How to Enable Recovery Console in Microsoft Windows XP

Today I will create a less typical post that will be related to Microsoft Windows and especially to recovery console installation. On one of my PCs running Windows has appeared a message about the error in USER32.DLL file. I will post the solution here as there was a need to restore it from the original CD.

First of all we need to have an original CD with clean Windows installation. Then I have followed the information on Microsoft.com:

To install the Recovery Console, follow these steps:
Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM drive.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type d:i386winnt32.exe /cmdcons where d is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive. In the case of ‘Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, type d:amd64winnt32.exe /cmdcons where d is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive.
A Windows Setup Dialog Box appears. The Windows Setup Dialog Box describes the Recovery Console option. To confirm the installation, click Yes.
Restart the computer. The next time that you start your computer, “Microsoft Windows Recovery Console” appears on the startup menu.

Then we’ll see the Recovery console after reboot. You’ll need to select it in order to recover any of the system files.  Then we need to persorm the following steps:

At the command prompt, type the following command:

cd %systemroot%system32

First, rename the damaged or corrupted file so that it is not deleted when you copy the original file. To do this, type the following command:

ren USER32.DLL USER32.BAK

Next, restore the original User32.dll file from the Windows CD to your computer. To do this, type the following command:

expand [CD drive letter]:i386USER32.DL_ %systemroot%system32 /Y

Note In this command, replace [CD drive letter] with the letter of your CD drive, such as D. If your computer does not recognize  %systemroot%, you’ll have to type in the full path manually (usually C:Windows)

To exit the Recovery Console and to restart the computer, type exit at the command prompt, and then press ENTER. Your file will be restored after reboot.

The second part of article was created using the information found here. If you know any other methods that could help restoring system files in Windows, I’d suggest you to leave your comments.