Emergency Recovery Disk (erd)

[Keri Gamrath]

AMicrosoft Windows Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) is a specially formatted diskette that creates backups of important system files and settings and is used to troubleshoot and repair problems in Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 systems. An ERD is used in conjunction with the Windows repair option. The Emergency Repair Disk provides only the ability to restore the system to a bootable state. It is not a replacement for system and file backups.[1] Note: The emergency repair disk is not to be confused with a standard boot diskette as it cannot be used alone.

Unlike the ERD in Windows NT 4.0, the Windows 2000 ERD does not store registry information. Rather, Windows creates a copy of registry files in the \Winnt\Repair\RegBack directory when the ERD is created.[2] The ERD is not bootable. The original Windows NT or Windows 2000 setup disks need to be used to boot the computer. From there, choosing the option to repair the system will prompt the user for the ERD.[3]

Microsoft Windows operating system (OS) installation disks (beginning with Windows 2000) include the Recovery Console, which allows the user to perform administrative operations on services, drives, and local data.[6]

Emergency recovery disk, also known as emergency repair disk (ERD), is a special disk which contains important system files and settings. A Windows emergency recovery disk can help users troubleshoot and fix problems with their PC, even if it won't boot.

Your computer may refuse to boot due to hard disk crash, system crash or software conflicts. In such scenarios, an emergency recovery disk can help you to restore the operating system to normal status. If your PC cannot boot, an emergency recovery disc will help you to boot it as well.

Windows users can use Windows built-in tool to create an emergency recovery CD/DVD or USB drive. It should be noted that you are only allowed to use CD/DVD as the media for system restore in Windows 7. If you don't have CD/DVD, you can use ISO image file to create an emergency recovery disk in Windows 7.

However, the emergency recovery disk made by Windows built-in tool may not boot other computers except the one that created it. Then, you can turn to a third party software to restore system from disc.

This useful software also provides system backup and system restore. You can use these practical features to protect your personal data. By the way, AOMEI Backupper is praised by lots of people because of its simple interface and easy steps.

Step 5. Now you can insert the WinPE emergency disk to the computer where Windows refuses to boot. Press certain key (refer to the PC's manual or website) to enter into BIOS, choose the bootable CD and click Enter.

An emergency repair disk (ERD) contains compressed versions of registry hive, default user profile, setup.log, and other system configuration files. An ERD can be created any time using the rdisk utility, and should always be created after installing new services or software or upgrading hardware or device drivers on a system.

An ERD cannot be used to boot a computer running Windows NT or Windows 2000. To perform a system recovery of a machine running Windows NT using an ERD, boot your system using the three boot floppies and select the Repair option from the appropriate menu. Then select the specific repair options you want to perform, namely

To perform a system recovery on a machine running Windows 2000, try booting to Safe Mode first by pressing the F8 function key during startup. If this fails or if the system cannot be repaired, boot the system using the four boot floppies, select the Repair option by pressing the R key when prompted, and then either use the ERD to attempt a repair or press C to open the Recovery Console.

from the Windows NT compact disc on a working computer running Windows NT. To create the four Windows 2000 boot floppies, insert the Windows 2000 compact disc and a blank floppy into any machine running MS-DOS or Windows, click Start, select Run, and enter the following path into the Run box:

"Maintaining a current ERD is just as important as having a current system backup. When system configuration changes are made (such as installing new software or changing software configuration, altering network configuration, hardware changes, operating system updates) you should update your ERD... A current Emergency Repair Disk is your most valuable tool in recovering information that you need to start your system. The Emergency Repair Disk is intended to provide just enough recovery to restore a system to a bootable state and is not a replacement for regular backups... You can use the Emergency Repair Disk to replace damaged system files, restore damaged or incorrect registry information, and rebuild the startup environment."

ERDisk provides excellent performance. It is easily scalable to manage any number of servers and workstations. The process of creating ERD is started simultaneously on all selected computers, so it takes approximately the same time to create ERD for one or one hundred computers.

One of the unique features of ERDisk as a software product in the Backup/Recovery category is that it requires minimal system resources and storage space. Also, with ERDisk you do not need to install, run and maintain any client software. ERDisk does not create any significant load on network traffic.

Yes, you can. The ERDisk Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows you to select another Windows NT domain, add or remove computers from a list, or load a customized list of computers from a text file which can include any computer from various domains.

Log File provides a report on processes completed successfully and about any errors that might have occurred during ERD creation. The numerical code in the log file represents the Windows NT error code. A description of the error can be found by using the following command: net helpmsg ErrorCode

For example, Error 67 means "The network name cannot be found." This error can occur if the computer for which you want to create ERD does not run "server" service or does not have ADMIN$ share.

The most typical problems include: The computer for which you want to create ERD does not run "server" service. The computer for which you want to create ERD does not have ADMIN$ share. You are using ERDisk with the Windows NT command line scheduler and your scheduler service is running under a local system account. Change startup information to run the service under the domain administrator account. Go to: Control Panel--> Services -->Scheduler. Some of the errors might appear due to insufficient privileges for creating ERD, creating a directory or writing to the selected directory where ERD is saved. Note: Demo version is restricted to creating ERDs for five computers at the same time. ERD will be created for the first five computers. You will get a NO_LICENSES error for the rest of the computers on the list.

Windows NT is unbootable but system files are on the FAT partition (or on an NTFS partition that can be accessed for write by using another Windows NT installation, or by temporarily connecting the disk to another system with Windows NT)

- Expand the appropriate registry hive from ERD. For example, to expand the SOFTWARE hive use: expand Software._ Software

- Copy the expanded hive to the %SYSTEMROOT%\System32\Config

Windows NT is unbootable. The system partition is NTFS and is not accessible for write.

- Use Windows NT boot diskettes and any ERD which fits onto a floppy created on the same computer (for example, ERD created when the server/workstation has just been installed), or from another computer with similar hardware and the same Windows NT version installed in the same directory. This should bring the server up (probably with all settings lost). See also How to Use Emergency Repair Disk To Restore Original System Settings

- Boot Windows NT and use ApplyERD to restore appropriate hives from the appropriate ERD directory. This will restore all settings and bring the computer back online.

You can create a physical ERD upon demand by copying the files, including hidden and system files, to a floppy disk. Copy the subdirectory where you saved ERD for the computer you want to recover.

Note: ERDisk creates by default a separate subdirectory %COMPUTERNAME% for each computer in the directory where you save ERDs. Copy the entire subdirectory to a floppy disk to create a physical ERD.

Use Emergency Repair Disk to restore original system settings:

Note: Windows NT Setup disks and the installation CD are required. With the computer turned off, insert Windows NT Setup Disk 1 into the floppy drive. Turn on the computer. When prompted, insert Windows NT Setup Disk 2 into the floppy drive and press ENTER. Select R to repair a damaged installation. Select the options where a problem is suspected. Important: The original system configuration can be lost if you select Inspect A Registry File. Use it as the last option. Be careful when selecting Security and SAM Database during Inspect A Registry File process. Follow the instructions using the arrow keys and press ENTER. When prompted, insert Windows NT Setup Disk 3 into the floppy drive, press ENTER and follow the instructions. Insert the Emergency Repair Disk into the floppy drive and press ENTER. Depending on the options selected, press ENTER to repair the file or press ESC not to repair the file. After the repair process is completed restart the computer. Additional information is available in the following articles:

Once it is determined that the operating system won't start, the next step in the recovery process is to check the existence and safety of these vital system files. You will not be able to check them all, but you must check at least NTLDR, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini which are the cause of most problems).

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