Make system repairs from the Windows Recovery Environment

If you have a Windows Vista distribution DVD, you can get to the Windows Recovery Environment as follows:

Check system files while Windows is running

If you receive an error message indicating a damaged system file while you are running Windows, and you have an account with administrative privileges (or access to elevated credentials), try running the command-line utility Sfc:

Click the Start button , click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

 If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Respond to the User Account Control (UAC) prompt. In the Command Prompt window, type sfc /scannow.

The utility will scan your system files and attempt to repair any damage that it finds. It might prompt you for Windows Vista distribution media to carry out its repairs.

If Windows Vista was preinstalled on your computer, and you do not have a distribution DVD, your computer’s manufacturer has probably set up the Windows Recovery Environment on a hard disk recovery volume. In that case, restart your computer:

Click the Start button , click the arrow next to the Lock button , and then click Restart.

Do one of the following:

• If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you will need to try again; to do this, wait until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shut down and restart your computer.

• If your computer has more than one operating system, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system you want to repair, and then press and hold F8.

On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Repair your computer, and then press ENTER. (If Repair your computer is not listed as an option, then your computer does not include Startup Repair as a preinstalled recovery option.)

It’s also possible that your system is set up so that, in the event that Windows can’t start, the Windows Recovery Environment loads automatically. If neither of these is the case, and you’re having trouble finding your way to the Windows Recovery Environment, consult the documentation that came with your computer, or call your manufacturer’s technical support.

Startup Repair, the first recovery tool on the System Recovery Options menu, is designed to get you back up and running when Windows won’t start because of damage to (or deletion of) one or more essential system files. Generally speaking, if you’re not sure why Windows won’t start, you should begin your troubleshooting by running Startup Repair. (Under some circumstances, and depending on how your system has been set up, Startup Repair might run automatically when Windows fails to boot.)

Click Startup Repair. This recovery tool begins by displaying the following dialog box.

Begin troubleshooting by running Startup Repair

After a few moments, if all has gone well, you might see this message.

Startup Repair might prompt you to make choices as it tries to fix the problem

This is not a promise that your system has been fixed—but it is encouraging. If you respond by clicking Finish, the system will reboot. If all problems are solved, you’ll be heading straight back into Windows. If more repair is needed, Startup Repair will run again. If you want more information about what Startup Repair has done, click Click here for diagnostic and repair details. Something akin to the following dialog box will appear, and you can use the scroll bar to read the full report.

If more repairs are needed, Startup Repair will run again

If Startup Repair is unable to solve your problem, you’re likely to see the following message with a request that you consent to informing Microsoft.

If repairs are not successful, you'll see a summary of the problem and links to contact information for support

You might also see a message proposing an alternative troubleshooting approach—such as running System Restore.

If Startup Repair doesn’t solve your problem, or, if you know that your problem is not the result of a damaged system file (for example, if you’re reasonably certain that a bad device driver is the culprit), you can try returning your system to a more stable state by means of System Restore. For information about using System Restore in Windows, see Turn back time on your PC.

The one difference between running System Restore in Windows and running it in the Windows Recovery Environment is that, in the latter case, no new restore point is created at the time you perform the restore. Therefore, if you run System Restore from the Windows Recovery Environment, and you’re not pleased with the result, you won’t have any simple method of undoing the restore. On the other hand, the fact that you’re in Windows Recovery Environment to begin with suggests that you have nothing to lose.

Note

• Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore is not included with Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, or Windows Vista Home Premium.

If, prior to the current emergency, you have used the Windows Complete PC Backup program to create an image backup of your system disk, you can use the Windows Complete PC Restore command in the Windows Recovery Environment to restore that image. Restoring an image backup of a disk completely replaces the current contents of the disk. The restore program, in fact, will format the disk to which it is restoring before it begins the restore process—and it will require your acknowledgement and explicit consent before it begins. This might sound like a drastic step, but it can be a quick and effective way to get Windows running again in circumstances that Startup Repair is unable to address.

For more information about the Windows Complete PC Backup program, see Back up your programs, system settings, and files.

The important thing to recognize about using the Windows Complete PC Restore command is that it will replace the current contents of the disks that it is restoring with the exact contents as they existed at the time of your most recent Complete PC Backup. That means that your Windows system files and registry will be returned to health (provided the system was in good shape when you performed your most recent backup). Whatever programs were installed when you backed up will be restored entirely. All other files on the restored disk, including your documents, will also be returned to their prior states, and any changes made subsequent to your most recent backup will be lost.

Caution

• If you keep your documents on the same volume as your system files, performing a Complete PC Restore is likely to entail the loss of recent work.

Your recent work will not be lost if you have an up-to-date file backup, or if you have the good fortune to have made an image backup almost immediately before your current troubles began. The same is true if you save documents on a volume separate from your system files, but you have included that data volume in your Complete PC Backup. If you have documents that have not been backed up, you can avoid losing recent work by copying them to a disk that will not be affected by the restore process—a USB flash drive, for example, or some other form of removable media. You can use the Command Prompt option in the Windows Recovery Environment to copy these documents. (For information about using the Command Prompt option, see Working at the command prompt at the end of this article.) If you do have a recent file backup, you will be able to restore files after you have used Windows Complete PC Restore to get your system running again.

You can use Windows Complete PC Restore to restore image backups stored on any local hard drive or on a set of CDs or DVDs. If you are planning to restore from optical media, insert the last disc in the backup set before you click Windows Complete PC Restore. The program will then find your backup and propose to restore it. If you insert the first (or any other) in a set of CDs or DVDs, the program will not find it.

When you click Windows Complete PC Restore on the System Recovery Options menu, the restore program will search for a backup that it can restore. If it finds one, it will identify it by date and time, computer, and location—that is, the drive on which it found the backup. The restore program will then propose to restore that backup. If you have more than one backup available, and the program has not proposed the one you want to restore, select the Restore a different backup option, and then click Next. On the ensuing screen, you’ll see all available backups, and you can choose the one you want to use.

When you have selected the appropriate backup (or confirmed the program’s suggested backup), click Next to proceed. On the screen that follows, you will find a check box labeled Format and repartition disks. If you are restoring to the same hard drive from which you created the image backup, and if you have not changed the partition (volume) structure of that disk since the time you made your most recent backup, you do not need to select this check box. The restore program will format the drive whether you select the check box or not. But, if you leave the check box unselected, the program will not concern itself with the disk’s volume structure.

If, on the other hand, you are restoring an image backup to a new hard disk because the original disk crashed, you should select the Format and repartition disks check box.

When you are ready to go on, click Next again. This time, you will see the restore program equivalent of an informed consent statement. You don’t have to sign anything, but you do have to select the check box labeled I confirm that I want to erase all existing data and restore the backup. After you’ve done that, the OK button will become available.

If Startup Repair is unable to get your system running again, and if neither System Restore nor Windows Complete PC Restore has returned your computer to a condition of reliable health, consider the possibility that you have failing memory. To test this hypothesis, click Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool in the Startup Recovery Options menu. The Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool will ask whether you want to restart now and check for problems (the recommended option) or check instead on your next startup. Because you’re having trouble getting to that next startup, you presumably want the first option.

While the diagnostic program is running, you will see status messages on your screen. These will give you some idea of how much longer the tests have to run and whether or not errors have been found. You can press F1 at any time to get to an options screen. Here, you can choose between Basic, Standard, and Extended tests as well as select various other testing parameters. One of these parameters controls the number of test passes the tool will make. If you don’t mind letting the tests run a long time—for example, overnight—select a higher number than the default 2. When you have configured the tests to your satisfaction, press F10 to continue.

Your system will restart—if it can—when the testing is complete. The results will be displayed when you log on.

To get to the command prompt, click Command Prompt on the System Recovery Options menu. You will land in the Sources subdirectory (folder) of a RAM disk identified by the drive letter X. From here, you have access to nearly 100 command-line tools, including disk-management utilities such as Chkdsk, Format, and DiskPart as well as file-management items such as Copy, Rename, and Delete.

The Windows Recovery Environment command prompt is a vastly more versatile replacement for the Recovery Console that was introduced in Windows XP. Unlike Recovery Console, which imposed stringent restrictions on your command-line activities, the Windows Recovery Environment command prompt permits you to do just about anything you need to do. Among other things, you can copy, delete, rename, move, and type document files; partition and format hard disks (using DiskPart); run diagnostic utilities; and start and stop services (with Net Start and Net Stop).