Winternals NTRECOVER User Manual

NTRecover

User’s Guide

Winternals Software LP

3101 Bee Caves Road, Suite 150

Austin, Texas 78746

[phone]

[phone] Fax

www.winternals.com

Copyright © 2002 Winternals Software LP

NTRecover

Table of Contents

1 Introduction................................................................................... 1

2 Overview of Use............................................................................2

3 Establishing Communications Parameters................................3

4 Creating a Client Boot Floppy.....................................................4

4.1 Using a MS-DOS Boot Floppy........................................................4

4.2 Creating a Native NTRecover Boot Floppy.....................................5

5 Establishing a Communications Link......................................... 6

6 Using NT Recover: Host .............................................................. 7

6.1 The Connection Dialog...................................................................7

6.2 The Statistics Dialog......................................................................8

7 Using NT Recover: Client .......................................................... 11

7.1 Starting the Client ........................................................................11

7.2 The Connection Screen ...............................................................12

7.3 The Statistics Screen...................................................................14

7.4 Connecting to Another Client.......................................................15

8 Troubleshooting......................................................................... 16

8.1 Frequently Asked Questions........................................................16

8.2 Checklist for Common Problems..................................................18

9 Technical Support...................................................................... 19

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NTRecover

1 Introduction

NTRecover is an advanced Windows NT/2000© dead-system recovery utility.
Windows NT/2000 machines that fail to boot because of data corruption,
improperly installed software or hardware, or faulty configuration, can be
accessed and recovered using standard administrative tools, such as
CHKDSK, with NTRecover.

NTRecover consists of host and client sof tware, where the host software is
run on a functioning Windows NT or W indows 2000 system, and the client
software is executed on a target dead system. T he host and client machines
must be connected with a standard null-modem serial cable.

The NTRecover host sof t ware creates virtual disk drives on the host m achine
that represent the drives present on the client computer. When native file
systems, such as NTFS and FAT, access the drives, the NTRecover device
driver manages communications over the serial cable to the client soft ware to
transfer disk data back and forth between the two machines. As far as
Windows NT/2000 on t he host machine is concerned, the drives created by
NTRecover are indistinguishable from the local drives present on the host,
and so they can be manipulated with Windows NT/2000 disk utilities,
including high-level tools like the W indows NT Explorer, and low-level tools
such as CHKDSK.

When used in conjunct ion with Locksmith, NTRecover allows you to bypass
the security system and replace lost or forg ot t en administrative passwords.

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2 Overview of Use

The following steps are requir ed for NTRecover operat ion. Each is described
in detail in subsequent chapters of t his guide:

♦= Connect the host and client machines with a null-modem serial cable
♦= Identify the serial ports that are connected
♦= Run the NTRecover host software, NTRecover, on the host computer
♦= Create a client boot floppy
♦= Boot the client machine from t he boot floppy and execute the client

software

♦= Enter the communications parameters int o the host and the client

software

♦= Press the mount button on the host
♦= Pull down the drives menu in the host software to see which host

drives correspond to client drives

♦= Access the drives as you would standard drives
♦= Dismount the client drives

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3 Establishing Communications Parameters

The first step in using NTRecover is determining which serial ports on the
host and client machines are to be connected via the null-modem serial
cable. This involves picking a free serial port connection on each computer,
and ascertaining whether it is serial port 1, 2, 3, or 4. Refer to your
computer’s hardware reference manual for help in this determination.

Once the serial ports have been chosen and connected, you must decide on
the serial communications speed that NTRecover will use over the cable.
Most recent computers and serial cables can sustain rates of 115200 baud,
which is the maximum supported rate for NTRecover. If the rate you choose
is too high, the NTRecover client will indicate a high number of retry
operations, or not register any communications activity from the host. In these
cases dismount the drives and reconnect at a lower rate.

After the communications parameters have been established and the two
computers in question have been connected with the cable, you are ready to
run NTRECOVER.EXE, the host front-end. Its connection window must be
filled in with the chosen communications settings, and, if desired, a drive
letter preference which NTRecover will tr y to use as t he first drive letter in its
mapping of client drives on the host.

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4 Creating a Client Boot Floppy

NTRecover client operation requires that you make a client boot disk for t he
client computer. This is accomplished through the NTRecover connection
dialog [figur e 4-1], which is the fir st window presented whenever NTRecover
is executed on the host machine.

Figure 4-1

4.1 Using a MS-DOS Boot Floppy

MS-DOS-based boot disks are required when the client machine’s disks are
not accessible via standard or extended interrupt 13 BIOS service, such as
when the drives are non-IDE compatible SCSI. Such drives require special
MS-DOS-based drivers, which must be added to a MS-DOS boot floppy that
will also contain the NTRecover client program.

For these systems, you must first create a MS-DOS system boot floppy from
stand-alone MS-DOS (any version), Windows 3.1, or Windows 95. (MS-DOS
boot floppies cannot be created fr om W indows NT.) To f ormat a system MS­DOS boot floppy, use the command “f ormat /s”. The boot floppy should then
be populated with the required disk drivers. NTRecover can be directed to
copy the client onto the floppy via the “Create Boot Floppy” dialog . [Figure 4­2].

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NTRecover

To execute the client from this set up, you must boot the client computer from
the MS-DOS disk, ensuring that the drivers are appropriately installed (via
entries in the disk’s CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files), and then invoke
the client with the command, “client”.

Note that in some cases the client computer’s BIOS may have floppy-boot
capability disabled, so you may have to configure the client’s BIOS to allow
for booting f r om the floppy drive.

Figure 4-2

4.2 Creating a Native NTRecover Boot Floppy

Native NTRecover boot floppies should be created in cases where no special
DOS drivers are needed to access client drives. Choosing the selection that
directs NTRecover to create a native boot floppy has it copy boot code and
the client software onto a floppy disk. The floppy must be pre-formatted, but
any data on it will be lost . When a client machine is booted off of a native
NTRecover floppy, the client is automatically executed.

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