ERD Commander V1.0
     Introduction
                  When problems arise in Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 that render a system unbootable,
                  there is always the possibility of booting off of a DOS floppy disk so that the drives of the
                  machine can be accessed for repair and salvage. This boot-floppy approach to system
                  recovery is often the only way to correct problems that even "automatic" system repair
                  utilities fail to correct. In the past, Windows NT administrators have gone without this
                  recovery option. ERD Commander finally brings boot-floppy functionality to Windows NT.  

                  ERD Commander is a utility that enables you to boot NT off of a floppy disk in order to
                  access and repair a dead NT installation. It is a command-line shell that runs off of a set
                  of NT boot disks giving you full access to non-bootable NT systems with a robust set of
                  familiar command-line file manipulation tools including copy, rename, delete, move and
                  xcopy. Because ERD Commander relies on a standard set of NT boot floppies, any NT
                  system is accessible, and because ERD Commander runs on top of NT, all NT file systems,
                  including FAT, NTFS, and CDFS are visible. Note that ERD Commander has no reliance on
                  data located on a system's hard disk for it to boot and run - NT is actually booted on the
                  floppies. NT does not even have to be present on the computer in order to use ERD
                  Commander to access the computer's drives. 
            Uses
                  ERD Commander will help you solve problems such as:  

                  Removing or Replacing Buggy Drivers 
                  You can use ERD Commander to delete the image files of drivers or services that, because
                  of a bug or misconfiguration, prevent NT from booting.  

                  Updating Out-of-Date System Files  
                  Incorrectly applying service packs or system software updates can cause system DLLs to
                  become out of sync with each other. In many cases this can prevent NT from booting
                  successfully. ERD Commander can copy up-to-date versions of old files from floppy disks
                  or CD-ROMs onto a system.  

                  Correcting Misconfigured NTFS Security  
                  If security attributes that are too restrictive are applied to certain system files or
                  directories on NTFS boot drives, NT will become unbootable. ERD Commander includes a
                  special command, Access, which unlocks otherwise inaccessible files or directories so that
                  NT can access them.  

                  Updating Locked Files  
                  Once NT is up-and-running many system files cannot be replaced because the system
                  keeps them locked. ERD Commander makes it possible to update such files because it runs
                  when NT is off-line and the files are not open.  

                  Correcting Registry Problems 
                  A number of NT boot problems are the result of misconfigured Registry values. With ERD
                  Commander you can copy Registry hives (located under <winnt>\system32\config) off the
                  system to a floppy disk or other writeable removable media for modification on another NT
                  machine (using Regedt32's Hive loading capability). Modified hives can then be copied
                  back. 

                  Copying Important Files off of a Dead System  
                  ERD Commander enables you to access files on an NT system that fails to boot. Important
                  files can be salvaged onto a floppy disk or other removable media.  

                  Note that ERD Commander is not intended to resolve disk corruption errors, and that only
                  drives that are consistent enough to be recognized by Windows NT file systems will be
                  accessible with ERD Commander. 
    What it Looks
             Like
                  Below is a presentation of what a typical display looks like after ERD Commander has
                  started. ERD Commander shows information on the disk drives that are recognized and the
                  drive letters it has assigned for them. Volume name, file system type, and drive size data
                  should help you identify particular drives. 

                   
      Installation
                  When you execute the ERD Commander Setup program it will allow you to create a set of
                  Windows NT boot floppies configured with ERD Commander. Optionally, you can supply an
                  existing set of floppies to be configured.  

                  The Setup program will install two versions of the boot floppy creator onto your hard drive.
                  The 32-bit version is the program that is run during the initial Setup. The 16-bit version
                  allows you to configure boot floppies with ERD Commander from a DOS boot floppy or from
                  Windows 3.1. This is necessary in cases where your Windows NT installation is
                  non-bootable and you do not have access to a second NT machine or to Windows 95.  

                  After the disks are loaded, a stripped-down version of Windows NT will start, displaying
                  the familiar boot-time Blue Screen that presents the NT version number, system memory
                  size, and number of processors present. ERD Commander then starts automatically and
                  enters a command-line environment nearly identical to the one NT implements in
                  Command-Prompt. 
   Command Set
                  The command set of ERD Commander, like its command-line editing features, is similar to
                  that of NT. The command set includes all standard file-related commands, and virtually all
                  support the same options as their NT counter-parts. This list can be obtained inside of ERD
                  Commander by entering the HELP command, and detailed information on the syntax of a
                  particular command can listed by typing "command /?" or "HELP command". Note that the
                  commands are interpreted in a case-insensitive manner so that "HELP" is the same as
                  "help".  
                      ACCESS
                                   Gives Everyone full access to a files or directories.
                      CD
                                   Displays the name of or changes the current
                                   directory.
                      CLS
                                   Clears the screen.
                      COPY
                                   Copies one or more files to another location.
                      DEL
                                   Deletes one or more files.
                      DIR 
                                   Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a
                                   directory.
                      EXIT
                                   Quits ERD Commander and reboots the system.
                      HELP
                                   Provides Help information for ERD Commander
                                   commands.
                      MAP
                                   Displays drive letter to partition mapping.
                      MKDIR
                                   Creates a directory.
                      MOVE
                                   Moves one or more files from one directory to
                                   another directory.
                      RENAME
                                   Renames a file or files.
                      RMDIR
                                   Removes a directory.
                      XCOPY
                                   Copies files and directory trees.
                      VER
                                   Displays ERD Commander version number.

                   
       Supported
        Systems
                  ERD Commander requires the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 installation CD-ROM to create the
                  boot diskettes, but the disks can be used to access both NT 4.0 and 3.51 systems. 
