Winternals ERD COMMANDER 2005 User Manual
ERD Commander 2005
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 © 2005 Winternals Software LP
ERD Commander 2005
User’s Guide
Table of Contents
1 Welcome to ERD Commander 2005.............................................1
2 Introduction ...................................................................................3
2.1 Capabilities...................................................................................... 3
2.2 Sample Screen................................................................................ 8
2.3 System Requirements..................................................................... 9
3 The Boot CD-ROM Wizard ..........................................................12
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................... 12
3.2 Welcome ....................................................................................... 14
3.3 License Agreement ....................................................................... 15
3.4 License Information....................................................................... 16
3.5 Extracting Files.............................................................................. 17
3.6 Select Target Functionality............................................................ 18
3.7 Select Remote Recover Port......................................................... 19
3.8 Remote Recover Security ............................................................. 20
3.9 Selecting the Included Utilities ...................................................... 21
3.10 Adding the Debugging Tools for Windows .................................... 22
3.11 Password Protection ..................................................................... 23
3.12 Adding OEM Storage Controller Drivers ....................................... 24
3.13 Adding OEM Network Controller Drivers....................................... 25
3.14 Adding Files to the CD-ROM Image.............................................. 26
3.15 Image Location.............................................................................. 27
3.16 Burning the CD-ROM .................................................................... 28
4 Using ERD Commander 2005.....................................................29
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................... 29
4.2 Network Initialization ..................................................................... 32
4.3 Role Selection ............................................................................... 33
4.4 Logon ............................................................................................ 34
4.5 Windowing Shell............................................................................ 36
4.6 System Information ....................................................................... 37
4.7 Explorer......................................................................................... 38
4.8 File Search .................................................................................... 41
4.9 FileRestore™ ................................................................................ 42
4.10 Command Prompt ......................................................................... 44
4.11 Notepad......................................................................................... 59
4.12 Regedit.......................................................................................... 60
4.13 Service and Driver Manager ......................................................... 62
4.14 Event Log Viewer .......................................................................... 63
4.15 TCP/IP Configuration .................................................................... 64
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4.16 Disk Management ......................................................................... 65
4.17 Locksmith ...................................................................................... 66
4.18 File Sharing ................................................................................... 67
4.19 Map Network Drive........................................................................ 68
4.20 System Restore............................................................................. 69
4.21 System Compare .......................................................................... 70
4.22 Disk Commander .......................................................................... 71
4.23 System File Repair Wizard............................................................ 77
4.24 Crash Analyzer Wizard ................................................................. 78
4.25 Hotfix Uninstall Wizard .................................................................. 79
4.26 Mozilla Web Browser .................................................................... 80
4.27 DiskWipe ....................................................................................... 81
4.28 Autoruns........................................................................................ 82
4.29 Running External Commands ....................................................... 83
5 Troubleshooting..........................................................................84
5.1 Frequently Asked Questions ......................................................... 84
6 Contacting Winternals Software ................................................86
6.1 Sales ............................................................................................. 86
6.2 Technical Support ......................................................................... 87
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1 Welcome to ERD Commander 2005
When your Windows NT 4.0®, Windows 2000®, Windows XP®, or Windows
Server 2003® system becomes unbootable and you’ve exhausted the
recovery options available with the operating system, you can rely on ERD
Commander 2005 to provide full access to your dead system with a familiar
Windows-like environment. ERD Commander 2005 also provides a powerful
set of tools to help you quickly diagnose and repair the problem that is
preventing your system from booting or running properly.
Like the Windows Recovery Console provided with Microsoft Windows since
Windows 2000, and also like previous versions of ERD Commander, ERD
Commander 2005 makes any Windows NT/2000/XP/Server 2003 file system
accessible, including FAT, FAT32 and NTFS. Unlike those other utilities, ERD
Commander 2005 offers both a graphical windowing environment and a
command-line console.
ERD Commander 2005 includes numerous utilities such as a service and
driver manager, registry editor, Explorer-like file system browser, Notepad-
like text editor, Event Viewer, and local password changer so that you can
gain access to accounts from which you’ve been locked out. ERD
Commander 2005 also includes tools that allow you to roll back Windows
hotfixes or service packs, diagnose the driver responsible for a system crash,
find potential malware applications automatically launching with Windows,
and securely erase volumes or hard disks.
When you need to save files to another system on the network or to copy files
from another system as part of the repair process, ERD Commander 2005
gives you full access to network file shares. Additionally, when building an
ERD Commander 2005 CD, you may include the Remote Recover™ 3.0
client, for use with the Administrator's Pak Remote Recover tool.
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ERD Commander 2005 also includes the Mozilla Firefox 1.0 web browser -
allowing you to download patches, driver updates, or other updates to an
offline system - giving you a secure offline environment to download updates
in. You can browse for security bulletins and explore Microsoft support
newsgroups to find answers to system problems while troubleshooting the
system itself.
Repairing, debugging, and diagnosing problem systems has never been
easier or more intuitive than with ERD Commander 2005.
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2 Introduction
2.1 Capabilities
ERD Commander 2005’s built-in tools allow you to perform many different
types of system diagnosis and repair. A few of the ways that ERD
Commander 2005 helps you solve problems include:
Diagnosing Windows Crashes
The Crash Analyzer™ allows you to diagnose Windows crashes and pinpoint
the driver causing the failure. Once found, you can remove, replace, or
disable the problem driver to restore the system.
Finding Malware
By showing you the applications which are set to run automatically when
Windows starts or each user logs on, ERD Commander 2005 allows you to
more easily identify applications which may be using system resources and
possibly posing a security risk to your system.
Removing or Replacing Buggy Drivers and Services
You can use ERD Commander 2005 to delete or replace files for drivers or
services that, because of a bug or misconfiguration, prevent Windows from
booting.
Browsing for Solutions - on a Dead System
Even when the computer is not booting or running normally, you can use the
included Mozilla Firefox 1.0 web browser to find security or support
information, download updates, and read newsgroups to find answers to your
system problems.
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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, which may prevent
Windows from booting successfully. ERD Commander 2005 can copy up-to-
date versions of old files from USB flash drives or USB or 1394-attached hard
disks, floppy disks, or other computers on your network.
Verifying System Files
Using the DLLCache directory installed by default with Windows, ERD
Commander 2005 can be used to ensure critical operating system files have
not been tampered with or corrupted.
Correcting Misconfigured NTFS or Registry Security
If security attributes that are too restrictive are applied to certain system files
or directories on NTFS boot drives, or to some registry keys, Windows will
become unbootable. Using ERD Commander 2005’s Explorer and Regedit
you can reset permissions on files, directories and registry keys to regain
access.
Updating Locked Files
Once Windows is up and running many system files cannot be replaced
because the system keeps them locked. ERD Commander 2005 makes it
possible to update such files because it runs when Windows is not running
and the files are not locked open.
Correcting Registry Problems
A significant number of Windows boot problems are the result of
misconfigured Windows registry values. The ERD Commander 2005 Registry
Editor has all the capabilities and the same interface as the Windows
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Registry Editor, making it easy for you to inspect and change registry
settings.
Recovering Deleted Files
ERD Commander 2005 includes FileRestore™, a utility that you can use to
find and restore deleted files from any supported Windows file system format,
including FAT, FAT32, and NTFS.
Copying Important Files off of a Dead System
ERD Commander 2005 enables you to access files on a Windows system
that fails to boot. You can copy files to removable media such as USB flash
drives or USB or 1394-attached hard disks, floppy disks, Zip drives, or Jaz
drives, or use ERD Commander 2005 or Remote Recover 3.0's network
capabilities to copy them to another system on your network.
Regaining Access to a System That You've Been Locked Out Of
ERD Commander 2005 allows you to list the local user accounts for a
Windows installation and to change their passwords, including the local
Administrator account.
Viewing Event Logs
Many times the Event Logs of a system contain clues that can help you
diagnose a boot problem, so ERD Commander 2005 includes an Event Log
Viewer with the same interface as the Windows 2000/XP Event Log Viewer
MMC snap-in, allowing you to inspect logs for relevant records.
Running CHKDSK on Corrupt Drives
ERD Commander 2005 will let you check the consistency of hard drives.
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Enabling and Disabling Services and Drivers
You can list and modify the start types of a system's drivers and services with
ERD Commander 2005’s Service and Driver Manager utility. The utility
implements an interface similar to the Windows 2000/XP Services MMC
snap-in, which makes it easy to identify services and drivers and to disable
those that are preventing a system from booting.
Restoring Windows XP Restore Points
Windows XP’s Restore Point feature periodically creates snapshots of a
system’s state that includes system files and registry data. Overcoming a
deficiency of Windows XP’s Restore Point functionality, ERD Commander
2005 allows you to restore unbootable systems to a previous Restore Point.
Uninstalling Windows Hotfixes and Service Packs
Installing a Windows hotfix or service pack can occasionally leave you with
an unbootable system. Use this feature to roll back the file changes made by
the hotfix to get your system working again.
Comparing a Working System with a Dead System
ERD Commander 2005’s System Compare utility lets you compare service
and driver configuration and the system files of a dead system with that of a
live system or a Windows installation media at which you direct it. This
enables you to identify differences between working systems and one that
doesn’t boot or does not run normally in order to guide your repair process.
Partitioning and Formatting Disks
The Disk Management MMC snap-in that ERD Commander 2005 includes in
its Computer Management utility has many of the features of the Windows
2000/XP Disk Management MMC snap-in, allowing you to delete, format, and
create partitions and volumes. If you prefer a command-line environment you
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can use the corresponding command-line tool, DiskPart, to accomplish the
same tasks.
Scanning a Dead System for Viruses
With ERD Commander 2005 and Remote Recover 3.0 you can share the
drives of a system on the network so that you can access them from another
computer. This allows you to use tools installed on other systems to aid in the
repair or recovery process. For example, if you suspect a virus has attacked
a computer you can shut it down, boot into Remote Recover 3.0 or ERD
Commander 2005, mount or share its drives, and then run a virus scanner on
the drives from a different system. Using Remote Recover 3.0 allows you to
run utilities on remote drives as easily as a local drive.
Securely Deleting Data
The DiskWipe utility allows you to sanitize volumes and drives via secure
data deletion.
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2.2 Sample Screen
This screenshot demonstrates a typical session using ERD Commander 2005
to access the Registry and service configuration of an offline system.
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2.3 System Requirements
ERD Commander 2005 requires that the target system have a bootable CD-
ROM drive, and one of the following operating systems:
• Windows NT 4 Service Pack 6a
• Windows 2000
• Windows XP (x86 versions)
• Windows Server 2003 (x86 versions)
Note that while many components of ERD Commander 2005 do work
properly with 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
running on a Extended 64-bit (x64, often referred to as AMD64) system, there
are several which are known to not work correctly, including (but not limited
to) the Crash Analyzer, Hotfix Uninstall, System Restore, System File Repair
utilities.
Also note that ERD Commander 2005 also gives you access to the drives of
Windows 95®, Windows 98®, and Windows Me® systems, although most of
the included utilities, such as the password changer, Registry Editor and
Event Log viewer do not function when accessing installations of those
operating system versions.
Regardless of the operating system it is working with, ERD Commander 2005
requires a minimum of 64MB (128MB recommended) of system RAM and an
Intel Pentium (or compatible) 166 MHz or faster processor, as well as a CD-
ROM drive and a computer with BIOS support from booting from that CD-
ROM drive.
The ERD Commander 2005 Boot-CD Creation Wizard runs on x86 versions
of Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. It is not
supported for use on earlier versions of Windows, or 64-bit versions of
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Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 running on Intel Itanium or 64-bit
Extended systems.
The use of the Internet Browser and the Crash Analyzer Wizard require a
writable volume formatted with NTFS or FAT. The use of DiskWipe requires
at least one working hard disk or floppy diskette.
ERD Commander 2005 provides more diagnostic and repair functionality than
any other version of ERD Commander before. Most of the utilities provided
are compatible with several versions of Windows. The table below lists the
utilities provided in ERD Commander 2005 and which versions of Windows
you can expect to work with each. You should never attempt to use ERD
Commander 2005 with versions of Windows NT earlier than Windows NT 4.0
Service Pack 6.
Windows
Server 2003*
Autoruns Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Chkdsk Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible
Console Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Crash Analyzer Wizard Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Disk Commander Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Disk Management Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
DiskWipe Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible
EventLog Viewer Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Explorer Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible
FileRestore Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
File Search Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
File Sharing Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible
Hotfix Uninstall Wizard Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible Not Compatible
Internet Browser Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible
Windows XP* Windows
2000
Windows
NT 4 SP6
Windows ME
or earlier
Locksmith Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Logon Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Map Network Drive Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible
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Regedit Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Service and Driver Manager Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
Solution Wizard See individual tool
System Compare Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
System File Repair Wizard Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible Not Compatible
System Information Compatible Compatible Compatible Compatible Not Compatible
System Restore Not Compatible Compatible Not Compatible Not Compatible Not Compatible
* x86 versions only
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3 The Boot CD-ROM Wizard
3.1 Introduction
There are two delivery methods for ERD Commander 2005: as a Boot-CD
Creation Wizard and as a bootable CD-ROM on physical media. The Boot-
CD Creation Wizard is what is received when you download ERD
Commander 2005 after an online purchase; the version of ERD Commander
2005 that ships as physical media is a bootable image that also includes an
installer for the Boot-CD Creation Wizard.
The Boot-CD Creation Wizard is used to create a bootable CD ISO image,
which is a file that represents the raw contents of a CD, ready to be written to
recordable CD media. When the wizard has created your ISO image, if it
detects that a supported CD recordable drive exists on your system, it will
offer to burn the ISO image to blank CD recordable media. If your system
does not contain a drive supported by the wizard, you can burn the ISO
image onto CD recordable media with most popular CD-ROM burning
software (note that you cannot use the CD burning software built in with
Windows XP for this task). You will need several items in addition to
successfully create a bootable CD-ROM from the ISO image the Boot-CD
Creation Wizard creates:
• CD recordable drive
• CD recordable media (as supported by your recordable drive)
• CD burning software that supports your recordable drive and supports
burning an ISO image directly to CD
Note that you can utilize whatever recordable media type (CD-R/+R/-
RW/+RW, etc.) that your recordable drive supports, but you should test the
resulting media on all systems you intend to support with it, as some systems
are not cable of booting from all types of CD recordable media. Depending on
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the tools you decide to include in it via the wizard, ERD Commander 2005
can range in size from 130 to 230 MB, so also insure that you are using
media large enough to contain the resulting ISO image (i.e. if you intend to
use CD recordable 3" media).
This section guides you through the Boot-CD Creation Wizard.
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3.2 Welcome
After you start the Boot-CD Creation Wizard you will be presented with a
welcome page briefly informing you of the functionality the wizard performs.
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3.3 License Agreement
Next you will be presented with a page containing the Licensing Agreement
containing the licensing terms for the resulting product created from the
wizard. You must select Yes, I accept the terms in the License Agreement
before you can click Next.
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3.4 License Information
Next you will be presented with a page that requests your licensing
information (or will contain your existing information if you already have a
licensed copy of the Administrator's Pak 5.0 installed). Online purchasers
receive the licensing information as an email attachment that can be imported
into the wizard. The Boot-CD Creation Wizard verifies the license information
and embeds it into the ISO image so that after you create a bootable CD from
the image and start ERD Commander 2005 the licensing information exists
when it starts.
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3.5 Extracting Files
The next page will begin the process of extracting the files from the wizard to
begin the process of creating the ISO image.
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3.6 Select Target Functionality
The next page will allow you to select the functionality of the final CD:
• Include only ERD Commander 2005 functionality.
• Include only Remote Recover 3.0 client functionality.
• Include both, and allow the user to decide which to use at run-time.
The option to include Remote Recover functionality is only included if
you are utilizing the Winternals Administrator's Pak, not for the
standalone ERD Commander 2005 Emergency Download version.
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3.7 Select Remote Recover Port
The next page will allow you to select the UDP port which Remote Recover
will use to connect to client systems. At this point you can also select to make
all connections to this client CD read-only. Note that this is not changeable at
run-time, and will limit the functionality Remote Recover is capable of
performing (operations such as anti-virus scan and repair, defragmentation,
and CHKDSK that require write capability will not work correctly).
This page is only shown if you selected to include Remote Recover
functionality.
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3.8 Remote Recover Security
The next page will allow you to select any constraints as to which Remote
Recover hosts can connect to this client. You can select:
• Any system on the network. This allows any system at all to connect to
any Remote Recover clients, without exception.
• Only this particular system. This allows only the system you are building
the ISO on to act as a host to these clients.
• Only systems providing this password. This allows any user on any
system on the network with this password to act as a host.
This page is only shown if you selected to include Remote Recover
functionality.
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3.9 Selecting the Included Utilities
On this page you can customize the set of components included on the ERD
Commander 2005 CD. Tools that you omit are not included on that instance
of the CD-ROM image.
This page is only shown if you selected to include ERD Commander
2005 functionality (always shown if you are using the ERD Commander
2005 Emergency Download version).
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3.10 Adding the Debugging Tools for Windows
This page allows you to either specify the location of a current copy of the
debugging tools for Windows (to be built into your ERD Commander 2005
CD). You can either specify the location of an existing installation of the
Debugging Tools for Windows or utilize a copy on the system where you are
diagnosing a crash. The tools must be installed on each system you are
diagnosing in that case. If you are including the Crash Analyzer it is
recommended that you include the Debugging Tools for Windows on the CD
as well, to avoid not having them available when needed for an emergency
diagnosis.
This page is only shown if you selected to include Crash Analyzer
functionality which is only available if you are utilizing the Winternals
Administrator's Pak, not for the standalone ERD Commander 2005
Emergency Download version.
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3.11 Password Protection
The next page allows you to password protect the ERD Commander 2005
CD-ROM that you create. This is useful if you wish to restrict use of the ERD
Commander 2005 boot CD-ROM to authorized individuals. This password
has no relationship to any password on systems ERD Commander 2005 is
being used on, and does not prevent users with their own copy of ERD
Commander 2005 from booting computers elsewhere on the network, just
systems using the discs created with this ISO image.
This page is only shown if you selected to include ERD Commander
2005 functionality (always shown if you are using the ERD Commander
2005 Emergency Download version).
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3.12 Adding OEM Storage Controller Drivers
If you work with systems that use SCSI adapters that Windows XP does not
natively support then you can add OEM drivers for them to ERD Commander
2005. To add an OEM driver, simply click the Add Device button and browse
to the driver's txtsetup.oem file. This file is provided by the storage vendor
with other additional driver files. Note that SCSI is not the only type of storage
driver you may need to add. Systems which support SCSI, Serial-ATA
(SATA), or IDE RAID are all examples of devices which often have drivers
not included in Windows - as a result you will need to add them for your ERD
Commander 2005 CD to be usable on all of your systems.
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