Module 3: Resolving Boot Process Issues pot

Contents Overview 1 Lesson: Understanding the Boot Process 2 Demonstration: Controlling System Settings During the Boot Process 7 Lesson: Using Advanced Boot Options 9 Practice: Usi

Contents

Overview 1

Lesson: Understanding the Boot Process 2

Demonstration: Controlling System

Settings During the Boot Process 7

Lesson: Using Advanced Boot Options 9

Practice: Using Safe Mode 13

Lesson: Using the Recovery Console to

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Instructor Notes

This module provides students with information about the boot process and how to use advanced boot options It also teaches students how to use the Recovery Console to start a computer and how to use the Boot.ini file to change

the computer's startup behavior

After completing this module, students will be able to:

! Describe the Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional boot process

! Use the LastKnownGood configuration to resolve boot problems

! Use the Safe-Mode options to access and repair a computer that does not start normally

! Install the Recovery Console

! Use the Recovery Console to resolve a variety of startup problems

! Modify the Boot.ini file to change:

• The list of operating systems that is displayed at startup

• The boot switch for an operating system

• The boot partition for an operating system

To teach this module, you need the following materials:

! Microsoft PowerPoint® file 2285A_03.ppt

! Multimedia presentation, Examining the Microsoft Windows XP

Professional Boot Process

It is recommended that you use PowerPoint 2002 or later to display the slides for this course If you use PowerPoint Viewer or an earlier version of PowerPoint, all of the features of the slides may not appear correctly

To prepare for this module:

! Read all of the materials for this module

! Complete the practices and the lab

! Read all of the materials that are listed under Additional reading in this module

How to Teach This Module

This section contains information that will help you to teach this module For some topics in this module, references to additional information appear in notes at the end of the topics Read the additional information to prepare to teach the module During class, make sure that students are aware of the additional information

Lesson: Understanding the Boot Process

This section describes the instructional methods for teaching this lesson This multimedia presentation describes the entire boot process from power-on self test (POST) through the installation of Windows XP Professional services You may find it useful to play the whole multimedia presentation once before skimming through it and reviewing the important points

! To prepare for the multimedia presentation

1 View the multimedia presentation several times, anticipate questions that the students may ask, and prepare answers for those questions

2 Prepare a few questions for students to answer while they watch the video

3 Review the module and note any information in the video that is prerequisite information

In this topic, describe control sets and their contents Include the following information:

! The naming convention for control sets

! The four configurations of control sets and their uses

Remember that you will give a demonstration on the use of the SELECT

registry key and the LastKnownGood configuration Before you teach this lesson, determine what information you will present now and what information you will present in the demonstration

In this topic, describe the LastKnownGood configuration, and then explain the following:

! How the LastKnownGood configuration is created (when you log on)

! How the LastKnownGood configuration is a copy of the current configuration

! When and how you would select the LastKnownGood configuration

In this demonstration, show students how the registry entries under the registry

subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM are used and changed during

the boot process The procedures in the demonstration show how student can

use the regedit command to view the configurations and the SELECT registry

key

In this topic, explain to students the circumstances in which they should use or should not use the LastKnownGood configuration Describe each of the circumstances that are listed in the tables, and provide various scenarios regarding the use of the LastKnownGood configuration

Lesson: Using Advanced Boot Options

This section describes the instructional methods for teaching this lesson

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\

Control\Safeboot

In this topic, outline all the different boot options Further explain the options

by providing an example of each Keep in mind that this is an overview and that you will present some of these options in more detail later

Describe the Safe Mode option and its variations Give students a couple of scenarios in which Safe Mode or LastKnownGood would solve the boot problem, and ask if they know which one to use in those situations

Explain to students that the practice provides hands-on learning of the tasks presented in this lesson In this practice, students will use Safe Mode to access network resources

This practice takes approximately 10 minutes

Lesson: Using the Recovery Console to Start a Computer

This section describes the instructional methods for teaching this lesson

In this topic, explain that the Recovery Console allows students to access the Windows XP Professional installation when other boot options do not work Describe the command-line nature of the Recovery Console and briefly explain that main commands listed in the table

In this topic, describe the procedure for starting a computer by using the

Recovery Console Mention that help is available by using the help command

Also, emphasize that the Recovery Console is an advanced feature that should only be used by System Administrators and IT Professionals

Explain to students that the practice provides hands-on learning of the tasks presented in this lesson In this practice, students will install the Recovery Console and modify the Boot.ini file to hide other operating systems

Under the Modify the Boot.ini file to be editable section you must tell the

delegates that:

! If the classroom was setup using the Manual Setup then follow steps 4 to 7

! If the classroom was setup using Auto Setup then after doing step 3 they

should proceed to step 8

This practice takes approximately 15 minutes

How to Start a Computer

by Using the Recovery

Console

Practice: Installing the

Recovery Console

Lesson: Using the Boot.ini File to Change Startup Behavior

This section describes the instructional methods for teaching this lesson

In this topic, review the information about the structure of the Boot.ini file and the Advance RISC Computing (ARC) paths To ensure that students understand this material, ask them questions about ARC paths

Discuss the Boot.ini switches and the two main sections of the Boot.ini file in detail

Show students how to use the Control Panel to modify the Boot.ini settings Explain that this process is safer and easier than editing the Boot.ini file

Introduce students to the System Configuration utility (msconfig.exe) and, if possible, show them the utility Mention that support staff uses msconfig.exe to

diagnose computer startup and configuration problems

In this practice, students will modify the display name of an operating system and add a boot switch to an operating system Explain to the students that the practice provides hands-on learning of the tasks presented in this lesson

This practice takes approximately 10 minutes

Assessment

Assessment questions for this module are located on the Student Materials compact disc You can use them as pre-assessments to help students identify areas of difficulty, or you can use them as post-assessments to validate learning Consider using them to reinforce learning at the end of the day You can also use them at the beginning of the day as a review of the information that you taught on the previous day

Before they answer this assessment question, remind students that when the third computer first boots, it uses the BIOS to show the monitor display The computer will not encounter a driver or registry problem until it attempts to load Windows XP Professional

Before students answer this assessment question, mention to students that they can solve the problem by using Safe Mode; however, Safe Mode is not listed as one of the answers

Lab A: Troubleshooting the Boot Sequence

Before beginning the lab, students should have completed all the practices and have answered the assessment questions

The lab takes approximately 45 minutes

What Is the Boot.ini

Customization Information

This section identifies the lab setup requirements for a module and the configuration changes that occur on student computers during the labs This information is provided to assist you in replicating or customizing Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courseware

The lab in this module isalso dependent on the classroom configuration that is specified in the Customization Information section at the

end of the Manual Classroom Setup Guide for Course 2285A, Installing,

Administering, and Configuring Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Lab Results

By performing the lab in this module, students introduce the following configuration changes:

! The Ntdlr file is deleted

! The TCP/IP service is disabled

Students must restore the Ntdlr file and re-enable the TCP/IP service

Important

Overview

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This module provides students with the knowledge and the skills necessary to diagnose and correct problems with the Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional boot process

When you start a computer, the computer performs a series of startup tasks

called the boot process In this module, you will learn about the boot process,

and the tools and techniques that you can use to identify and resolve problems with the boot process

After completing this module, you will be able to:

! Explain the Windows XP Professional boot process

! Start a computer in Safe Mode and describe the other advanced boot options

! Use the Recovery Console to start a computer

! Use the Boot.ini file to change a computer’s startup behavior

Introduction

Objectives

Lesson: Understanding the Boot Process

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This lesson describes the boot process, the components of the boot process, and the different boot configurations Control sets contain the information that defines those configurations The configuration that a computer uses depends

on the following circumstances:

! The boot is normal

! You selected the LastKnownGood configuration

! Boot errors occurred Based on this knowledge, you can start a computer when the boot process fails After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

! Describe the Windows XP Professional boot process

! Describe the roles of controls sets and configurations

! Use the LastKnownGood configuration as a safe boot option when the default configuration does not work

! List the guidelines for using the LastKnownGood configuration

! Explain the Windows XP Professional boot process

Introduction

Lesson objectives

Multimedia: Examining the Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Boot Process

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To view the presentation, open the Web page on the Student Materials compact

disc, click Multimedia, and then click Examining the Microsoft Windows XP

Professional Boot Process

The multimedia presentation describes the following boot process sequences:

! Pre-boot sequence

! Boot sequence

! Kernel load sequence

! Kernel initiation sequence

! Logon sequence

For more information about the boot process, see Windows XP Professional

Boot Process Sequence.doc, under Additional Reading on the Student

Materials compact disc

File location

Media content

Additional reading

What Are Control Sets?

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Control sets are records of the configuration of your computer The system uses

control sets during the boot process to load and start device drivers, to start services, and to specify other settings for a particular configuration To resolve boot problems, you can select a different control set

The registry contains at least two control sets: ControlSet001 and

ControlSet002 ControlSet001 is the default, and ControlSet002 is provided

in case the default fails to start your computer successfully

By default, a typical Windows XP Professional installation contains the following control sets:

! CloneControlSet A copy of either the Default or the LastKnownGood

configuration The CloneControlSet, also called the Clone, is not available

after logon, and is not visible in the registry

! ControlSet001 The default control set

! ControlSet002 The backup to ControlSet001

! CurrentControlSet The control set used for the session that is running

Additional control sets may be created when you change or have problems with system settings

Configurations are registry entries that point to the control sets, and they

determine when the control sets are used The configurations are:

! Current This entry identifies which control set is the CurrentControlSet

When you use Registry Editor or Control Panel options to change computer settings, you modify the CurrentControlSet

! Default This entry identifies the default control set to be used the next time

the system starts The control set designated as the default contains any configuration changes that were made to the computer the last time a user logged on

Control sets

Default control sets

Configurations

! Failed This entry identifies the control set that failed when the

LastKnownGood control set was most recently used

! LastKnownGood This entry identifies a copy of the control set that was

used the last time the computer started successfully After a user successfully logs on, the CloneControlSet is copied to LastKnownGood You can select the LastKnownGood configuration during the boot process For example, if the data value for the Current configuration is 0x1, the

CurrentControlSet is ControlSet001 If the data value for the

LastKnownGood configuration is 0x2, the LastKnownGood configuration is

ControlSet002

How the LastKnownGood Configuration Works

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! During the kernel initiation sequence of the boot process, the kernel copies

the information in the CurrentControlSet to the CloneControlSet After a

successful logon, the information in the Clone is copied to the LastKnownGood configuration

! You usually start a computer by using the Default configuration When you make a configuration change, the change is stored in the

CurrentContolSet When you shut down or restart the computer, the

change is copied to the Default configuration

! If you make a configuration change, such as adding a device driver, and encounter problems when you restart the computer, your configuration changes may have damaged the Default configuration In this case, you can use the LastKnownGood configuration to safely restart the computer The next time that you log on, the Current configuration is copied to the Default configuration, which ensures that the Default configuration will start the computer the next time you restart it

Key points

Demonstration: Controlling System Settings During the Boot Process

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This demonstration shows you how to view and change configurations and control sets It also demonstrates how the Ntldr program determines which configuration to use during the boot process

Using the Registry Editor, open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM

key:

1 Click Start, click Run, type regedit and then click OK

2 In the Registry Editor window, expand My Computer, expand

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and then expand SYSTEM

This displays a number of subkeys, including the control sets

CurrentControlSet, ControlSet001, and ControlSet002

Use the Registry Editor to open the

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\SELECT key:

1 Click Start, click Run, type regedit and then click OK

2 In the Registry Editor window, expand My Computer, expand

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, expand SYSTEM, and then expand SELECT

This displays the contents of the

Examining control sets

Examining the SELECT

key

Guidelines for Using the LastKnownGood Configuration

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The following table describes when you should use the LastKnownGood configuration

Problem Solution

After you install a new device driver, Windows XP Professional stops responding

Use the LastKnownGood configuration during startup The LastKnownGood configuration will not contain a reference to the new, and possibly defective, device driver

You accidentally disable a critical device driver

If a critical driver becomes disabled, use the LastKnownGood configuration during startup Some critical drivers are configured to prevent users from accidentally disabling them If these drivers are damaged, the computer automatically reverts to the LastKnownGood configuration the next time that it starts

The LastKnownGood configuration cannot solve problems unless they are the result of configuration changes The following table describes the

circumstances in which you would not use the LastKnownGood configuration

You have a problem unrelated to Windows XP Professional configuration changes

LastKnownGood can only help you recover from configuration changes

You have a problem and have already logged on the system

After you log on, LastKnownGood will have been updated with any configuration changes

Therefore, you cannot use it to recover from those changes

You have a hardware failure, or missing or corrupt files

You cannot use LastKnownGood to fix startup failures that are unrelated to configuration changes

When to use the

Lesson: Using Advanced Boot Options

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Windows XP Professional provides several advanced boot options that can help you to troubleshoot startup problems In this lesson, you will learn how to use the advanced boot options to troubleshoot the boot process

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

! List the advanced boot options for computers running Windows XP Professional

! Start a computer in Safe Mode and describe the other advanced boot options

Introduction

Lesson objectives

Types of Advanced Boot Options

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The following table describes the options that appear on the Advanced Boot

Options page

Safe Mode Starts Windows XP Professional by using the

default settings and a minimum of device drivers

Access and repair your computer when it does not start normally

Enable Boot Logging Logs all drivers and services that are loaded at

startup to a file named Ntbtlog.txt Ntbtlog.txt resides in the %Windir% directory All Safe-Mode options automatically log to this file

Determine the cause of system problems by viewing which services and files did or did not load

Enable VGA Mode Loads the basic VGA driver instead of another

video driver All Safe-Mode options automatically use VGA mode

Start the computer when you have installed a new video driver that is causing Windows XP Professional to function improperly

LastKnownGood

Configuration

Starts the computer by using the configuration that was saved the last time the computer started properly

Start the computer when there is a configuration problem that must be corrected All configuration changes that you made since the last

successful startup will be lost

Debugging Mode Sends debugging information through a serial

cable to another computer

Gather debugging information about the startup process when you cannot read debugging information on the damaged computer

Boot Normally Closes the Advanced Boot Options page and

continues the boot process

Continue the boot process

Reboot Restarts the boot process Restart the boot process

Why Use Safe Mode to Start a Computer?

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Safe Mode starts Windows XP Professional by using only the default settings,

which include a video graphics adapter (VGA) video driver, a Microsoft mouse driver, and the minimum device drivers necessary to start the computer When your computer does not start normally, you might be able to start it in Safe Mode

For example, if the computer does not start after you install new software, you might be able to start it in Safe Mode with minimal services running, and then change your computer settings or remove the newly installed software that is causing the problem

If a symptom does not recur when you are using Safe Mode, the default settings and the minimum device drivers are not causing the problem

You start Safe Mode by pressing F8 when you are prompted to do so during the startup process and selecting the Safe Mode option The first three options on

the Advanced Boot Options page are variations of Safe Mode

Safe Mode

Note

Accessing Safe Mode