dual boot and registry problems: missing system file

From: Larry Wight (larry_at_wightlight.com)
Date: 02/29/04 

Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 12:11:53 -0800

I installed win2k on an external drive on my XP machine and when done found
that while win2k booted fine, but I had lost my XP boot. It says when trying
to boot XP, "Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMd..."
I have attempted to reconstruct the registry using KB 307545, "How to
recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting"
but have found that indeed the files \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM and
\WINDOWS\REPAIR\SYSTEM are both missing. In addition, the drive on which XP
should run got redesignated as "D" from "C" (I don't know if that is
actually part of this problem).

I am getting more and more concerned. Is there any alternative to a fresh
install of XP? Will I lose data and software when re-installing XP ??

Larry Wight

Relevant Pages

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