The process of file system troubleshooting for Windows 2000/XP and Windows 9x are very similar. The key difference is the use of Window Recovery Console, which is clarified here:

• If the Recovery Console was added to the boot menu, start the system normally. If you are asked for login credentials, key in your administrator account information. Then select the Recovery console.
• If the Recovery Console was not previously added to the boot menu, start the system using the Windows CD-ROM or the Windows setup disks. Select repair from the Welcome to Setup menu, and then press C to start the Recovery Console when prompted.

If your system can not boot from CD-ROM or the floppy, you could have more severe problems with your hardware. It will be a great idea to examine your drive, BIOS configuration, and motherboard for proper installation and configuration. Set the floppy disk as the first boot device and the CD-ROM as the second boot device and restart the system.

You should do the following steps when the Recovery Console begins:

1. To access to a list of Recovery Console commands and assistance, you may type HELP at the command prompt.
2. Run DISKPART to examine your partitions
3. You must make sure that the bootable partition is define as active if the partition is shown.
4. You may use FDISK to make new partitions if no partitions are shown and you do not want to recover any of the data existing on the drive. Then you may use FORMAT to format the partitions. The FORMAT will overwrite any data on the drive.
5. A data recovery program is necessary to retrieve data if you want to recover the data on the drive and no partition are being displayed.You may use Norton Disk Editor or Remo Recover. Remo Recover is PC and Mac data recovery software that can be used for PC and Mac hard drive recovery. With its user friendly interface, user can use the program to recover files Mac and pc easily.
6. If all the partitions appear in DISKPART and one is defined as active, run the FIXBOOT command to restore the system files.
7. To restart your system, type EXIT command. Remember to remove CD-ROM from the CD-ROM or disk from drive A.
8. Your drive could be incorrectly configured or damaged if the problem is still there after you restart the system.
9. Restart the Recovery Console and run CHKDSK to look for problems with the hard disk.