Command line
For tasks without a program of their own, the recovery environment offers Microsoft PowerShell and the Windows command prompt. Both run in the recovery environment, not in the Windows installation on the disk.
Open the command line​
| Command line | How to open it |
|---|---|
| Microsoft PowerShell (PowerShell 7) | Start > Programs > Accessories > Microsoft PowerShell |
| Command prompt | Start > Run…, enter cmd and click OK |
PowerShell is downloaded while the media creator builds the boot media. If the expert mode skipped the download, the entry is missing; the command prompt is always available.
Type exit to close the window.
Drive letters​
- X: is the drive of the recovery environment in memory. Everything saved there is lost at restart.
- The drives of the computer can have other letters than in Windows. The Drives tab of the start wizard shows and changes them (see Prepare the target system).
Check the letter with dir before you run a command that changes a drive.
Scripts​
Keep scripts and batch files on a USB drive or a drive of the computer, not on X:. Start them with their full path, for example E:\scripts\collect-logs.cmd.
Commands of the command line change the drives of the computer directly. A wrong drive letter can delete or overwrite the wrong data. Back up first.
Windows tools​
The recovery environment is based on the Windows recovery environment and contains its command-line tools, for example diskpart, chkdsk and bcdboot. To check and repair Windows, prefer O&O CheckAndRepair: it applies DISM, SFC and CHKDSK to the right installation (see Repair a Windows installation).
The old commands of earlier O&O BlueCon versions, such as passwd or vmap, are no longer included. Use the programs in the start menu instead, for example O&O UserManager for passwords.