c





c Bootloader's Advanced Option Menu

© î
 ² Forces x86-based systems to m
 the virtual address space allocated for
user programs to 3 GB, and to 
 to 1 GB allocated to the kernel and to
executive components. Used for some programs that require more than the standard 2
GB allocated to user programs and 2 GB allocated to the system. Some configurations
of Windows Server 2003 that run virtual memory- intensive applications such as
database servers or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 may require this switch[3] or may
benefit from improved performance.[4]
© î ² Forces the system into standard 640x480 16-color VGA mode by
using a video device driver that is compatible with any video adapter. If the operating
system fails to load due to a faulty or incorrectly-configured video driver, this switch
allows the system to load, so the user may then remove, update, or roll back the
problem video driver. Using this switch in conjunction with the î
switch helps to
determine the driver that is triggering a failure.[3]
© î
 YYY ² Sets the baud rate of the debug port that is used for kernel
debugging. Use of this switch automatically enables the î switch.[3] Specifies an
override for the default baud rate (19200) at which a remote kernel debugger host will
connect.[4] Example: î 
 .
[3]
© î 
² Turns on boot logging to a file named o o
.
© î 
² Displays an alternate 640x480 16-color custom bitmap. The bitmap
must be saved in the \Windows directory with the name . Use with the
[4]
î



switch.
© î
  YYY ² Specifies the amount of memory, in megabytes, that Windows
cannot use. Use this parameter to confirm a performance problem or other problems
that are related to RAM depletion.[3]
© î YY ² Use with the î switch and the î

 switch to
selects the IEEE 1394 interface channel (numbered 0 to 62) through which kernel
debugging communications will flow.[3]
© î

² Loads the kernel debugger at OS startup, but it remains inactive until
a Stop Error occurs. With this switch, the COM port can be used for normal
operations while Windows is running. If Windows crashes, the switch converts the
port to a debug port. (This action turns on remote debugging.)[3]
© î

² Turns on the kernel debugger when Windows starts. Unlike the
î  ! switch, î uses the COM port whether you use debugging or
not.[3]
© î

 a ² Speci ies t e C M port to use for t e debug port B default
î
 uses C M if it exists. Ot erwise, t e default is COM . Use of t is
switch automaticall enables the î
 switch.[3]

© î 


 a
  ² Turns off serial and bus mouse detection for the
specified port s), or for all ports if none are specified. Use this switch when there is a
component other than a mouse attached to a serial port during the startup process.
Ports may be separated with commas to turn off more than one port. (Note: In earlier
versions of Windows, including Windows NT 4.0, this switch was named
[3]
î 

 
.)
© î filename ² Defines the Hardware Abstraction Layer that is loaded at startup.
This switch is useful to try out a different HAL before you rename the file to
Ë  . This switch is also useful when you want to try to switch between starting in
multiprocessor mode and starting in single processor mode. To do this, use this switch
with the î

switch.[3]
© î

 filename ² Defines the kernel that is loaded at startup. With this switch,
you can switch between a debug-enabled kernel that is full of debugging code and a
regular kernel.[3]
© î
 nnn ² Specifies the maximum amount of RAM, in megabytes, that
Windows can use.[3] However, the î
 switch does not account for memory
holes. Therefore, it is recommended to use the î 
 switch instead.[5]
© î ² This option is used by Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE)
and loads the Registry SYSTEM hive as a volatile hive such that changes made to it
in memory are not saved back to the hive image.[4]
© î
 ² Turns off debugging. This scenario can cause a Stop Error if a program
has a debug hardcoded breakpoint in its software.[3]
© î


 ² This option is only
available on 32-bit versions of Windows when running on processors supporting Data
Execution Prevention (DEP). It enables DEP, which results in the memory manager
marking pages containing data as no-execute so that they cannot be executed as code.
This can be useful for preventing malicious code from exploiting buffer overflow
bugs with unexpected program input in order to execute arbitrary code. No-execute
protection is always enabled on 64-bit versions of Windows on processors that
support no-execute protection. There are several options you can specify with this
switch:[4]
u î


 ² Enables DEP for core system images and those
specified in the DEP configuration dialog.
u î


 ² Enables DEP for all images except those specified in
the DEP configuration dialog.
u î


 ² Enables DEP on all images.
u î


 ² Disables DEP.
© î ² Disables the bitmap that displays the progress bar  for Windows
startup.[3] This also disables the text output by chkdsk.[›m m

  ]
© î
² Forces Ntldr to load the non-Physical Address Extension (PAE) version of
the Windows kernel, even if the system is detected as supporting x86 PAEs and has
more than 4 GB of physical memory.[4]
© î


 a ² (Obsolete on all versions post-Windows NT 4.0)
Replaced by the absence of the î


 switch. Disables serial mouse detection
 on the specified COM ports. Using î 

 
without specifying a COM port
disables serial mouse detection on all COM ports.[4]
© î nnn ² Sets the number of processors that Windows will run at startup.
With this switch, you can force a multiprocessor system to use only the quantity of
processors (number) that you specify. Useful for troubleshooting performance
problems and defective CPUs.[3]
© î
 ² Equivalent to using î  . Causes Windows to use only one CPU
on a multiprocessor system.[4]
© î
² Enables Physical Address Extension support. In Safe Mode, the computer
starts by using normal kernels, even if the î
switch is specified.[3]
© î ² For x86-based systems, this stops the operating system from
dynamically assigning hardware input, hardware output, and interrupt request
resources to PCI devices. Instead, the BIOSconfigures the devices.[3]
© î

 ² Turns on Emergency Management Services (EMS) on a Windows
Server 2003, Enterprise Edition-based computer. To turn on EMS by editing the
Boot.ini on an x86-based computer, edit both the [boot loader] section and the
[operating systems] section of the Boot.ini file.[3]
© î

 
 !


" ² Causes
Windows to start in Safe Mode. You must include the colon plus one of the three
types listed above. An additional option you can append is ü 
 

Ë
 , which
tells Windows to use the program specified by the
Ë 


uu
 
uu 
 value as the
graphical shell rather than to use the default, which is Windows Explorer. [4] You can
also combine other
uu!! parameters with î

" „
. The following
examples illustrate the parameters that are in effect when you select a Safe Mode
option from the startup recovery menu. (Note: The î

, î  , and î 
switches are not required with any one of these settings, but the switches can help
with troubleshooting.) [3]
u Ñ
 (î

"  #î

#î #î  ) ² Default:
Uses a minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows.[6]
u Ñ
  
  (î

"
$#î

#î  #
î  ) ² Default mode together with the drivers necessary to load
networking.[6]
u Ñ
   

(î

"  ü 
 

Ë
#î

#î #î  ) ²
Default mode, except that Cmd.exe starts instead of Windows Explorer.[6]
u è  
 
Ñ
  
 (î

"

#
î

) ² (This mode is valid only for Windows-based domain controllers.)
Performs a directory service repair.[6]
© î ² Displays the device driver names while they are being loaded. Use with the
[3]
î

%
 switch to determine the driver that is triggering a failure.
© î

 ² Specifies that Windows uses the Power Management Timer
(PM_TIMER) timer settings instead of the Time Stamp Counter (TSC) timer settings
if the processor supports the PM_TIMER settings.[3] By default, Windows Server
2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) uses the PM timer for all multiprocessor APIC or
ACPIHALs. If you are not running Windows Server 2003 SP2, you must force the
computer to use the PM timer by using the î


 switch.[7]
 © î
# nnn ² Customizes the amount of memory, in megabytes, that is allocated
to processes when using the î& switch. This switch permits more page table entry
kernel memory but still maintains almost 3 GB of process memory space.[6]
[4]
© î$% ² Directs Ntldr to boot the Windows boot sector stored in
uu'()*+ .
© î$%  ² Directs Ntldr to boot the MS-DOS boot sector stored in
[4]

uu'(,u' .
© î
 ² Instructs the Windows core time function to ignore the year that the
computer's real-time clock reports and instead use the one indicated. Example:
[4]
î
-++ . (This switch was created to assist in Y2K testing.)