This step-by-step article describes how to use Group Policy to add more power to the Recovery Console. Windows XP provides a Group Policy that lets you add power to the commands that are available in the Recovery Console. Under normal conditions, the Recovery Console imposes limits on the environment in which it operates.

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Use Group Policy to add power to Recovery Console

If you pre-install the Recovery Console on a computer, you should use Group Policy to enhance the environment settings, adding power to the available file operations. To do so:

1.	Start the Group Policy Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in.
2.	Select the Security Options object in the Console pane to display the security policies in the Details pane.
3.	In the Details pane, double-click the Recovery Console: Allow Floppy Copy And Access To All Drives And Folders policy.
4.	Click Enabled, and then click OK.
5.	Quit the MMC. You can save the console in case you want to make changes.

Note This policy sets the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Setup\RecoveryConsole registry key's DWORD "SetCommand" value to 1.

After you have enabled this Group Policy, when you enter the Recovery Console, you can change the environment settings with the set command by using the set variable = TRUE or FALSE syntax.

Note: Be sure to use a space on each side of the equal sign. If you do not, the set command generates a "syntax error" error message and does not work.

The following variables define the default environment. The variables, when set to TRUE, enlarge the scope of the environment setting and have the following meanings:

•	AllowWildCards = TRUE Enable wildcard support for some commands (such as the del command)
•	AllowAllPaths = TRUE Allows access to all files and folders on the computer
•	AllowRemovableMedia = TRUE Allow files to be copied to removable media, such as a floppy disk
•	NoCopyPrompt = TRUE Do not prompt when overwriting an existing file

To see the current settings for the environment, type set without parameters at a command prompt.

For additional information about the Recovery Console in Windows XP, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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