Winternals ERD COMMANDER 2000 User Manual
ERD Commander 2000
User’s Guide
Winternals Software LP
3101 Bee Caves Road, Suite 150
Austin, Texas 78746
(512) 330-9130
(512) 330-9131 Fax
www.winternals.com
Copyright © 2002 Winternals Software LP
ERD Commander 2000
Table of Contents
1 Introduction................................................................................... 1
2 Overview of Use............................................................................2
3 ERD Commander 2000 Setup...................................................... 4
3.1 Requirements ................................................................................4
3.2 Setup Ov e rview..............................................................................5
3.3 Installation Media...........................................................................5
3.4 Installation Files.............................................................................7
3.5 FAT32 Support ..............................................................................8
3.6 Service Pack Upgrade...................................................................9
3.7 OEM Drivers................................................................................10
3.8 Password Protection....................................................................11
3.9 File Installation.............................................................................12
4 Starting ERD Commander 2000.................................................16
4.1 Booting Up...................................................................................16
4.2 Sample Screen............................................................................16
5 The Command-line Environment .............................................. 17
5.1 Overview......................................................................................17
5.2 Command-line Editing..................................................................18
6 The Command Set...................................................................... 19
6.1 ACCESS......................................................................................22
6.2 ATTRIB........................................................................................23
6.3 BATCH........................................................................................23
6.4 CD/CHDIR...................................................................................24
6.5 CHKDSK ......................................................................................24
6.6 CLS..............................................................................................24
6.7 COMPRESS................................................................................25
6.8 COPY..........................................................................................26
6.9 DEL/ERASE.................................................................................27
6.10 DEVICE .......................................................................................28
6.11 DIR ..............................................................................................29
6.12 EDIT............................................................................................. 30
6.13 EXIT/QUIT...................................................................................30
6.14 EXPAND......................................................................................31
6.15 FTDISK........................................................................................31
6.16 HELP...........................................................................................31
6.17 KEYBOARD.................................................................................32
6.18 LOGFILE......................................................................................32
6.19 MAP.............................................................................................33
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6.20 MKDIR/MD...................................................................................34
6.21 MORE..........................................................................................34
6.22 MOVE..........................................................................................34
6.23 PASSWORD................................................................................35
6.24 REG/REGEDIT............................................................................36
6.25 REGISTRY/REGLOAD................................................................37
6.26 RENAME/REN.............................................................................37
6.27 RESTORE....................................................................................38
6.28 RMDIR/RD...................................................................................39
6.29 SERVICE.....................................................................................39
6.30 TYPE...........................................................................................40
6.31 VERSION/VER ............................................................................40
6.32 XCOPY........................................................................................41
7 Troubleshooting......................................................................... 42
8 Technical Support...................................................................... 43
Appendix: Creating a Golden Hawk Bootable CD-ROM................ 44
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1 Introduction
When problems arise in Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 that render a system
unbootable, there is always the possibility of booting off of a DOS f loppy disk
so that the drives of the machine can be accessed for repair and salvage.
This boot-floppy approach to system recovery is often the only way to correct
problems that even "automatic" system repair utilities fail to correct.
Previously, Windows NT/2000 administrators went without this recovery
option. Now, ERD Commander 2000 brings boot functionality to unbootable
Windows NT and Windows 2000 systems.
ERD Commander 2000 enables you to boot Windows NT/2000 not only fr om
a set of floppy disks, but also from a CD-ROM or from the system’s hard disk
ERD Commander 2000
in order to access and repair a damaged or dead NT/2000 installation. It is a
command-line shell that provides you with full access to non-bootable
systems with a set of familiar command-line file manipulation tools. Any
Windows NT/2000 system is accessible with ERD Commander 2000, and all
file systems – including FAT, NTFS, and CDFS – are visible. Note that ERD
Commander 2000 does not rely on data located on a system’s hard disk for it
to boot and run – Windows NT/2000 can actually be booted from floppies or
CD-ROM. The operating system does not even have to be present on the
computer in order to use ERD Commander 2000 to access the machine's
drives.
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2 Overview of Use
ERD Commander 2000 can be used as a tool in solving problems such as:
Enabling and Disabling Services and Drivers
You can list and modify the start types of a system’s drivers and services wit h
ERD Commander 2000. This makes it easy to disable a driver or ser vice that,
because of a bug or misconfiguration, is preventing a system from booting.
Editing Registry Keys
A number of Windows NT/2000 boot problems are the result of misconfigured
Registry values. ERD Commander 2000 will let you search and edit the entire
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM registry tree.
ERD Commander 2000
Updating Out-of-Date System Files
Incorrectly applying service packs or system software updates can cause
system DLLs to become out of sync with each other. In many cases this can
prevent Windows NT/2000 from booting successfully. ERD Commander 2000
can copy up-to-date versions of old files from floppy disks or CD-ROMs onto
a system.
Correcting Misconfigured NTFS Security
If security attributes that are too restrictive are applied to certain system files
or directories on NTFS boot drives, Windows NT/2000 will become
unbootable. ERD Commander 2000 includes a special comm and, ACCESS,
which unlocks otherwise inaccessible files or directories so that Windows
NT/2000 can access them.
Updating Locked Files
Once Windows NT/2000 is up-and-running many system files cannot be
replaced because the system keeps them locked. ERD Commander 2000
makes it possible to update such files because it runs when Windows
NT/2000 is off-line and the files are not open.
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ERD Commander 2000
Regaining Access to a System That You’ve Been Locked Out Of
ERD Commander 2000 allows you to list the accounts for a Windows
NT/2000 system and to change their passwords, including Administrator
accounts.
Copying Important Files off of a Dead System
Compress and copy important files into CAB files for transfer to another
system by floppy disk or other removable media using ERD Commander
2000.
Extracting Compressed Files
ERD Commander 2000 makes it possible to extract compressed files on a
Windows NT/2000 distribution CD to a hard drive from within the ERD
Commander 2000 program.
Running CHKDSK on Corrupt Drives
Consistency-check and repair hard drives using the CHKDSK command
under ERD Commander 2000.
Supporting FAT32 Drives
ERD Commander 2000 includes built-in support for FAT32 drives, allowing
access to data on Windows 98 disks in a dual-boot system.
Note that ERD Commander 2000 is not intended to resolve disk corruption
errors other than those correctable with CHKDSK. Only drives that are
consistent enough to be recognized by Windows NT/2000 file systems will be
accessible with ERD Commander 2000.
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3 ERD Commander 2000 Setup
3.1 Requirements
ERD Commander 2000 can be configured to boot from a set of floppy disks,
from a CD-ROM (which you burn yourself), or from the system’s hard disk.
All three types of ERD Commander 2000 installations require the Microsoft
©
Windows NT
Windows NT/2000 system with a diskette drive and approximately 1MB of
hard disk space are also required. Additionally, you must have local
administrator access to the machine on which you are installing ERD
Commander 2000.
4.0/2000 installation CD-ROM (Server or Workstation). A
ERD Commander 2000
If you choose to create a set of boot diskettes, you will need four blank
formatted 1.44MB floppy diskettes if you are creating an installation for
Windows NT 4.0. If you are creating an installation for Windows 2000, you
will need five blank formatted 1.44MB floppy diskettes.
If you choose to create a bootable CD-ROM you will need a CD-Writer and
appropriate CD-ROM burning software. The software must support the
creation of bootable CD-ROMs that use a Custom boot record. (One choice is
Golden Hawk's CRDWIN: www.goldenhawk.com).
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ERD Commander 2000
3.2 Setup Overview
You build an ERD Commander 2000 installation by running the ERD
Commander 2000 Setup Wizard, which guides you through the setup
process. (See Figure 3-1)
Figure 3-1
3.3 Installation Media
The ERD Commander 2000 Setup Wizard will prompt you for your preferred
installation method.
If you elect to boot from floppy disks you will require four blank diskettes if
you are creating an installation for Windows NT 4.0, and five blank diskettes if
you are creating an installation for Windows 2000.
You can also elect to create a bootable CD-ROM. In order to use this option
you must have a CD-Writer and appropriate CD-ROM burning software. The
software must support the creation of bootable CD-ROMs that use a Custom
boot record. (One choice is Golden Hawk's CRDWIN:
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ERD Commander 2000
www.goldenhawk.com). Creating a bootable CD- ROM will allow you to boot
ERD Commander 2000 more quickly than when booting from floppy disks. It
is also a convenient means of creating a disaster recovery CD-ROM on which
you can place system images or other files that you might want to use to
recover or restore a system.
Finally, you can install ERD Commander 2000 directly on the hard disk of a
system. When installed on the hard disk, you will have the option to run ERD
Commander 2000 each time your system boots (an entry for it is added to
your BOOT.INI file). (See Figure 3-2)
Figure 3-2
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ERD Commander 2000
3.4 Installation Files
ERD Commander 2000 requires files that ar e shipped as par t of the Windows
NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM. You must provide the path t o
the \I386 directory of the installation CD-RO M, or a direct ory containing these
files. (See Figure 3-3)
If you intend to use ERD Commander 2000 to repair systems running
Windows NT 4.0 you should use a Windows NT 4.0 installation CD-ROM. If
you intend to use ERD Commander 2000 to repair systems running W indows
2000 you should use a Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM. However, you
can also use a Windows NT 4.0 installation to access Windows 2000 systems
if you update the installation to use Service Pack 4 or higher.
Figure 3-3
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ERD Commander 2000
3.5 FAT32 Support
If you are creating a Windows NT 4.0 installation and installing onto floppy
diskettes, you have the option of including support for accessing FAT32
volumes. FAT32 volumes are used by Windows 95/98 and Windows 2000,
but are not normally accessible from Windows NT 4.0. (See Figure 3-4)
If you are creating a CD-ROM or hard disk installation then support for FAT32
is always enabled automatically.
When you are installing onto a set of floppy disks the additional driver
required for FAT32 support will require you to ins ert two of the boot diskett es
an extra time, prolonging the boot process.
Figure 3-4
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ERD Commander 2000
3.6 Service Pack Upgrade
Using Service Pack 4 or higher will enable ERD Comm ander 2000 to access
IDE drives that are 8GB and larger (see Q197667). Service Pack 4 also
includes an updated NTFS driver that allows ERD Commander 2000 to
access NTFS volumes on Windows 2000 systems.
If you have the Service Pack on CD-ROM you can simply browse to the I386
directory of the CD-ROM. If you downloaded the Service Pack and have i t in
compressed format, select the “Extract Service Pack to Folder…” button and
the service pack files will be extracted for you. Then select the folder to which
you extracted the files. (See Figure 3-5.) If you are performing a Windows
2000 installation you will not see this screen.
Figure 3-5
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ERD Commander 2000
3.7 OEM Drivers
If you work with systems that use SCSI adapters that Windows NT/2000 does
not natively support (i.e., hardware that requires additional drivers to be
added for Windows NT/2000 to use it) then you can add those OEM drivers
to ERD Com mander 2000 .To add an OEM driver, simply enter the path the
driver (the driver file should end in. SYS) or browse to it, and press the Add
button. (See Figure 3-6)
If you are installing ERD Commander 2000 onto floppy disks then adding
additional drivers may cause ERD Commander 2000 to request you to insert
the floppy disks additional times during the boot process.
Figure 3-6
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ERD Commander 2000
3.8 Password Protection
Because ERD Commander 2000 gives its user so much power in accessing
systems, you have the option of requiring a password before ERD
Commander 2000 will run. Using a password is especially important when
you have ERD Commander 2000 installed on your hard disk, since otherwise
anyone will be able to access files on your system. (See Figure 3-7)
When an ERD Com mander 2000 installation requires a password, the user is
given five attempts to enter it correctly. After the 5th failed attempt the system
will reboot.
Figure 3-7
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ERD Commander 2000
3.9 File Installation
The final phase of installation is copying the ERD Com mander 2000 files to
the installation point: floppy disk, CD-ROM image directory, or hard disk.
3.9.1 Floppy Disk Installation
If you are creating a floppy disk installation you will be prompted for each
floppy disk in turn. Four blank diskettes ar e required if you are creating an
installation for Windows NT 4.0, and five blank disk ettes are required if you
are creating an installation for Windows 2000. Label the disks ERD
Commander 2000 Disk #1, #2, etc. When the diskettes have been created
you can boot a system from them by inserting diskette #1 int o t he floppy drive
and resetting the system. (See Figure 3-8)
Figure 3-8
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