Repost: Removing the Recovery Console restrictions
When Windows 2000/XP has a startup failure, and it cannot start in Safe Mode or any other mode, the first thing we should consider is using Windows' “Recovery Console” to save the system. It is mainly used to repair the system, disable or enable services, format disks, etc. For security reasons, under the Recovery Console environment the user has many restrictions on hard disk access: you can only access the root folder, the Windows system folder, and removable storage media. Also, you can only copy files from removable media to the hard disk, and cannot copy files on the hard disk to removable media.
How to break through
1. Modify the security policy
In the “Start→Run” dialog box, enter “gpedit.msc” and press Enter to open the Group Policy Editor. Expand “Computer Configuration→Windows Settings→Security Settings→Local Policies→Security Options” in order, then in the right-side window find the policy “Recovery Console: Allow floppy copy and access to all drives and folders”. Double-click it and choose “Enabled”. If you want others to be able to use the Recovery Console as well (without needing to enter the administrator password), then you must enable the policy “Recovery Console: Allow automatic administrative logon”.
2. Use commands to modify environment variables
Enter the Recovery Console, and at the command prompt type the command “Set” and press Enter. The screen will display the currently available environment variables. Then type the following commands in order:
Set allowwildcards=TRUE (means allowing wildcards to be used in some commands)
Set allowallpaths=TRUE (means allowing directory changes to include all folders on all drives)
Set allowremovablemedia=TRUE (means allowing files on the hard disk to be copied to a floppy disk or other recognized removable media)
Set nocopyprompt=TRUE (means when copying files, allowing existing files to be overwritten without prompting)
This removes the Recovery Console restrictions.
