Maintaining and Troubleshooting Windows 7 : Using Windows RE (part 2) - Using the WinRE

2. Using the WinRE

Once you boot to the WinRE, it will search your system for Windows installations. You'll have three choices from here:

Use Recovery Tools That Can Help Fix Problems Starting Windows

You select an operating system from the list of choices, and you can select this option. It will then launch the System Recovery Options screen.

Restore Your Computer Using A System Image You Created Earlier

If you have a system image, you can choose this to restore the previous image.

Load Drivers

If your operating system isn't shown because additional drivers need to be loaded, you can select Load Drivers to load them.

The most common choice is to launch the WinRE by accepting the defaults (Use Recovery Tools with the Windows 7 installation) and click Next. This will launch the System Recovery Options screen, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. System Recovery Options in the WinRE

The following sections cover the details of these tools, including how to use them.

2.1. Startup Repair Tool

The Startup Repair tool can automatically resolve many startup problems. It can also be launched manually. It will inspect the system for a wide assortment of problems that can prevent Windows 7 from starting, and it can implement solutions for them with very little user interaction. This includes repairing or replacing system and configuration files, solving disk problems, and launching System Restore to return the system to a previous state.

If the system fails to start, Windows 7 will usually boot into this tool automatically. It provides a few prompts for the user and will then resolve the problems it locates. While it's not guaranteed to fix everything, it will fix many problems and should be your first choice in most situations.

2.2. System Restore

System Restore allows the system to be restored to a previous state. If you've used System Restore in Windows XP or Windows Vista, this will be familiar to you. System Restore does not affect any documents, pictures, or other user data. It affects only system files by applying a restore point created previously.

Restore points are automatically created on a regular basis as a part of Windows system protection. Windows creates a file that includes system files and settings. When a restore point is applied, all of the system files and settings included in the restore point are applied to return the system to its previous state.

Restore points are captured at the following times by default:

• When an application or update is installed or updated

• When a driver is installed or updated

• Automatically every seven days if not created from other installs or updates

• When manually created by the user by clicking Create on the System Protection tab of the System Properties page

Figure 4 shows the System Protection settings for a Windows 7 system. You can access this screen by clicking Start, right-clicking Computer, and selecting Properties. Select System Protection to access the System Protection tab of the System Properties page. If you click the Configure button, you can modify the Restore Settings.

Figure 4. System Recovery Options in the WinRE

Notice that Restore Settings has three choices:

Restore System Settings And Previous Versions Of Files

This must be enabled for restore points to be created. If any other settings are selected, restore points are not available. This requires a minimum of 300 MB of disk space.

Only Restore Previous Versions Of Files

This will allow previous versions of files to be restored. Previous versions of files are stored on a per-drive basis. By default, the drive where Windows is installed (normally C:) would be enabled, but previous versions for other drives is not available unless enabled on those drives.

Turn Off System Protection

Neither restore points nor previous versions of files are available. You can select this if you are running out of disk space, but it is not recommended. You'll lose the ability to restore your system to a previous restore point if this option is selected.

Before applying a restore point, it is possible to identify the programs that are affected. When you select the restore point, you can click the Scan Affected Programs link. This will help you identify specifically what programs or drivers might be deleted or the programs or drivers that might be restored to their previous state.

2.2.1. Performing a System Restore

2.2.2. Applying a Restore Point Online

You can also apply restore points when your system is up and operational. For example, if you installed an application, driver, or update that is causing problems, but you can boot into the system, you can apply a restore point without using the WinRE

2.2.3. Using Previous Versions

System Protection includes both restore points and previous versions of files. When Previous Versions is enabled (and it is by default), you can restore a modified file to a previous version of the file.

As an example, I often use a Microsoft Excel worksheet as a template to create invoices. When I need to create an invoice, I open the template and begin the invoice. I should rename this template and save it with a new invoice name, but occasionally I forget and overwrite the original template. With Previous Versions, I can restore the original template even if I don't have a backup of the file.

Figure 5 shows the Previous Versions tab selected. You can access this page by right-clicking the file in Windows Explorer and selecting Restore Previous Versions.

Figure 5. Accessing Previous Versions for a file

You can select the previous version of the file and then select one of the following choices:

Open

This will open the file so you can inspect it. You can then save it with a different name.

Copy

This will create a new file as a copy of the previous version.

Restore

This will overwrite any changes made to the file and restore the current file to the state of the previous version.

2.3. System Image Recovery

This should be used only as a last resort. It will perform a complete restore of the system hard disk from another image. You'll need an image of the system, and only the files available on that image will be available for this installation.

You should ensure you have a backup of any files before using this method. Although data files may be moved to the Windows.old folder, if any changes are made to the system partition during the reimaging, the Windows.old folder will no longer be available.

2.4. Windows Memory Diagnostic

The Windows Memory Diagnostic will check both your installed RAM and the processor cache memory. This test is the easiest and most effective way to check your memory.

2.5. Command Prompt

You can also access the command prompt from the WinRE. While you can access many of the normal command-prompt commands, you'll have access to some extra tools in the WinRE command prompt. The two extra tools that you might want to explore are these:

• Bootrec

• Bcdedit

Although these tools are available, I want to stress that the majority of the repair actions that you can do manually with them are done automatically using the Startup Repair process. Unless you want to slow down the process to identify exactly what happened, use the Startup Repair process as the first step.

These tools allow you to edit the boot configuration data (BCD) store. The BCD replaced the boot.ini file, which was used in Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows.

2.5.1. Using Bootrec

The Bootrec command can be used to repair critical disk structures such as boot records and partition information.

The Bootrec command has four switches you can use:

/FixMbr

The Bootrec /FixMbr command will write the master boot record of the system partition using a master boot record compatible with Windows 7. It does not overwrite the existing partition table. This can be useful if malware or a hardware problem corrupted the master boot record.

This command is similar to the Fixmbr command used in the Recovery Console.

/FixBoot

The Bootrec /FixBoot command will write a new boot sector onto the system partition using a boot sector that is compatible with Windows 7.

This command is similar to the Fixboot command used in the Recovery Console.

/ScanOS

The Bootrec /ScanOS command will scan all partitions on the computer and display any entries that are not currently in the boot configuration data store. You can then use the BCDEdit command to add the other entries.

/RebuildBCD

The Bootrec /RebuildBCD command will scan all partitions on the computer and allow you to choose which installation to add to the BCD store.

This command is similar to the bootcfg command used in the Recovery Console.

2.5.2. Using BCDedit

The BCDEdit command can be used to view and make low-level modifications to the boot configuration data store. The BCD is a store of data that you can think of as a mini-database. It's used when Windows starts up to identify the location of operating system files and, if multiple operating system files are on the system, which one to use by default. While it's possible to make changes to the BCD with BCDedit, you'll use the GUI tools like System Configuration to configure the store more often than you'll actually use BCDedit.

In Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows, the boot.ini file was used to specify different startup settings. The boot.ini has been completely replaced with the BCD store.

You can list (or enumerate) the contents of the BCD store using the bcdedit /enum command from the command prompt. You'll see something similar to the output in Listing 1.

Example 1. Viewing the boot configuration data

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier            {bootmgr}
device                partition=C:
description           Windows Boot Manager
locale                en-US
inherit               {globalsettings}
default               {current}
resumeobject          {a12c4258-897e-11de-9279-001372e62895}
displayorder          {current}
toolsdisplayorder     {memdiag}
timeout               30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier            {current}
device                partition=C:
path                  \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description           Windows 7
locale                en-US
inherit               {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence      {a12c425a-897e-11de-9279-001372e62895}
recoveryenabled       Yes

					  

osdevice              partition=C:
systemroot            \Windows
resumeobject          {a12c4258-897e-11de-9279-001372e62895}
nx                    OptIn