Restoring NT4.0 Server using Boot Floppies :

To use the Emergency Repair Disk, run WINNT as though you planned to re-install. You come to the setup screen, where the installation program appears and prompts you to begin installation, begin a custom installation, leave Setup, or repair a damaged system. Press "R" to repair your system. You see some drive activity and then a message that prompts you to insert the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) into drive A:. Do so, and a message along the status bar at the bottom of the screen tells you that Setup is reading REPAIR.INF. When it has done that, it prompts you to insert setup disk #1 into drive A:. If you don't have the Setup program on floppies, you can create your own by executing WINNT without the /b parameter.

After you insert Disk #1, Setup asks if you want to do the following:

• Verify the windows NT Server System Files
• Verify the boot files on C:
• Inspect the configuration Registry files
  
  

By default, all of these options are checked. To deselect them, use the <UP ARROW> and <DOWN ARROW> keys to select an option, and then press Enter to select or deselect. When you've finished, select Continue (perform selected tasks). Then press Enter to detect your adapters. You are asked to insert Setup Disk #3 to load various device drivers. When that's done, you are prompted to insert the ERD. You see messages along the status bar at the bottom of the screen that tells you that Setup is checking and then examining drive C: (or whatever your system drive is). You see a screen saying that Setup has completed repairs. Press Enter to restart your computer.

What if you didn't create an ERD? (Shame on You !!!) NT version 4.0 creates a repair directory in the \SYSTEM32 directory; you can just refer the repair program to that directory, and it will get the same information it would get from the ERD. This is why I have not included a copy of mine. It would be hardware specific anyway (SCSI vs. EIDE etc.)

The repair disk contains a registry based on your initial setup (unless you have used the option noted below). There are no users save for the Administrator and Guest. None of the permissions that you've established are on the Repair Disk. This means that if you have not created an ERD since initial install, and you have added many users to your system, and try to use that ERD to restore, you will hose your users. You can, however, update your Repair Disk (or create a completely new disk) with a program called RDISK.EXE in the \SYSTEM32 directory. Just run it and follow the instructions. I always make a shortcut to this RDISK.EXE program and run it anytime the system changes.

It would not be a bad idea to backup the Disk Configuration either. Do this by going into Disk Administrator and from the partition menu, choose configuration and then save. I save mine to the same ERD.

Important things to remember, Registry files live in the \winnt\system32\config directory. Also that the putting the registry on the ERD may be MUCH larger than a single diskette. Remember that part of the registry is the SAM and the SAM may be megs and megs on a domain controller. That's where RDISK's second function becomes useful. It updates a directory called \WINNT\REPAIR that contains the same data that would go to the ERD - except it's on the hard disk, so there's more space. But there is just one problem with RDISK, so here it is:

RDISK.EXE does not update the SAM or SECURITY hives all by itself. To get RDISK to backup those files as well, use the undocumented /s option switch. Start up RDISK from the command line like "rdisk /s". RDISK will update the REPAIR directory as well as ask if you want to create an ERD.