HOWTO: Recover from Deleting the Repair Directory and Setup.log

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51 and 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51 and 4.0

SUMMARY

Deleting the %SystemRoot%\Repair folder from a Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0 Server or Workstation installation produces the following problems:

• You cannot install a Windows NT Service Pack.

  When you run the Update program from the Windows NT service pack you receive the following error message:

        Service Pack Setup could not find the Setup.log file in your repair
        directory.
  

  The Update program will not continue.

• You cannot create an Emergency Repair Disk.

  When you run Rdisk to update and create an Emergency Repair Disk, it fails with the following error message:

        Repair Disk Utility could not copy all files to the Emergency Repair
        Disk. One or more files were not found.
  

  This error occurs after the update option has finished copying the following files to the newly created repair folder:

        Autoexec.nt
        Config.nt
        ntuser.da_ New user profile (V4.0 only)
        Software._ Software Registry hive
        System._   System Registry hive
  
  

     Sam._      Sam Registry hive
     Security._ Security hive
     Default._  Default user profile
     SETUP.LOG file

MORE INFORMATION

Windows NT 4.0

To fix both problems, you can do an in-place upgrade of Windows NT 4.0. If your computer is running Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2 or earlier and is formatted as NTFS or FAT, perform the following steps:

1. Start the system from Setup Disk One of the three Windows NT setup disks. After you insert the second setup disk, select "To setup Windows NT now, Press ENTER".

2. Select a mass storage device, and then insert Setup Disk Three.

3. Select "To upgrade Windows NT in the directory above, press ENTER." Verify that the folder is the one you want to upgrade and press Enter. Press Esc to bypass exhaustive examination.

   Windows NT Setup now performs an in-place upgrade, and creates a new %SystemRoot%\Repair folder and Setup.log file. You are also asked to create an Emergency Repair Disk. Click Yes, and create an Emergency Repair Disk.

Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 NTFS Format:

If your computer is running Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 and is NTFS, perform the following steps:

1. Do a parallel installation of Windows NT 4.0.

   Make sure you have 160 MB of free disk space on your computer, then insert Setup Disk One of the Windows NT Setup disks and install Windows NT into a new folder called NTFIX.

2. Apply the latest Service Pack to this installation.

3. Perform in-place upgrade of the original installation.

4. When the system restarts, select the parallel installation to boot from. (The first menu item in the Boot.ini display)

5. Copy the following 3 files from the NTFIX\System32 folder to the original folder: (The .dll files are hidden)

         Samlib.dll
         Samsrv.dll
         Winlogon.exe
   

6. Shutdown and boot into the original installation, (the third menu item in the Boot.ini display). Reapply the latest Service Pack.

7. After the system begins booting into the original installation, remove the read-only attribute from the Boot.ini file, click Boot.ini, and then delete all references to the NTFIX folder. Make sure to change the Default line in the Boot.ini file to point to the original folder. (default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\"original directory")

8. Delete the NTFIX folder.

If your computer is running Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 and is FAT, follow these steps:

1. Copy the following files 3 files from the Winnt_Root\System32 folder to a temporary location: (The .dll files are hidden)

         Samlib.dll
         Samsrv.dll
         Winlogon.exe
   

2. Start the system from Setup Disk One of the three Windows NT Setup disks. After you insert the second setup disk, select "To setup Windows NT now, Press ENTER".

3. Select a mass storage device, and then insert Setup Disk three.

4. Select "To upgrade Windows NT in the directory above, press ENTER." Verify that the folder is the one you want to upgrade and press Enter. Press Esc to bypass exhaustive examination.

   Windows NT Setup performs an in-place Upgrade, and creates a new Winnt_Root\Repair folder and Setup.log file. You are also asked to create an Emergency Repair Disk. Click Yes to create an Emergency Repair Disk.

5. Boot your system to DOS. Copy the three saved files from step 1 above to the Winnt_Root\System32 folder.

6. Restart your system and apply the latest Service Pack.

Windows NT 3.51

To fix both problems, you can do an in-place upgrade of Windows NT 3.51. If your computer is running Windows NT 3.51 Service Pack 3 or earlier and formatted as NTFS or FAT, follow these steps:

1. Start the system from Setup Disk One of the three Windows NT Setup disks. After you insert the second setup disk choose "To setup Windows NT now, Press ENTER".

2. Select a mass storage device, and then insert Setup Disk Three.

3. Select "To upgrade Windows NT in the directory above, press ENTER." Verify that the folder is the one you want to upgrade and press Enter. Press Esc to bypass exhaustive examination.

   Windows NT Setup performs an in-place upgrade, and creates a new %SystemRoot%\Repair folder and Setup.log file. You are also asked to create an Emergency Repair Disk. Click Yes and create an Emergency Repair Disk.

If your computer is running Windows NT 3.51 Service Pack 4 or 5 and is FAT format, follow these steps:

1. Copy Samsrv.dll from the Winnt_Root\system32 folder to a temporary location.

2. Start the system from Setup Disk One of the three Windows NT Setup disks. After inserting the second setup disk choose "To setup Windows NT now, Press ENTER".

3. Select a mass storage device, and then insert Setup Disk Three.

4. Select "To upgrade Windows NT in the directory above, press ENTER." Verify that the folder is the one you want to upgrade, and then press Enter. Press Esc to bypass exhaustive examination.

   Windows NT Setup performs an in-place upgrade, and creates a new Winnt_Root\Repair folder and Setup.log file. You are also asked to create an Emergency Repair Disk. Click Yes and create an Emergency Repair Disk.

5. Boot your system to DOS. Copy Samsrv.dll from step 1 above to the Winnt_Root\System32 folder.

6. Restart your system and re-apply the latest Service Pack.

If your computer is running Windows NT 3.51 Service Pack 4 or 5 and is NTFS format, follow these steps:

1. Do a parallel installation of Windows NT 3.51.

   Make sure you have 100 MB of free disk space on your computer, then insert Setup Disk 1 of the Windows NT setup disks. Install Windows NT into a new folder called NTFIX.

2. Apply the latest Service Pack to this installation.

3. Perform an in-place upgrade of the original installation.

4. When the system restarts, select the parallel installation to boot from (the first menu item in the Boot.ini display). Copy Samsrv.dll from the NTFIX\System32 folder to the Winnt_Root\System32 folder (the original installation).

5. Shutdown and boot into the original installation (the third menu item in the Boot.ini display). Reapply the latest Service Pack.

6. After the system begins booting into the original installation, remove the read-only attribute from the Boot.ini file, click on it and delete all references to the NTFIX folder. Make sure to change the Default line in the Boot.ini to point to the original folder. (default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\"original directory")

7. Delete the NTFIX folder.