002 13 Adding a Domain ERD Commander 2002 requires you to enter the names of domains that you wish to browse via ERD Commander 2002 Explorer. The Add Domain feature is accessed via the Tools menu of ERD Commander 2002 Explorer.
ERD Commander 2002 14 Using File Search You can search for files on the hard disks of the system that you are repairing using ERD Commander 2002 File Search (see Figure 14-1). ERD Commander 2002 File Search has an interface that is nearly identical to that of the Windows 2000 File Search utility, and is accessible via the Start menu and from the context-menu of folders within ERD Commander 2002 Explorer.
ERD Commander 2002 Search displays the result of a search as a list in its right pane.
ERD Commander 2002 15 The Command-line Environment 15.1 Overview ERD Commander 2002 Command Prompt (Figure 15-1) presents a subset of the functionality implemented by the Windows XP command-prompt that includes most built-in commands, the ability to execute external applications, and batch file capabilities. This section serves as reference for the Command Prompt’s built-in commands.
ERD Commander 2002 15.2 The Command Set ATTRIB Displays or changes file attributes. BUFFER Sets console screen buffer information. CALL Calls one batch program from another CD Displays the name of or changes the current directory. CHDIR Displays the name of or changes the current directory. CHKDSK Checks a disk and displays a status report. CLS Clears the screen. COPY Copies one or more files to another location. DATE Displays the current date. DEL Deletes one or more files.
ERD Commander 2002 SERVICE Displays and modifies service and driver startup settings. SET Sets, displays, or removes environment variables. START Starts a program in a new command prompt window. TIME Displays the current time. TYPE Displays the contents of a file. VER Displays ERD Commander 2002 version number. VERSION Displays ERD Commander 2002 version number. XCOPY Copies files and directory trees.
ERD Commander 2002 15.3 ATTRIB Displays or changes file attributes. ATTRIB [+R | -R] [+A | -A] [+S | -S] [+H | -H] Syntax [drive:][path]filename] [/S] Switches 15.4 + Sets an attribute - Clears an attribute R Read-only file attribute A Archive file attribute S System file attribute /S Processes files in all subdirectories in the specified BUFFER Sets console screen buffer information.
ERD Commander 2002 Syntax CHDIR [drive:][path] CHDIR[..] CD [drive:][path] CD[..] Notes .. Specifies that you want to change to the parent directory Type CD drive: to display the current directory in the specified drive. Type CD without parameters to display the current drive and directory. 15.7 CLS Clears the screen. Syntax 15.8 CLS COPY Copies one or more files to another location.
ERD Commander 2002 15.10 DEL/ERASE Deletes one or more files.
ERD Commander 2002 15.11 DIR DIR displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.
ERD Commander 2002 15.13 EXIT Exits the command prompt EXIT Syntax 15.14 HELP Provides Help information for ERD Commander 2002 commands. Syntax HELP [command] Notes Command Displays specific information on the specified command 15.15 MAP Displays drive letter to partition mappings. Syntax MAP This command display’s the drive letter assignments made by ERD Commander 2002. For each drive you’ll see the device name, volume label, file system type and drive size.
ERD Commander 2002 Figure 15-2 15.16 MKDIR/MD Creates a directory. Syntax MKDIR [drive:]path MD [drive:]path MKDIR creates any intermediate directories in the path, if needed. For example, assume \a does not exist then: Syntax MKDIR a\b\c is the same as MKDIR \a mkdir \a\b mkdir \a\b\c 15.17 MOVE Moves or renames a file or directory. Syntax MOVE Source [Target] Notes Source Specifies the path and name of the file(s) to be moved Target Specifies the path and name to move file(s) to 15.
ERD Commander 2002 Syntax SCREEN [width height] Notes width Specifies width of the console window height Specifies the height of the console window 15.20 SET Displays, sets, or removes comma and prompt environment variables. Syntax SET [variable =[string]] Notes variable Specifies the environment-variable name string Specifies a series of characters to assign to the variable Type SET without parameters to display the current environment variables. 15.
ERD Commander 2002 The TYPE command displays the contents of a file. You can pause the output at any time by pressing CTRL-S, and abort the output by pressing CTRL-C. 15.24 VERSION/VER Displays ERD Commander 2002 's version number.
ERD Commander 2002 15.25 XCOPY Copies files and directory trees.
ERD Commander 2002 15.26 CHKDSK ERD Commander 2002 includes a clone of the Windows XP/2000 CHKDSK utility for analyzing and correcting file system corruption. CHKDSK is located in the system32 directory of the ERD Commander 2002 CD-ROM and is run from a command prompt window. The ERD Commander 2002 CHKDSK supports a subset of the Windows CHKDSK command-line options: Usage CHKDSK [/F] [/X] [/R] [drive:] Switches /F Fixes errors on the disk. /X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
ERD Commander 2002 16 Notepad ERD Commander 2002 Notepad (see Figure 16-1) is essentially a clone of the Windows XP Notepad application, allowing you to edit existing text files and create new ones.
ERD Commander 2002 17 Regedit The ERD Commander 2002 Regedit utility (Figure 17-1) is similar to the Windows XP Regedit, but enables you to edit the Registry of a system that is being repaired. Unlike Windows Regedit, you will only see two top-level keys in ERD Commander 2002 Regedit: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Because the ERD Commander 2002 CD-ROM (and not the system) is actually booted, there is no current hardware configuration loaded.
ERD Commander 2002 description of the correspondence between Registry hives and the keys that represent them.
ERD Commander 2002 18 Using Service and Driver Manager The ERD Commander 2002 Service and Driver Manager (see Figure 18-1), accessible in the Administrative Tools folder of the Start menu, is an ERD Commander 2002 Computer Management utility snap-in. The Service and Driver Manager is actually an interface to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services part of the Registry where service and driver configuration subkeys are located for the system that you are repairing.
ERD Commander 2002 Properties from the Action menu or the context menu (right-click to activate the context menu) or by double-clicking. Typical repair operations involve disabling a service or driver that is preventing a system from booting, or replacing a corrupt service or driver file. To disable a service or driver, display its properties and change the startup type to Disabled. The properties dialog (also shown on Figure 18-1) also reports the path to the service or driver’s executable image.
ERD Commander 2002 19 Using Event Log Viewer The ERD Commander 2002 Event Log Viewer (Figure 19-1) enables you to examine the System, Application, and Security event logs of the system you are repairing. It functions like the Windows Event Viewer, which allows you to look for entries that might help you diagnose a problem that is preventing a system from booting. The Event Log Viewer includes blue-screen crash errors and errors or warnings that indicate problems with particular services or drivers.
ERD Commander 2002 To view detailed information about an entry, choose Properties from the Action menu or an event log entry’s context menu, or double-click on the entry. Use the up and down arrows in the properties dialog to move between different event entries. 19.1 Filtering Events You can filter the events you want to see by selecting the Filter menu entry from the Action menu of Computer Management.
ERD Commander 2002 20 Using TCP/IP Configuration When you boot a computer with ERD Commander 2002 it starts the network adapters on the system using a default configuration that assumes that you have a DHCP server on your network from which an IP address, gateway, and DNS servers can be obtained. If your network requires explicit configuration of any of these values, use the ERD Commander 2002 TCP/IP Configuration utility (Figure 20-1) after logging in to the system you wish to repair.
ERD Commander 2002 The TCP/IP Configuration utility lets you select the network adapter for which you want to make changes, and then to enter explicit TCP/IP settings for that adapter. The settings you enter become active immediately upon application. Note that the name that ERD Commander 2002 assigns to the computer is randomly chosen. It is not possible to access the volumes of the system from a remote computer since ERD Commander 2002 does not have a file server service.
ERD Commander 2002 21 Using Logical Volumes The drive letters that ERD Commander 2002 assigns to volumes may not be the same as those made when you boot normally into the installation that you are repairing. To aid in identifying volumes there are two ways provided to view detailed drive letter mapping information. The first is with the MAP command in the ERD Commander 2002 Command prompt, and the second is using the ERD Commander 2002 Logical Volumes utility (Figure 21-1).
ERD Commander 2002 22 Locksmith If you are unable to logon to a system because you have lost the local administrator password or because the administrative password has been locked out, use the ERD Commander 2002 LocksmithTM utility to reset the password to a known value and unlock the account.
ERD Commander 2002 23 Running External Commands The ERD Commander 2002 operating environment allows you to run Win32 applications other than those included on your product CD. Such External Commands may be found on the volumes of the computer that you wish to repair, or on the network. However, because the ERD Commander 2002 environment is different than that of Windows, many applications launched within it either behave incorrectly or fail to run.
ERD Commander 2002 24 Frequently Asked Questions Why do I get access denied errors when I try and replace a system’s Registry hives? If you are running a utility that accesses the Registry of the system you are repairing you will not be able to replace the Registry hives. The utilities that access the Registry include Regedit, Explorer, Service and Driver Manager, System Information, and Event Log Viewer.
ERD Commander 2002 and cannot be loaded if they are either missing or corrupt. The correspondence between hives and their Registry keys is as follows: Hive Name SAM SECURITY SOFTWARE SYSTEM Registry Key(s) HKLM\SAM HKLM\SECURITY HKLM\SOFTWARE HKLM\SYSTEM, HKCR Why does ERD Commander 2002 hang when I eject the ERD Commander 2002 CD-ROM? ERD Commander 2002 applications are individually loaded into memory when executed.
ERD Commander 2002 25 Technical Support ♦ For access to the latest updates on ERD Commander 2002, or to search the Winternals Knowledge Base, please visit our support website at: http://www.winternals.com/support ♦ If you encounter a problem while using ERD Commander 2002 that requires technical support, please e-mail us at: support@winternals.
