System file missing - need help on restoring my original windows xp pro sp2 - it only shows one install, not two.

I'm still trying to get repair to work on my new pc. I read all the
suggested bulletins and tried everything. I finally got repair to see my
unique drivers and got to the place where I could pick a version of Windows
XP Professional to boot, but it only showed the latest install and not the
original as a choice.

I had a lot of answers last week, but since last Friday no one has answered
my question.
I will repost it.
-------------------------- trying to run repair --------------------
I have tried running chkdsk /r twice, and have then tried to run the repair
procedure. I finally got the drivers to load by having the drivers on a
floppy in A drive before I started. Then when I get to the screen where I
can click repair, the only choice is: C:\windows2\
but the version I want to repair is in: C:\windows\
Any ideas?

N.
-----------------------------------------
> The original problem was missing or corrupt system file in the
> c:\windows\system32\config\ directory.
>
> When I installed XP again into a c:\windows2 directory, I then booted up
and
> was able to go see what was happening in the c:\windows\system32\config
> directory and there was no file called system there, but there was one
> called system in the C:\windows2\system32\config\ directory. So I rebooted
> into a safe mode dos prompt and copied that file called system from the
> c:\windows2\system32\config\ path to the first install,
> c:\windows\system32\config directory.

I've seen the problem you describe - it can be solved by booting from
the Windows XP CD, going into recovery mode and from the Dos Prompt
doing a CHKDSK /R a couple times. If you only run it once it won't fix
the entire structure, the minimum I've seen is twice.

Now that you've copied the one structure over-top the other I think you
will need to do a repair/reinstall and use the F6 option to install
drivers first.

You may find that the copy didn't work and you still need to do a CHKDSK
/R in order to repair the FAT.

--



.

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