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Extension practice

Password Recovery Practice Questions

Extension practice: recovering IOS device access via ROMMON or a boot loader.

Author-reviewed by LabFabric · 7 September 2026 · Report a content issue

One solved question, so you can see how these are marked

During password recovery on a Cisco router, which configuration register value causes the router to boot while ignoring the contents of NVRAM's startup-config?

0x2142

0x2142 tells the router to skip loading the startup configuration on boot, so it comes up with a blank running configuration while leaving the startup config in NVRAM untouched.

Every question in the set below is marked like this. The answers stay hidden until you pick one.

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All 4 Password Recovery questions in this set

Answers and explanations appear when you work through the set above.

  1. After booting a router with the configuration register set to 0x2142, why does the startup configuration remain unchanged even though it was not loaded?

    • Setting the register to skip loading startup-config does not erase or modify it, it simply is not applied to the running configuration on that boot
    • The startup configuration is automatically backed up to flash before being skipped
    • 0x2142 only skips loading the enable password, not the rest of the configuration
    • The startup configuration is temporarily moved into a hidden partition

  2. After completing password recovery and setting a new enable secret, which two steps must be done before reloading to ensure the router boots normally with the new password intact?

    • Copy running-config to startup-config, and set the configuration register back to 0x2102
    • Erase NVRAM, and set the configuration register to 0x2142
    • Copy startup-config to running-config, and leave the register at 0x2142
    • Reload immediately without saving, the new password is stored automatically

  3. During password recovery on a router, after copying the startup configuration into running-config, why might an interface still show as administratively down even though it had an IP address configured?

    • Interfaces are shut down by default when loaded this way, and must be re-enabled with no shutdown
    • The IP address was lost during the password recovery process
    • The interface's IP address is now invalid and must be reconfigured
    • Password recovery permanently disables all physical interfaces

  4. On a Catalyst switch, what is the typical first step in the password recovery procedure, performed by holding the Mode button while power cycling the switch?

    • Enter switch boot loader mode so the startup configuration can be bypassed or removed before the operating system fully loads
    • Immediately erase the running configuration in DRAM
    • Trigger a full factory reset of the switch, including flash contents
    • Force the switch to download a new IOS image over TFTP automatically