Recovery Console Starts Without Prompting for a Password

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Plumdre

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Hi, I have windows 2003 server RC2 that crashed which I am having a problem
resolving. When the computer boots up a get a black screen that says:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

I ran the recovery console and ran fixmbr and fixboot but that did not help
the issue. Being a novice to recovery console I did not think much of the
fact that it never prompted me for a password. I know now that it should and
this probably means I have a corrupted registry (? not sure). I found the
article that Microsoft says the lack of prompting is by design however I need
to recover this computer as it has lots of important things on it. I of
course know that administrators credentials but I am not sure how to proceed.

Do I install Server in a different location and use some special tool to fix
the registry???
Is there a tool I can use to help me with this. I am at a road block.

Thanks in advance for any help or indications on what to do.
 
Re: Recovery Console Starts Without Prompting for a Password

If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and
choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found
in
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then copy/ use the original-as-installed system hive from
%systemroot%\repair\system
to
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
original OS install.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2003
Setup installation media. At the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R
to repair a Windows 2003 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery
Console. The Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator
password. If you do not have the correct password, Recovery Console does
not allow access to the computer. If an incorrect password is entered three
times, the Recovery Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the
registry is corrupted or missing or no valid installations are found, the
Recovery Console starts in the root of the startup volume without requiring
a password. You cannot access any folders, but you can carry out commands
such as chkdsk, fixboot, and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the
password has been validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console,
but limited access to the hard disk. You can only access the following
folders on your computer: drive root, %systemroot% or %windir%



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Plumdre" wrote:
> Hi, I have windows 2003 server RC2 that crashed which I am having a
> problem
> resolving. When the computer boots up a get a black screen that says:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
> I ran the recovery console and ran fixmbr and fixboot but that did not
> help
> the issue. Being a novice to recovery console I did not think much of the
> fact that it never prompted me for a password. I know now that it should
> and
> this probably means I have a corrupted registry (? not sure). I found the
> article that Microsoft says the lack of prompting is by design however I
> need
> to recover this computer as it has lots of important things on it. I of
> course know that administrators credentials but I am not sure how to
> proceed.
>
> Do I install Server in a different location and use some special tool to
> fix
> the registry???
> Is there a tool I can use to help me with this. I am at a road block.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help or indications on what to do.
>
 
Re: Recovery Console Starts Without Prompting for a Password

Hi Dave,

If you read the title of my post you will notice that I do not even have the
ability to see anything beyond the root of the system drive because "Recovery
Console Starts Without Prompting for a Password" I am limited on what I can
do so I am not able to do anything you mentioned in your reply below. Thus I
am at an impasse. I have even tried the LOGON command in the recovery
console and it does not prompt me. Ever since i ran fixmbr and fix boot I am
now getting “a disk read error occurred” when I boot up so my only choice is
to load manually my mass storage device drivers (F6) using the setup disk and
run recovery console (R). Then I do not have access to anything below the
root.
I would love to try and replace the system hive like you mentioned but
cannot. This MS article speak of the issue but indicates no way to look to
correct it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/238836/en-us




"Dave Patrick" wrote:

> If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and
> choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found
> in
> %systemroot%\system32\config\system
> to system.old
> then copy/ use the original-as-installed system hive from
> %systemroot%\repair\system
> to
> %systemroot%\system32\config\system
> You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
> original OS install.
>
> To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2003
> Setup installation media. At the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R
> to repair a Windows 2003 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery
> Console. The Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator
> password. If you do not have the correct password, Recovery Console does
> not allow access to the computer. If an incorrect password is entered three
> times, the Recovery Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the
> registry is corrupted or missing or no valid installations are found, the
> Recovery Console starts in the root of the startup volume without requiring
> a password. You cannot access any folders, but you can carry out commands
> such as chkdsk, fixboot, and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the
> password has been validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console,
> but limited access to the hard disk. You can only access the following
> folders on your computer: drive root, %systemroot% or %windir%
>
>
>
> --
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
> Microsoft Certified Professional
> Microsoft MVP [Windows]
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
>
> "Plumdre" wrote:
> > Hi, I have windows 2003 server RC2 that crashed which I am having a
> > problem
> > resolving. When the computer boots up a get a black screen that says:
> >
> > Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> > corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
> >
> > I ran the recovery console and ran fixmbr and fixboot but that did not
> > help
> > the issue. Being a novice to recovery console I did not think much of the
> > fact that it never prompted me for a password. I know now that it should
> > and
> > this probably means I have a corrupted registry (? not sure). I found the
> > article that Microsoft says the lack of prompting is by design however I
> > need
> > to recover this computer as it has lots of important things on it. I of
> > course know that administrators credentials but I am not sure how to
> > proceed.
> >
> > Do I install Server in a different location and use some special tool to
> > fix
> > the registry???
> > Is there a tool I can use to help me with this. I am at a road block.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any help or indications on what to do.
> >
>
>
 
Re: Recovery Console Starts Without Prompting for a Password

Hello Plumdre,

See here about sytem hive replacement:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306038

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/269075

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

> Hi, I have windows 2003 server RC2 that crashed which I am having a
> problem resolving. When the computer boots up a get a black screen
> that says:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
> I ran the recovery console and ran fixmbr and fixboot but that did not
> help the issue. Being a novice to recovery console I did not think
> much of the fact that it never prompted me for a password. I know now
> that it should and this probably means I have a corrupted registry (?
> not sure). I found the article that Microsoft says the lack of
> prompting is by design however I need to recover this computer as it
> has lots of important things on it. I of course know that
> administrators credentials but I am not sure how to proceed.
>
> Do I install Server in a different location and use some special tool
> to fix
> the registry???
> Is there a tool I can use to help me with this. I am at a road block.
> Thanks in advance for any help or indications on what to do.
>
 
Re: Recovery Console Starts Without Prompting for a Password

You can start the recovery console and choose to 'Fast Repair' but this is
risky because you have no choice in what is going to happen. The hives will
be loaded one at a time and if unsuccessful then I believe original
installation copies from;

%systemroot%\repair\

will be used so the current files will be lost. This is what you want as
long as only system hive is replaced but again you would not have control of
this.



You can also replace hives from a parallel installation.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/266465


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Plumdre" wrote:
> Hi Dave,
>
> If you read the title of my post you will notice that I do not even have
> the
> ability to see anything beyond the root of the system drive because
> "Recovery
> Console Starts Without Prompting for a Password" I am limited on what I
> can
> do so I am not able to do anything you mentioned in your reply below.
> Thus I
> am at an impasse. I have even tried the LOGON command in the recovery
> console and it does not prompt me. Ever since i ran fixmbr and fix boot I
> am
> now getting “a disk read error occurred” when I boot up so my only choice
> is
> to load manually my mass storage device drivers (F6) using the setup disk
> and
> run recovery console (R). Then I do not have access to anything below the
> root.
> I would love to try and replace the system hive like you mentioned but
> cannot. This MS article speak of the issue but indicates no way to look
> to
> correct it.
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/238836/en-us
 
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