Windows 7 Error Recovery is a punch in the nuts for techies
Today, while in a class, I installed some software in Windows 7. You know, to pass time. A reboot later, I was greeted by a driver-induced bugcheck, making me doubt the whole “Windows Vista applications will work fine on Windows 7” word going around... (but that’s another story)
I already knew what the problem was, so no big deal... I figured I’d just mash F8 a few times and boot up into the Last Known Good Configuration to prevent the culprit driver from loading and be on my way...
... but it wasn’t that easy. As you can see above, there is absolutely no way to return to the Windows boot choices menu from this newfangled Error Recovery menu. Don’t let the menu above trick you – my choices were really [keep crashing] or [waste my time detecting the already-known problem].
Biting my lip, I let Windows run the Startup Repair utility...
System Restore?! Oh come on. I just want to restore a working service Control Set! I tried clicking [Cancel] but that just put me in a never-ending progress bar loop.
I gave up and clicked [Restore].
Surprisingly it worked, as Bryant indicated... but that’s not the point. After everything was said and done, I felt like I just jumped through a bunch of technical support hoops to fix a problem I already knew how to fix on my own but couldn’t.
I will be finding a way to turn this “feature” off ASAP.
A reader suggested I click [Send Feedback]...
You can do it Rafael!
Ugh, I think our trackback system is fried.
Anyway, Raf… wow. Clippy’s application in the first shot is epic.
Or, instead of turning it off, click that little Send Feedback link so that MS can improve it in the future.
lol m$ improve windows????
you gotta be kidding right?
@werejag: Really? an “m$”? That really helps us believe your point
Anyway, it doesn’t seem too hard to add those boot options, altough the error recovery seems very nice for users who aren’t too tech savy
yea..i found this earlier today also after installing a new blu ray drive in vista and messing around with my ahci settings in the bios…its like windows repair for dummies…just might save microsoft some headaches in the future if it pans out
what happens if you would have pressed reset? could you have been able to get the old boot menu?
Aw, poor techies. More stuff aimed at getting regular humans up and running after a failure and taking you out of the loop.
The fact that it worked really is the point. As a techie, I can take some pride in knowing how to root around under the hood but I’d rather spend my on-site time helping users to get new apps working or learning how better to use their systems than applying minor fixes. Especially if the process can be automated. If it works, it is a good thing.
Besides, it’s not even Beta. Adding a third choice for the traditional option is not a big deal if the case can be made for its need. But try not to sound whiney about it.
Problem is it also repairs Vista installations. Now I had a dual boot setup and was switching between 2 primary partitions (making only 1 active at a time), one with Vista and other with Windows 7. But because it also “repaired” the Vista partition when it wasn’t active, things got screwed up and now Vista doesn’t work properly. I’ve tried repairing Vista from the Vista DVD, manually creating BCD entries, tried everything with both partitions active one at a time.
Wow, I am not the one playing with my PC at classes :-)
However you should consider that this is still a pre beta software. Things should be fixed. You could tell microsoft the error you encuntered to get it fixed in the definitive version.
LKGC works along the same lines as System Restore, except that System Restore includes multiple snapshots. Backups of startup files are saved, along with critical registry entries and such. It’s practically the same, and yet you sit there and chew about it even after it fixed your computer.
Everyone who just read JJ’s above comment, please scrub your brains clean.
Last Known Good Configuration reverts only the current control set to a previous control set (a backup retained whenever a change is made to the control set).
What is a control set? Basically the relevant hardware/driver and services information needed to get Windows up and running.
System Restore, on the other hand, looks at many other things in addition to just the control sets, including which applications are installed. This also means that if a person reverts to an older system restore point, some additional things may be lost which would have otherwise been preserved had the LKGC option existed.
Could you imagine being an end-user and having to choose between…
Your System Failed to start-up would you like to…
“Go back to Last Known Good Configuration” OR “System Restore”?
I’ve been programming for 12+ years and even I wouldn’t know which one to use i given the choice (until I saw Bryant’s comment)
I guess this goes back to the problem with Simple/Normal Users vs. Advanced Power Users…someday Joel will make a blog about how there are 10 different ways to repair Windows (like his post on sleep vs. hibernate vs. hybrid sleep vs. shut off) and people like me don’t see what the problem is with more options (as long as there is some HELPful Description)
@AndyB: It would be nice if they left the screen as-is, however still provided the option to “Press F8 to return to the Startup Options menu”, or some such thing in the bottom gray bar. Normal users are still defaulted to the best option for them, but power users can still play around with the various other ‘legacy’ options that we all know and (mostly) love.
@All: As JonLaslow pointed out, the point of my post was to highlight the fact I had *no choice* but to use the wizard, which forced me to use System Restore, which in the real world, could cause data loss. Maybe I should have blogged about how when your machine crashes, you can’t even get into safe mode…?
@Rafael: In Vista, the use of Startup Repair is governed by a file called ‘bootstat.dat’ in the %windir% directory. The only processes (that I’m aware of, anyways) that write to it are winload.exe (setting the value ‘LASTBOOTSUCEEDED’ to ‘FALSE’), and the Service Control Manager, setting the same value to ‘TRUE’. As such, if the boot process is interrupted after winload.exe is run and before SCM kicks in, the value is left at false Start Repair is called on boot (if WinRE is installed on the hard drive – if not, it’s called when you try to load WinRE).
If you’re feeling brave, and if this file is present in Windows 7, you could attempt to deny access to the ‘bootstat.dat’ file and see that will prevent the value from being changed and Startup Repair from being called. No idea if it would work, but maybe something to go on in lieu of a proper workaround or an actual change by Microsoft.
If you select “Start Windows Normally” you can press F8 and bring up the normal boot menu… Just like in vista.
F5 might also being up the alternate boot menu. It USED to be different from F8 but I think nowadays (XP/Vista) they do the same thing. Who knows, it’s worth a try though.
JRB’s suggestion also sounds helpful.
You could also try booting from a BartPE (or a Windows PE with regedit on it), mounting the SYSTEM registry hive, and replacing the “CurrentControlSet” key with one of the “ControlSetXXX” keys (I assume lower numbers are older). I believe this is essencially what LKGC does (probably uses the most recent).
lol! Does that last pic means what I think it means?
Anyway, I think Microsoft is trying to help end users resolve their system problems with the need of an expert, hope I’m not stating the obvious, though I’m sure they’ll bring back the other options in future versions.
btw, I’m using that Norton Antivirus Gaming Edition you posted eariler, surprisingly it doesn’t overkill the system, though the activation messages are annoying. Just thought you should know.
without the need*
I also found several troubles when installing Windows 7 to run from an external USB drive:
http://runwin7fromusb.blogspot.com
Wonder if Recovery Console can be installed…
Neowin now has an article on the “bootscreen” of build 695X, and people are going crazy over it, they have already had over 5000 views of the article ( including two from me as well ). If this hysterya continues on the same way just imagine what will happen when and if Microsoft release a public beta of it !!
Where’s safe mode??
All the best!
and plz publish it here once ur done :)
I noticed there is a recoveryenabled entry in BCDEDIT for Windows 7 entries. Could it be that if you set this to no, it won’t do this?
My bootloader of 7 broke, so I had to place my Windows Vista DVD in my computer and asked it to repair the damaged bootloader.
Then, I noticed that the Recovery Options were no longer available. Is there a fix for this?
Vista’s fix on the bootloader overwrote 7’s.
RAFEEL GO HERE: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/12/11/press-space-bar-to-quick-access-windows-boot-manager/
I haven’t tested this out because I’m having a windows 7 6956 WITHOUT the recovery tool.
IMO, I think the recovery tool is good tool Microsoft made for average computer people(read: noobs)
BTW, these “recovery tools” came with vista on some OEMs like Dell.
LIKE I SAID I DID NOT TEST THIS OUT….
I agree with what rafael said, as i have started to use windows 7 myself, the operationg system is made to be as simple as possible for every user
however some useres liek rafael liek to contro levery aspect of their operatign system, to fix this you shouldent post on your website, you should forward the option directly to microsoft. the operating system is still in beta for an estimated half year, and changes can still be made, you can be the difference
it’s all like it wasd before.. my w7 also crashed – when starting up press Space Bar or Hit F8
both of them will bring up the Startmenu with the regular boot choices…
the third way to get in to safe mode just hit and hold the CTRL key while booting up..
this has never changed on MS Windows Systems
hth
Просто отлично! На самом деле любопытно написано. :)