Recovery Console

Klingonwork

question on test exam on TechExam site:
You are a network technician assigned to troubleshoot problems with your company's enterprise network Windows 2000 environment. You have just been informed that a user's computer running Windows XP Professional has crashed. Upon inspection you notice that this computer will begin to load but the GUI no longer will come up. It will not load past the POST. What utility can you use to retrieve the files off this computer before the hard drive is formatted and a new image put back on?

I understand the correct answer is in recovery console, and that allowing copy to external media must be set...but, this would mean setting this prior to system crashing would it not? What would remedy be if this had not been set exclusive of sending disk out to clean room?

Thanks...

astorrs

Well at the time of the exams release (and up until 2006) I would have used ERD Commander from Winternals (until it's acquisition by Microsoft and subsequent roll-up into the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack).

Nowadays there are tons of options (many free like BartPE) that could help you in a situation such as this.

Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD

Klingonwork

Thanks astorr...
was wondering what others knew out there too. Found a Linux based Cd boot that allows access if no physical defects.

This is why we as techs have as standard equip, a crying towel for users, and a soft spot on the desk to bang our heads against.

Klingwork...

Hyper-Me

One of my main troubleshooting tools is WinPE 3.0

A totally isolated OS running in memory is a godsend when it comes to recovering files off a disk when the OS doesn't boot, deleting virus that are open/locked when the OS is live and you can't delete them, etc.

It's saved my butt on many occasions. (In place of WinPE, there are tons of good Linux LiveCDs as well)

Devilsbane

I would also use a boot disc, or just pull out the drive and use my IDE/SATA to usb converter and mount it on another computer.

The thing about this test is that it is Microsoft testing you about Microsoft. They don't care about 3rd party tools and part of the "game" of passing the test is to actually throw out some of the knowledge that you have. You might get a question saying "Is it possible to format a 120gb hdd fat 32 on a win xp machine?" The correct answer will be no, because XP has a limitation of 32gb. The real answer would be true, because you could easily format it using a 3rd party disk managment tool.

One of the things I find helpful before going into a test is to use practice questions. These help you hone your knowlede to that specific test. I use Transcender, it can be a little pricey but I have never failed a test yet. Other options are ucertify and Testout has some practice software as well. One thing to note is that these programs are not perfect. One of the reasons I love Transcender is that you can challenge a question and get feedback. They might agree with you and change the question, or they can respond with why they are not going to change the question. I used Testout's software when studying for A+ a year or so ago and on the same 100 question test I received the same question worded slightly different with opposite answers. However, they did not have a feedback feature. The question was about SCSI chains and which assignment gets priority.