Re: XP Problem, Please Help--

Shenan Stanley wrote:
jamalsbro wrote:
I need help, bigtime!

My Dell- Dimension8400 is giving me problems that are XP related.

Last week I powered up the machine and got a message that said"
windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt- windows\system32\config\system. There is a message that
says that I can try to fix the file using recovery, which I have
tried to no avail. I found some instructions on how to fix
registry errors which I have done. It involved copying files
while in recovery mode which I did, however, when I was copying
the files I received a message that said one of the files was not
there. This happened when I entered the command- copy
c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows \system32\config\system- it
says that the file cannot be located. When I try to restart the
computer I get the very, very first windowsxp screen, then the
computer goes through a bunch of files then stops briefly and then
reboots and does it all over again. It will not boot in safe mode
because of this.
I just don't know what else I to do and any and all help and
suggestions is greatly appreciated.

<some answers inline>

Clark... wrote:
This is the fix, I don't know what the heck the other responders to
the post are thinking, I do this for my customers all the time.

Easy Way --- Note that this doesn't always work.
When you are booting your system, press the F8 key during the start
of the bootup sequence, meaning after it does the Power On Self
Test.
Once you press the F8 key, you will be taken to a Menu. Select
"Boot Using Last Known Good Configuration".


Won't work for the OP. Why not - see the next answer to you...


It will now attempt to load Windows XP using a past set of
configuration files.

If that doesn't work, there is the next step....the hard way.

Hard Way
Boot your system with the Windows XP Install CD, let the system
boot into the Setup. Once in the Setup, choose to run the Recovery
Console.
You will now be presented with a screen similar to good old DOS.

First, we will recover the System Hive.

Now, type in the following commands with pressing Enter after each
line.
md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\system C:\windows\tmp\system.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\system
copy C:\windows\repair\system C:\windows\system32\config\system

Be very careful when you are typing in these commands, one wrong
move, and you know, broken Windows XP.

Also, change the C in the commands to whatever your Windows XP
drive letter is.

Attempt to boot the system, if it doesn't boot, get back into the
Recovery Console and do the following commands.

md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\software C:\windows\tmp\software.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\software
copy C:\windows\repair\software C:\windows\system32\config\software

If you read anything the OP said - you'd know they already did this. Thus
why your easy method won't work and the hard method is already
proven not to work.

If you had read not only the responses, but the original post itself
- you would have known "what the heck the other responders to the
post are thinking"... ;-) You quoted ther original post - so...
that's something.
Also - if you 'do this for your customers all the time' - something is
majorly broke on your customers computers and needs to be properly
repaired. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP


Your right I did not read the post very well at all. my bad sorry
when I say my customers have the problem all the time we need to consider
that I average 3 appointments a day (I visit residential and small business)
so when I say all the time I really mean about 8 to 12 times a year, which
to me seems like too often.
The fix I quoted works about 75 percent of the time , the rest is a repair
install just as you suggested
Clark...

--
it wouldn't be the first time I was called an ***


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