MODIFYING THE REGISTRY

4-25Lesson 3 Troubleshooting Problems Using Startup and Recovery Tools

Lesson 3: Troubleshooting Problems Using Startup and

Recovery Tools

In this lesson, you learn about the tools and options Windows XP Professional pro-

vides to help you troubleshoot problems with starting your computer and recovering

from disasters. These tools include safe mode, the Last Known Good configuration,

and the Recovery Console (which are all covered in this lesson), and the Automated

System Restore Wizard (which is covered in Chapter 20, “Backing Up and Restoring

Data”).

After this lesson, you will be able to■

Troubleshoot startup using safe mode.

■

Troubleshoot startup using the Last Known Good configuration.

■

Describe additional advanced boot options.

■

Perform troubleshooting and recovery tasks using the Windows XP Professional Recov-

ery Console.

Estimated lesson time: 40 minutes

Guidelines for Troubleshooting Startup Using Safe Mode

If your computer does not start normally, you might be able to start it by using safe

mode. Pressing F8 during the operating system selection phase of startup (just after the

POST screen disappears) displays a screen with advanced options for booting Win-

dows XP Professional. If you select safe mode, Windows XP Professional starts with

limited device drivers and system services. These basic device drivers and system ser-

vices include the mouse, standard VGA monitor, keyboard, mass storage, default sys-

tem services, and no network connections. Safe mode also ignores programs that

automatically start up, user profiles, programs listed in the Registry to automatically

run, and all local group policies.

Safe mode provides access to Windows XP Professional configuration files, so you can

make configuration changes. You can disable or delete a system service, a device

driver, or an application that automatically starts that prevents the computer from start-

ing normally.

If you choose to start your computer in safe mode, the background will be black and

“Safe Mode” appears in all four corners of the screen (see Figure 4-4). If your computer

does not start using safe mode, you can try Windows XP Professional Automatic Sys-

tem Recovery.

F04us04

Figure 4-4

Use safe mode to troubleshoot drivers and services that prevent Windows from starting

normally.

Safe Mode with Networking

One variation of safe mode is safe mode with networking, which is identical to safe

mode except that it adds the drivers and services necessary to enable networking to

function when you restart your computer. Safe mode with networking allows Group

Policy to be implemented, including settings that are implemented by the server during

the logon process and those configured on the local computer.

Safe Mode with Command Prompt

A second variation of safe mode is safe mode with command prompt, which is similar

to safe mode, but it loads the command interpreter as the user shell instead of the

graphical interface, so when the computer restarts, it displays a command prompt.

See Also After starting a computer in safe mode, you can use the tools built into Windows

XP Professional to troubleshoot any problems you are having. Coverage of specific trouble-

shooting tools appears throughout this book. You can learn more about troubleshooting hard-

ware devices and drivers in Chapter 6, “Installing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Hardware

Devices and Drivers.” You can learn more about using the Windows Event Viewer to view

important event logs in Chapter 18, “Using Windows XP Tools.”