C:\Cmdcons Folder Deleted When Reinstalling Recovery Console (233979)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
This article was previously published under Q233979 SYMPTOMS
If the Recovery Console is preinstalled on your computer but for some reason files in the C:\Cmdcons folder become corrupted or are accidentally deleted, you may not be able to boot into the Windows 2000 Recovery Console.
Under typical circumstances, you can run the "WINNT32 /CMDCONS" command from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM to reinstall the console and repair the absent or damaged files.
However, when your system partition (the partition that contains the Ntldr, Ntdetect.com, and Boot.ini files) is part of a Windows 2000 basic or dynamic disk software mirror, you cannot reinstall the Recovery Console. If you try to reinstall the Recovery Console with the "WINNT32 /CMDCONS" command, you receive the following error message:
No valid system partitions were found, Setup is unable to continue.
After this message is displayed, the original C:\Cmdcons folder is deleted, but the original Recovery Console boot option in your C:\Boot.ini file remains.
CAUSE
Winnt32.exe deletes the old C:\Cmdcons folder in preparation for installing the new Recovery Console folder before it does a system check to determine whether the installation is possible.
The restriction of not being able to install the Recovery Console on a software-mirrored system partition is by design.
For more detailed information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
229077 Mirroring Prevents Pre-Installing the Recovery Console
RESOLUTION
If the system partition is part of a legacy basic disk mirror set, the only option after this occurs is to boot from the four Windows 2000 Setup disks or the Windows 2000 CD-ROM to run the Recovery Console. Pre-installing the Recovery Console again is not an option unless you break the mirror, but doing so prevents you from re-establishing the mirror unless you upgrade the disks to dynamic first.
For additional information about basic and dynamic disks, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
175761 Dynamic vs. Basic Storage in Windows 2000
If your system partition is part of a dynamic mirror, you can break the mirror, reinstall the Recovery Console, and then re-establish the mirror.
STATUSMicrosoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 11/21/2003 |
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| Keywords: | kbbug KB233979 |
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