CHAPTER 10 Troubleshooting Windows This chapter covers the following A+ exam topics: . Repair Environments and Boot Errors . Windows Tools and Errors . Command-Line Tools You can find a master list of A+ exam topics in the “Introduction.” This chapter covers CompTIA A+ 220-701 objectives 2.1, 2.2, and 3.4 and CompTIA A+ 220-702 objectives 2.1, 2.3, and 2.4. Now for the toughest part of working with Windows: troubleshoot- ing. As I mentioned in Chapter 1, “Introduction to Troubleshooting,” troubleshooting is the most important skill for a computer technician to possess. There are many different things that can go wrong in a computer; the majority of them are software-related. This chapter endeavors to give you the tools, utilities, and skills necessary to trou- bleshoot the various boot errors, stop errors, and other Windows errors that you might encounter. Repair Environments and Boot Errors Windows startup errors prevent you from accessing the operating system. Because of this, Windows Vista and XP have various startup tools, menus, and repair environments that you can use to trou- bleshoot these startup and boot errors. Windows Repair Tools There are many tools included with Windows Vista and XP that are designed to help you troubleshoot and repair just about any issue that 266 CHAPTER 10: Troubleshooting Windows might come up. Before we get into the exact issues you might face, let’s dis- cuss some of these repair tools, what they do, and where you can access them. Let’s start with the Advanced Boot Options menu. Advanced Boot Options Menu If Windows Vista/XP/2000 won’t start and you don’t see an error message, the culprit might be a video driver, new configuration, or other system issues. There are several startup options that can aid in fixing the problem. To access these startup options, press the F8 key immediately after the computer starts up; this brings up the Windows Advanced Boot Options menu, as shown in Figure 10.1. FIGURE 10.1 Windows Vista Advanced Boot Options menu The following options are included in the Advanced Boot Options menu: . Safe Mode: Starts system with a minimal set of drivers; used in case one of the drivers fails. Safe Mode is a good option when attempting to use System Restore. Safe Mode with Networking: Starts system with a minimal set of driv- ers and enables network support. Safe Mode with Command Prompt: Starts system with a minimal set of drivers but loads command prompt instead of Windows GUI. 267 Repair Environments and Boot Errors . Enable Boot Logging: Creates a ntbtlog.txt file. Enable low-resolution video (640x480): Uses a standard VGA driver in place of a GPU-specific display driver, but uses all other drivers as normal. (This is called Enable VGA Mode in Windows XP/2000.) . Last Known Good Configuration: Starts the system with the last con- figuration known to work; useful for solving problems caused by newly installed hardware or software. Directory Services Restore Mode: This is used to restore a domain controller’s active directory (Windows Server). Even though it is listed, it is not used in Windows Vista/XP/2000. Debugging Mode: Enables the use of a debug program to examine the system kernel for troubleshooting. Disable automatic system on system failure (Vista only): Prevents Windows from automatically restarting, if an error causes Windows to fail. Choose this option only, if Windows is stuck in a loop in which Windows fails, attempts to restart, and fails again repeatedly. Disable driver signature enforcement (Vista only): Enables drivers containing improper signatures to be installed. Start Windows Normally: This can be used to boot to regular Windows. This option is listed in case a person inadvertently pressed F8, but did not want to use any of the Advanced Boot Options. ExamAlert Know the Advanced Boot Options for the exam. If Windows Vista fails to start properly, and then restarts automatically, it nor- mally displays the Windows Error Recovery screen and gives you the follow- ing options: Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Last Known Good Configuration, and Start Windows Normally. This means that Windows has acknowledged some sort of error or improper shut down and offers a truncated version of the Advanced Options Boot menu. 268 CHAPTER 10: Troubleshooting Windows Note There is a small window of time available to press F8; it’s right between the BIOS and when the normal operating system boots. Press F8 repeatedly right after the BIOS POST begins. Note It is recommended that you attempt to repair a computer with the Advanced Boot Options before using Windows Vista’s System Recovery Options or Windows XP/2000’s Recovery Console. Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) WinRE is a set of tools included in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and other upcoming Windows operating systems. It takes the place of the Recovery Console used in Windows XP/2000. Also known as System Recovery Options, WinRE’s purpose is to recover Windows from errors that prevent it from booting; it can also be instrumental in fixing issues causing a computer to “freeze” up. There are two possible ways to access WinRE: . Booting to the Windows Vista DVD: This option is more common with an individual computer that had Windows Vista installed; for exam- ple, if you performed a clean installation with the standard Windows Vista DVD and made no modifications to it. To start WinRE, make sure that the DVD drive is first in the boot order of the BIOS, boot to the Windows Vista DVD (as if you were starting the installation), choose your language settings and click next, and then select Repair Your Computer, which you can find at the lower-left corner of the screen. Note Important! Do not select Install Now because that would begin the process of rein- stalling Windows Vista on your hard drive. Booting to a special partition on the hard drive that has WinRE installed: This option is used by OEMs (original equipment manufac- turers) so that users can access WinRE without having to search for and boot off of a Windows Vista DVD. These OEMs (computer builders and system integrators) will preinstall WinRE into a special partition on 269 Repair Environments and Boot Errors the hard drive, separate from the operating system, so that the user can boot into it at any time. Compare this to the older Recovery Console that was installed into the same partition as the operating system. To access WinRE that has been preinstalled, press F8 to bring up the Advanced Boot Options menu, highlight Repair Your Computer, and press Enter. If you don’t see Repair Your Computer in the Advanced Boot Options menu, then it wasn’t installed to the hard drive, and you have to use option 1, booting from the Vista DVD. Note that you can still use option 1, even if WinRE was installed to the hard drive; for example, in a scenario where the hard drive installation of WinRE has failed. Note The process to install WinRE to the hard drive is a rather complicated one and is not covered on the A+ exam. However, if you are interested, here is a link that gives the basics of installing WinRE: http://blogs.msdn.com/winre/archive/2007/01/ 12/how-to-install-winre-on-the-hard-disk.aspx. Regardless of which option you selected, at this point a window named System Recovery Options should appear, prompting you to select an operat- ing system to repair. Most users will only have one listed. Highlight the appropriate operating system in need of repair and click Next. This displays the options at your disposal, as shown in Figure 10.2. Table 10.1 describes these options in more depth. FIGURE 10.2 Windows Vista System Recovery Options window 270 CHAPTER 10: Troubleshooting Windows TABLE 10.1 Description of the Windows Vista System Recovery Options System Recovery Option Description Startup Repair When clicked, this automatically fixes certain problems, such as missing or damaged system files that might prevent Windows from starting correctly. When you run Startup Repair, it scans your computer for the problem and then tries to fix it so your computer can start correctly. System Restore Restores the computer’s system files to an earli- er point in time. It’s a way to undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as email, documents, or photos. Note: If you use System Restore when the computer is in safe mode, you cannot undo the restore operation. However, you can run System Restore again and choose a different restore point, if one exists. Windows Complete PC Restore This restores the contents of a hard disk from a backup. Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore is only included with Vista Business and Vista Ultimate. Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool Scans the computer’s memory for errors. Command Prompt Advanced users can use the Command Prompt (Replaces the Recovery to perform recovery-related operations and also Console in XP/2000) run other command-line tools for diagnosing and troubleshooting problems. Puts the user into a directory called X:\Sources. Works very much like the previous Recovery Console in Windows XP/2000, with the addition of a few new com- mands. Recovery Console The Windows XP/2000 Recovery Console is the command-line interface used for repairs. It is included on the Windows XP and 2000 CD-ROMs. The Recovery Console can be invaluable when the system cannot start from the hard drive due to missing or corrupted files. These missing files could very well block the Advanced Boot Options menu.