The Recovery Console, which has a DOS-like interface, is a flexible tool that lets you access and save data when your system won’t boot. Using the Recovery Console, you can copy and delete files on FAT32 and NTFS partitions or even access the CD-ROM drive.

There are three main ways to load the Recovery Console. You can install it on your hard drive and access it when booting your system, you can launch it from the Windows XP start-up disks, or you can use the Windows XP CD.

To install the Recovery Console on your system, put your Windows XP installation CD in your CD drive, click on Start | Run, and type d:\ i386\winnt32.exe/cmdcons, where d is your CD-ROM drive letter. Press OK and you will be asked whether you want to install the Recovery Console. Click on Yes. Once this application is installed, it will add Microsoft Windows Recovery Console as an option on the boot menu.

To start the Recovery Console using the Windows XP CD, boot your system from the CD (be sure your BIOS is set to boot from CD-ROM before the hard drive). Once you’re past the welcome screen, press R and the Recovery Console will start.

Inside the Recovery Console you can obtain a list of possible commands by typing recovery console commands or help at the command prompt and pressing Enter. For more information about a specific command, type help commandname. From here, you can copy important data off your hard drive or, if you are a more advanced user, troubleshoot and replace corrupt files that are preventing your system from booting properly.