The Recovery Console provides command-line access to the system. The console is started by booting to the original Windows CD or using the set of 4 setup diskettes. The setup diskettes can be made using MAKEBOOT or MAKEBT32 in the BOOTDISK folder of the CD.
A Recovery Console option can be provided at startup by running the installation command from the CD.
i386\WINNT32 /cmdcons
By default Recovery Console only provides the following access to files.
Four environment variables are available to control these restrictions by setting the variable to TRUE or FALSE. For example, use the command
Local security settings can be set to eliminate the logon requirement and to eliminate file access restrictions.
The following commands are available when you use Recovery Console. Most are familiar DOS commands.
The Recovery Console is protected by requiring the password for the local Administrator user account. The local Administrator account is stored in the SAM database rather than the Active Directory. For workstations and member servers, the Administrator password can be changed with the Computer Management Console. On domain controllers, the Local User and Groups are not accessible. If the local Administrator password is forgotten, it can only be reset by
A Recovery Console option can be provided at startup by running the installation command from the CD.
i386\WINNT32 /cmdcons
By default Recovery Console only provides the following access to files.
| Files | Permissions |
| %SystemRoot% and subfolders | Full access to make repairs |
| Cmdcons folder | Full access to make repairs |
| Root folder | Full access to make repairs |
| Removable media | Read-only - prevents sensitive data from being copied |
- SET AllowAllPaths = TRUE
| Variable | Description |
| AllowAllPaths | Allows access to all folders |
| AllowRemovableMedia | Allows copy of files to removable media |
| AllowWildCards | Allows wildcards in commands such as del *.* |
| NoCopyPrompt | Allows files to be copied without prompting before overwriting |
The following commands are available when you use Recovery Console. Most are familiar DOS commands.
| attrib delete fixmbr more batch dir rd cd | disable help ren chdir diskpart listsvc rename format | chkdsk enable logon rmdir cls exit map systemroot | copy expand md type del fixboot mkdir set |
The Recovery Console is protected by requiring the password for the local Administrator user account. The local Administrator account is stored in the SAM database rather than the Active Directory. For workstations and member servers, the Administrator password can be changed with the Computer Management Console. On domain controllers, the Local User and Groups are not accessible. If the local Administrator password is forgotten, it can only be reset by- Restoring the Registry from a backup, or
- Demoting the server and then in the promotion process the Administrator password can be set.