Creating Boot Disks or an Emergency Repair Disk

Most of the time, you won’t bump into serious problems running any of the Windows versions
we have been discussing. However, someday you might find yourself in a situation where the
system won’t boot up anymore or where you are experiencing some other type of critical error.
It is extremely important to be prepared for these types of scenarios. One thing you can do
when the system is running smoothly is to create startup disks or emergency repair disks
(depending on your OS). (You might also find these disks referred to as boot disks.) These
disks typically enable you to at least boot the machine and access drives (and thus data) and
also to troubleshoot the problem. we’ll look at the different types of disks you
can create in Windows.

Boot Disks and ERD in Windows 2000
To prepare for a Windows 2000 emergency, you need four OS boot disks, as well as an Emergency
Repair Disk (ERD). To create the set of four boot disks, you need the Windows 2000
Operating System CD. To create an ERD, you need to use the Emergency Repair Disk utility
in the Windows Backup utility (see Figure 6.1). Let’s look at this process in more detail.
FIGURE 6 . 1 The Emergency Repair Disk utility in Windows 2000
To create the four Windows 2000 boot disks, insert the Windows 2000 Operating
System CD into the CD-ROM drive. On the CD, browse to the Bootdisk directory and run
MAKEBOOT.EXE. The program walks you through the process of creating the boot disks. Make
sure you have four blank floppy disks ready. Once you have created the boot disks, you need
to create an ERD.
Make sure you store these disks in a safe place. If you have an emergency, you can use the
boot disks to start the Windows 2000 Setup program. At some point, you’ll be asked if you
want to install or repair Windows 2000. Choose Repair. Windows 2000 Setup will continue
and at a later point ask you for the ERD.

Automated System Recovery in Windows XP
In Windows XP, things are different. Windows XP introduces Automated System Recovery
(ASR). As in Windows 2000, this feature is integrated into the Backup utility. It first creates
a backup of your system partition and then creates a recovery disk. Using these two components,
you can recover from a system crash and restore the system back to a functional state.
Exercise 6.2 demonstrates how to use ASR to restore the system in Windows XP.
Using ASR in Windows XP
To restore the system using ASR in Windows XP, follow these steps:
1. Click Start  All Programs  Accessories  System Tools  Backup. If Backup starts in
Wizard mode, deselect Always Start In Wizard Mode and click Cancel. Then start Backup
again. You’re taken directly to the Backup interface.
2. Click the Automated System Recovery Wizard button. In the Welcome dialog box, click Next.
3. You’re prompted for the Backup Destination. By default, this is A:\BACKUP.BKF. You need
to change this location, because a backup of your system partition won’t fit onto a floppy
disk. Use a drive other than the C: drive, because this drive will be formatted as part of
the recovery process. Click Next, and then click Finish.
4. The backup procedure starts. When it’s finished, you’re prompted to insert a floppy disk.
Do so and click OK.
5. When the disk-creation process has completed, click OK. Keep the ASR disk in a safe place.
To use ASR to recover from a system failure, run Setup from the Windows XP CD. During
the text portion of the Setup program, you’ll see a message to press F2; do so, and you’ll be
prompted to insert the ASR disk. The system then guides you through the rest of the process.
To obtain setup boot disks for Windows XP, you have to go to Microsoft’s download website
at www.microsoft.com/downloads and download them. These disks can be used to
install XP if you can’t boot from CD-ROM. You’ll need six floppy disks during the download;
they should be formatted and blank.