Re: Missing/Corrupt /WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SYSTEM problem!

Tech-Archive recommends: Speed Up your PC by fixing your registry

zmoney444 wrote:
I have a computer running on Windows XP and I required a virus that
kept taking me to a blue screen telling me to delete whatever i
recently downloaded. I did this and it took me to a black screen
reading...Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\ and it tells me to
insert Repair CD-Rom and press 'r'. THere is one probem...i do not
have a Windows XP disk only a Windows Vista SP1 disk from my other
computer. I need this computer up and running and do not really
care about the files only having it running again. I have read many
other threads that spoke about having a Windows XP disk(Which I do
not have) or recoverying the files to a flash drive so i have the
files. I dont care so much for these files but for the computer.
PLEASE HELP ME. P.S-I do not intend on spending lots of cash on a
new disk or taking the computer to the shop! You can e-mail me on
hotmail(zmoney444). P.S- I dont want to spend money on a Windows
disk or taking the computer to a shop. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

You can get your stuff off if you have access to another computer (with a CD
burner) and someone's Windows XP CD. You can use those to create a Windows
Ultimate Boot CD - boot your computer and get whatever you want off it and
onto external media (CD/DVD/USB drive/Network Share/etc.)
http://www.ubcd4win.com/

As far as fixing it - if it is a hardware issue (hard disk drive crash) and
all it had was a recovery partition to restore it back to it's "as
purchased" state - you are likely out of luck. If you don't have a spare
hard disk drive (good one) and the proper type/flavor of Windows
installation media sitting around - you will be spending money on one or
both.

As far as fixing it - if it is strictly a software issue - you might get
away with a borrowed CD of the same flavor (Windows XP Home, Professional,
Media Center, etc) and then changing the key back to your own if necessary.
You might not even have to worry about the key if the *fix* is successful
without a lot of other muss/fuss:

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
starting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Use the "Manual steps to recover a corrupted registry that prevents Windows
XP from starting".

I have only seen those work twice out of the six times I had to try and fix
this issue. In the other four times - it was a bad hard disk drive. Once
the drive is dead - you need to replace the hard disk drive or you will get
pretty much no-where.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


.

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