*''For information about generic boot/recovery discs, see

Recovery disc The terms Recovery disc (or Disk), Rescue Disk/Disc and Emergency Disk all refer to a capability to boot from an external device, possibly a thumb drive, that includes a self-running operating system: the ability to be a boot disk/Disc that runs i ...

'' A

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) is a specially formatted diskette that creates backups of important system files and settings and is used to troubleshoot and repair problems in Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 systems. An ERD is used in conjunction with the Windows repair option. The Emergency Repair Disk provides only the ability to restore the system to a bootable state. It is not a replacement for system and file backups. Note: The emergency repair disk is not to be confused with a standard boot diskette as it cannot be used alone. Unlike the ERD in Windows NT 4.0, the Windows 2000 ERD does not store registry information. Rather, Windows creates a copy of registry files in the ''\Winnt\Repair\RegBack'' directory when the ERD is created. The ERD is not bootable. The original Windows NT or Windows 2000 setup disks need to be used to boot the computer. From there, choosing the option to repair the system will prompt the user for the ERD. In

Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the data server and personal workstation markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, and was released to manufacturing on July 3 ...

, the option to create an ERD is available during setup. It can be used for the following: * Replace damaged system files * Restore damaged or incorrect registry information * Rebuild the startup environment In

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...

, an ERD can be created by clicking "Backup" under "System Tools" (Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup). It can be used for the following repair functions: * Inspect and repair the startup environment. * Verify the Windows 2000 system files and replace missing or damaged files. * Inspect and repair the boot sector. Microsoft Windows operating system (OS) installation disks (beginning with

) include the

Recovery Console The Recovery Console is a feature of the Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. It provides the means for administrators to perform a limited range of tasks using a command-line interface. Its primary function is to ...

, which allows the user to perform administrative operations on services, drives, and local data.

References

{{Reflist Installation software