Removing the RC
Removing the RC is a multistep procedure. In brief, you need to delete the CMDLDR hidden file at the root of the boot drive, the \cmdcons hidden directory and its contents, and the text line in the boot.ini file that starts the utility.
Because CMDLDR and the \cmdcons directory are Hidden, System files, you must first enable the display of these files in Windows Explorer. On Windows Explorer's Tools menu, click Folder Options and select the View tab. Select the Show hidden files and folders check box, clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, and click OK. Locate and delete the \cmdcons directory and the CMDLDR file.
Eliminating the RC command line in the boot.ini file is slightly more complicated because boot.ini is a read-only file, in addition to being a Hidden, System file. In Windows Explorer, right-click the file, select Properties, and clear the file attributes. Clearing the Read-only check box lets you modify the boot file and save the file with the same name. Alternatively, you can reset the attributes by typing
Attrib -h -s -r boot.ini
at a command prompt.
The boot.ini file is crucial to the startup sequence, so before modifying it, you should always make a copy of the file by typing
C:\copy boot.ini boot.ini.bak
Then, open boot.ini.bak in a text editor (e.g., Notepad, WordPad), delete the line that contains the Windows 2000 Recovery Console text, and save the file with its original boot.ini filename.
Now, all traces of the RC are gone, and you're ready to restart the system. For security reasons, I recommend that you use the Attrib +h +s +r boot.ini command to reset the Hidden, System, and Read-only attributes on boot.ini after the system is up and running. If you're working on an end-user system, you might then want to reset Windows Explorer's View options to their previous settings.
Common RC Repairs
The RC understands the console commands that you see in Table 1. Using these commands, you can copy, rename, or replace OS files and directories; enable or disable drivers and services; repair crucial boot files; scan hard disks for errors and optionally repair them; create or format hard disk partitions; and more. If you want to run scripts in the RC, you need to enable the RC's Set command. The Microsoft article "Description of the Windows 2000 Recovery Console" (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q229/7/16.asp) documents each command's functionality and syntax. For more information about RC commands, see Kathy Ivens, "The Recovery Console," page 99, and John D. Ruley, Windows 2000 Pro, "Key Recovery Console Commands," July 2000. For further insight about how and why you might use the RC to recover from system failures, see Sean Daily, "Mastering the Recovery Console," July 2000.
When you're working with the RC, you need to be aware of several important restrictions. You can access only the system disk, the \%systemroot% directory, the \cmdcons directory, and removable media, including 3.5" floppy disks and CD-ROMs. Although you can display other directories on the system disk, you'll get an Access denied message if you try to change a file or directory other than the system root. Also, you can't use the RC to create new files or copy files from the system disk to removable media. (However, you can copy files from a floppy disk or CD-ROM to the hard disk.) Before you start a repair operation, keep these restrictions in mind and make sure you have all the information and replacement drivers you need.
Armed and Dangerous
If you need to fix minor boot-time problems, use the ERD. If your system starts but has application-specific problems, boot into Safe Mode. If you need to modify loaded OS components, boot the RC. Remember that in Win2K, PnP is active when you boot into Safe Mode and when you boot the RC; therefore, if you have problems with a device, you should disconnect the device before you start a repair utility. More important, keep in mind that any one of these utilities has the power to permanently disable or cripple your OS, so do your homework, prepare, and proceed with caution. Consider yourself armed and dangerous.