How to replace a driver by using Recovery Console in Windows Server 2003

This step-by-step article describes how to use Recovery Console to replace a driver on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that you cannot start. back to the top

Requirements

To replace a driver, you must have a functional copy of the driver files and you must know the location of folder that contains the driver file.

Note Only the Administrator account can obtain access to Recovery Console.

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Start Recovery Console

To start Recovery Console, use one of the following methods.

Recovery Console Is Installed

1. Start your computer.
2. When you are prompted to select an operating system, select
   Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Recovery Console.
   
   Note If Recovery Console does not appear in the list, Recovery Console is not installed. Follow the steps in the next section to start Recovery Console.
3. Select the Windows installation that you want to repair, and then press ENTER.
4. Type the Administrator password, and then press ENTER.
   
   
   Note Recovery Console uses the Administrator password that you configured when you installed Windows Server 2003. Changes that you make to the Administrator password after you install Windows Server 2003 do not apply to Recovery Console.

Recovery Console Is Not Installed

1. Start your computer by using the Windows CD-ROM.
   
2. At the Welcome to Setup screen, press R to repair the installation, and then press C to start Recovery Console.
   
3. Select the Windows installation that you want to repair, and then press ENTER.
4. Type the Administrator password, and then press ENTER.
   
   
   Note Recovery Console uses the Administrator password that you configured when you installed Windows Server 2003. Changes that you make to the Administrator password after you install Windows Server 2003 do not apply to Recovery Console.

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Extract the Driver Files from the Windows Server 2003 Installation CD-ROM

Installation files are stored on the Windows Server 2003 installation CD-ROM in compressed folders that are known as cabinet (.cab) files. Driver files are stored in the Driver.cab file. To use original driver files that are included on the Windows Server 2003 installation CD-ROM to replace damaged driver files:

1. Insert the Windows Server 2003 installation CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive.
2. At the command prompt in Recovery Console, type
   expand d:\i386\driver.cab /f:filename[path], and then press ENTER, where:
   
   • d: is the CD-ROM drive letter
   • filename is the name of the file you want to expand
   • path is the folder where to copy the driver file
   Typically, driver files (.sys) are stored in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers folder. For example, to replace the Atimpab.sys driver file, you might use the expand d:\i386\driver.cab /f:atimpab.sys %systemroot%\System32\Drivers\ command.
   
   Note In this command, you must use the /f
   switch because the Driver.cab CAB file contains more than one file.

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Replace the Driver Files by Using the COPY Command

If the driver files that you want are not located in a cabinet (.cab) file, you can use the Recovery Console copy command to overwrite the damaged files:

1. At the command prompt, type copy [source_path]
   source_filename[destination_path]
   destination_filename, and then press ENTER, where:
   
   • source_path is the path for the source replacement file
   • source_filename is the name of the replacement file
   • destination_path is the path for the driver file that you want to replace
   • destination_filename is the name of the driver file that you want to replace
   
   For example, to replace the Atimpab.sys file with a known good copy from a floppy disk, you might use the copy a:\atimpab.sys c:\winnt\system32\drivers\atimpab.sys command.
   
   Note The copy command in Recovery Console does not support wildcard characters. Because of this, you can copy only one file at a time. If you must replace more than one file, use multiple copy commands.
2. When you are prompted to confirm that you want to overwrite the existing file, press Y, and then press ENTER.

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Add Recovery Console to an Existing Installation

You can add Recovery Console to an existing installation of Windows Server 2003 by using the winnt32.exe /cmdcons command. Recovery Console requires approximately 7 megabytes (MB) of free disk space in the system partition on the hard disk.

For more information about Recovery Console and software mirroring, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

229077 Mirroring prevents pre-installing the Recovery Console

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