The following sections explain how to launch the Emergency Recovery application from a bootable Windows PE emergency recovery disk (ERD) and then load the device’s emergency recovery information (ERI) file. After you have completed these two tasks, you can perform any of the recovery tasks (decrypting drives, repairing the boot chain, and so forth) needed to recover the device.
You can launch the Emergency Recovery application from a Windows PE emergency recovery CD, DVD, or USB device. The instructions assume that you have completed the following prerequisites:
Created a Windows PE ERD. If not, see Creating a Windows PE Emergency Recovery Disk and Creating a Windows PE Emergency Recovery USB Drive.
Included the device’s emergency recovery information (ERI) file on the ERD or copied it to a removable media device (such as a USB drive) that can be read by the Windows device. If not, see Retrieving ERI Files and Passwords.
To launch the Emergency Recovery application:
If the device’s ERI file is on a removable storage device (such as a USB drive), insert it into the Windows device.
This is required so that the removable storage device can be recognized during the boot-up of the Windows device.
Reboot the Windows device by using the ERD.
The Emergency Recovery application launches automatically, scans the device, then displays the main window.
NOTE:If the application does not start, use the command prompt to change to the X:\Program Files\FDE directory, then enter pe_erd_w32.exe to start the application.
Click File, then click one of the following options to load the device’s ERI file:
Open ERI file: Opens Windows Explorer so that you can browse to and select the correct ERI file. After you select the ERI file, you are prompted for the ERI password.
Load ERI from Cache: Prompts you for the password for the device’s cached ERI file, then loads the file. If you do not know the password, you can view it in ZENworks Control Center by navigating to Security > Full Disk Encryption > Emergency Recovery. If the device has multiple ERI files, the cached file is the most recent file listed. If the cached file was not uploaded, you will not have access to the correct password and you will need to use an older ERI file. See About ERI Files for more information.
The Emergency Recovery application displays that the file is loaded.
Perform the necessary recovery operations. See Performing Recovery Operations for instructions.