Copyright: 2000 Toolbox 1.0
Citation: © 1998 Network Associates, Inc.


Using Rescue Disk

Rescue Disk lets you create an emergency boot disk that you can use to boot up your PC later if you encounter a problem that prevents you from starting the computer from the system hard drive. The system hard drive is the hard drive that contains your Windows directory or folder.

You can use the Rescue disk that is created by default. Or if you are an advanced user, you can customize your Rescue disk to add the most important files that you may want to use when recovering a failed hard drive. For example, you might want to add your CD drive's driver software so you can also access that drive during the recovery process.


Creating a Rescue Disk

You should create a rescue disk when you first start using 2000 Toolbox. If you update your system later, such as installing a newer version of Windows, you should create another new rescue disk. The rescue disk will be formatted, so you can reuse your 3.5-inch rescue disk if you want to add more files to it in the future.

To create a rescue disk:

1.	Click the Next button in the Rescue Disk Wizard.

2.	Do one of the following:

Go to step 3 if you want to use the default Rescue disk.

Click Advanced if you are an advanced user and want to add additional files to (or remove them from) the Rescue disk.

3.	Click Next, and then click Finish.

4.	Insert a disk into drive A and click OK.

Rescue Disk formats the disk and copies critical startup files to it as well as any files you added. When the process is complete, Rescue Disk exits and returns to the desktop.


Disk Minder in DOS

Disk Minder in DOS lets you repair disks even if you cannot start Windows. It resolves most disk-related problems such as missing drives, inability to access drives, or errors accessing drives.

To use Disk Minder in DOS:

1.	Type the following, and then press ENTER.

\WINDOWS\DMDOS

Disk Minder searches your PC for drives and then asks you to select the drives you want to check from the Drives list.

2.	PRESS THE TAB key to change the drives that are currently selected to be scanned. Selected drives have an x beside them in the list.

3.	Press the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys to highlight a drive and press ENTER to select it.

4.	Press the RIGHT ARROW key to move the cursor back to the buttons.

5.	You can select Disk Minder options if you like. Your options are:

•	Fix Errors Automatically–fixes any data or disk errors automatically. This is the same as selecting the Fix Errors Automatically Using Default Values check box in the Disk Minder window. If you deselect this check box, Disk Minder will let you fix errors interactively.

•	Test Drive Surface–performs read/write tests of the recordable surface media on a disk. This process may take some time because the entire disk is read and then rewritten. If a sector is damaged, Disk Minder relocates the information, saving it elsewhere on the disk so you can try to recover the information later. Then it maps out the bad sector so it won’t be used for storing data in the future.

•	Check DxSpace Host Drive First–checks the physical drive where DriveSpace or DoubleSpace compressed volume files are stored. Then it checks the compressed volume files, or logical disks.

•	Check for Valid File Names–verifies that filenames use acceptable characters. Valid characters for filenames are numbers 0-9, letters A-Z, and basic symbols excluding the backslash ( \ ), greater than ( > ), less than ( < ), colon ( : ), double quotations ( “ ), and bar or pipe ( | ). Disk Minder also checks long filenames as well as short filenames that follow the 8.3 filename convention.

•	Check for Duplicate File Names–checks the selected drives for duplicate filenames (files with the same name in the same directory).

•	Check Reserved Attribute Bits–flags files that have any of the unused (by Windows/DOS) file attribute bits set. These bits may be set on a drive that is shared by OS/2, but otherwise you should most likely leave this option deselected.

•	Display Summary for Each Drive–The Summary report tells you how many errors were found on the scanned drive. It also gives you complete information about the status of clusters (the smallest storage units of information on a PC drive) on the drive.

6.	Select Start and press ENTER to start checking the drives.

Disk Minder displays a screen showing the kind of data it is checking and the options in effect. If the Display Summary for Each Drive option is set, Disk Minder displays a summary message showing the total number of errors found on each drive, if any. It also shows information about the clusters on the drive.


Image/Restore in DOS

Image/Restore can recover from drives that have been accidentally formatted or completely erased, if Image was recently run.


SysRecover

SysRecover can restore several of the Windows 95/98 startup files, such as SYSTEM.INI and the Windows Registry. You should choose this option only if Disk Minder finds no problems on your drives and you cannot start Windows even in Safe mode.


Unformat

Unformat can restore entire drives that have been recently formatted.


Undelete

Undelete is a DOS program like the Windows counterpart that lets you undelete files even after you have deleted them from your hard drive using the DOS delete command.


Adding or Removing Files on a Rescue Disk

While you are creating a rescue disk, you can specify additional files that you want to add to the rescue disk. For example, you may want to add your CD-ROM's driver file so you can access files on that drive.

To add or remove files when creating a rescue disk:

1.	Click the Next button in the Rescue Disk window.

2.	Click Advanced to add additional files to (or remove them from) the Rescue disk.

3.	Click the Add button, select a file in the standard Windows Open dialog box that appears, and then click Open.

4.	Repeat step 3 to add more files to the list of those that will be added to your rescue disk.

You can also select a file in the list and click the Remove button to remove it.

5.	When you finish adding files, click OK.

The Rescue Disk (Insert Disk) dialog box reappears.

6.	Click Next, and then click Finish.

7.	Insert a disk into drive A and click OK.

Rescue Disk formats the disk and copies critical startup files to it as well as the files you added. When the process is complete, Rescue Disk exits and returns to the desktop.


Using a Rescue Disk

You will be able to use your rescue disk when you can't boot from your Windows system hard drive.

Tip	These instructions are also included in your 2000 Toolbox User’s Guide in the event you encounter a problem and cannot access the 2000 Toolbox online help.

To use a rescue disk:

1.	Insert your Rescue disk into drive A:.

2.	Reboot your computer (or turn on the power).

If your system doesn't boot, access CMOS and make sure the Booting From Floppy option is enabled.

3.	Follow the on-screen instructions.


Rescue Disk Dialog Box

This dialog box contains the following options:

Next

Click the Next button to begin the process of creating a rescue disk.

Cancel

Click the Cancel button to close Rescue Disk without creating a rescue disk and return to the desktop.


Rescue Disk (Insert Disk) Dialog Box

This dialog box contains the following options:

Back

Click the Back button to go back to the first dialog box.

Next

Insert a disk to use as your rescue disk into drive A and click the Next button to continue.

Cancel

Click the Cancel button to close Rescue Disk without creating a rescue disk and return to the desktop.

Advanced

Click the Advanced button to add or remove other files on the rescue disk you'll be creating.

Cancel

Click Cancel to close the Rescue Disk without creating a rescue disk and return to the desktop.


Disk Rescue (Add/Remove Files) Dialog Box

This dialog box contains the following options:

Items to Copy to Rescue Disk

This list displays all the files you've added and want to be copied onto the rescue disk that you'll be creating if you finish this session with Rescue Disk.

Add

Click the Add button to display the Add to Rescue Disk dialog box (which is a standard Windows Open dialog box) where you can select a file to add to the rescue disk you'll be creating. After selecting a file, click Open.

Remove

Select a file in the Items to Copy to Rescue Disk list and click the Remove button to remove that file from the list.

OK

Click OK to accept the current list of files to copy to the rescue disk you'll be creating during this session.

Cancel

Click the Cancel button to close the Disk Rescue (Add/Remove Files) dialog box without changing the list of additional files to add.