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This takes care of two of the big three and leads us to the last issue, rebuilding BOOT. INI. If the BOOT.INI file is gone or corrupted, run this command from the recovery console:

bootcfg /rebuild

The Recovery console will then try to locate all installed copies of Windows and ask you if you want to add them to the new BOOT.INI file it’s about to create. Say yes to the ones you want.

If all goes well with the Recovery Console, do a thorough backup as soon as possible (just in case something else goes wrong). If the Recovery Console does not do the trick, the next step is to restore Windows XP.

Attempt to Restore

If you’ve been diligent about backing up, you can attempt to restore to an earlier, working copy of Windows. You have two basic choices, depending on your OS. In Windows 2000, you can try the ERD. Windows XP limits you to the ASR.

* * *

NOTE To use the Windows XP System Restore, you need to be able to get into Windows. “Restore” in the context used here means to give you an option to get into Windows.

If you elected to create an ERD in Windows 2000, you can attempt to restore your system with it. Boot your system to the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM and select repair installation, but in this case opt for the ERD. Follow the steps outlined earlier in the chapter and you might have some success.

ASR can restore your system to a previously installed state, but you should use it as a last resort. You lose everything on the system that was installed or added after you created the ASR disk. If that’s the best option, though, follow the steps outlined earlier in the chapter.

Rebuild

If faced with a full system rebuild, you have several options, depending on the particular system. You could simply reboot to the Windows CD-ROM and install right on top of the existing system, but that’s usually not the optimal solution. To avoid losing anything important, you’d be better off swapping the C: drive for a blank hard drive and installing a clean version of Windows.

Most OEM systems come with a misleadingly named Recover CD or recovery partition. The Recover CD is a CD-ROM that you boot to and run. The recovery partition is a hidden partition on the hard drive that you activate at boot by holding down a key combination specific to the manufacturer of that system. (See the motherboard manual or users’ guide for the key combination and other details.) Both “recover” options do the same thing—restore your computer to the factory-installed state. If you run one of these tools, you will wipe everything off your system—all personal files, folders, and programs will go away! Before running either tool, make sure all important files and folders are backed up on an optical disc or spare hard drive.

Failure to Load the GUI

Assuming that Windows gets past the boot part of the startup, it then begins to load the real Windows OS. You will see the Windows startup image on the screen, hiding everything until Windows loads the Desktop (Figure 17-55).

Several issues can cause Windows to hang during the GUI-loading phase, such as buggy device drivers or Registry problems. Even autoloading programs can cause the GUI to hang on load. The first step in troubleshooting these issues is to use one of the Advanced Startup options (covered later in the chapter) to try to get past the hang spot and into Windows.

Device Drivers

Device driver problems that stop Windows GUI from loading look pretty scary. Figure 17-56 shows the infamous Windows Stop error, better known as the Blue Screen of Death (BSoD). The BSoD only appears when something causes an error from which Windows cannot recover. The BSoD is not limited to device driver problems, but device drivers are one of the reasons you’ll see the BSoD.

Figure 17-55 GUI time!

Figure 17-56 BSoD

Whenever you get a BSoD, take a moment and read what it says. Windows BSoDs tell you the name of the file that caused the problem and usually suggests a recommended action. Once in a while these are helpful—but not often.

BSoD problems due to device drivers almost always