Can't repair missing/corrupt file, can't boot (file name inside)

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G

Guest

Greetings!

Yesterday morning we shut our computer down normally since we were expecting
thunderstorms before we got home. Although the storms did not materialize
until today, when I started the computer up last night it would not boot and
said the following file was missing or corrupt:

WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

I had to boot in safe mode to read the filename (the normal boot screen
obscured part of it). When booting in safe mode it listed several files it
was accessing before getting to SYSTEM and SYSTEM.ALT before giving me the
error message.

I tried doing a repair with my W2K disk a couple of times to no avail; when
I reboot after the repair it stops at the same place. So...

1) Are there other steps I can try? I did not use the Console mode since I
didn't know what to do once I got into it. The Setup software says if the
repair does not work, to restart the Setup program and choose the 'Recover
destroyed installation' option (not sure of the right phrasing). I did not
see this option, only the repair and setup options.

2) If my only other choice is to go with the setup option will the program
offer the choice of only working on the Windows install and leave the rest of
the files alone (i.e. not do a clean install)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Greg
 
Greetings!

Yesterday morning we shut our computer down normally since we were
expecting thunderstorms before we got home. Although the storms
did not materialize until today, when I started the computer up
last night it would not boot and said the following file was
missing or corrupt:

WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

I had to boot in safe mode to read the filename (the normal boot
screen obscured part of it). When booting in safe mode it listed
several files it was accessing before getting to SYSTEM and
SYSTEM.ALT before giving me the error message.

I tried doing a repair with my W2K disk a couple of times to no
avail; when I reboot after the repair it stops at the same place.
Click to expand...

Your System hive of the Registry is corrupt. Unless you have recently
backed up your registry hive, you're SOL. Try searching your hard
drive for a file named "System" with comparable size. If you don't
find one ... well, What you should do at this point is back up as many
of your data files as possible then wipe the disk and reinstall windows
and all of your applications.

Good Luck,
John
 
John,

Thanks for the reply. A couple of questions:

Given our scenario, any idea on how this happened?

How would I go about doing the search (the only way I can see the hard drive
contents is DOS-based in the Console mode)?

If this is the case, how would I go about backing up the data files (again,
no Windows to do a CD burn)?

Thanks!
Greg
 
If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and
choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found
in
%windir%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%windir%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%windir%\system32\config\system

You can also try using the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%windir%\repair\system
to
%windir%\system32\config\system
You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
original OS install.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Greetings!
|
| Yesterday morning we shut our computer down normally since we were
expecting
| thunderstorms before we got home. Although the storms did not materialize
| until today, when I started the computer up last night it would not boot
and
| said the following file was missing or corrupt:
|
| WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
|
| I had to boot in safe mode to read the filename (the normal boot screen
| obscured part of it). When booting in safe mode it listed several files
it
| was accessing before getting to SYSTEM and SYSTEM.ALT before giving me the
| error message.
|
| I tried doing a repair with my W2K disk a couple of times to no avail;
when
| I reboot after the repair it stops at the same place. So...
|
| 1) Are there other steps I can try? I did not use the Console mode since
I
| didn't know what to do once I got into it. The Setup software says if the
| repair does not work, to restart the Setup program and choose the 'Recover
| destroyed installation' option (not sure of the right phrasing). I did
not
| see this option, only the repair and setup options.
|
| 2) If my only other choice is to go with the setup option will the program
| offer the choice of only working on the Windows install and leave the rest
of
| the files alone (i.e. not do a clean install)?
|
| Any help would be greatly appreciated!
| Greg
 
Try a simple repair.
Boot from your windows 2000 cd, when prompted choose the option to Repair an
Existing windows 2000 installation. Note you may need your Emergency Recovery
Disk if windows fails to find your windows 2000 installation.

Dave Patrick said:
If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and
choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found
in
%windir%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%windir%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%windir%\system32\config\system

You can also try using the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%windir%\repair\system
to
%windir%\system32\config\system
You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
original OS install.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Greetings!
|
| Yesterday morning we shut our computer down normally since we were
expecting
| thunderstorms before we got home. Although the storms did not materialize
| until today, when I started the computer up last night it would not boot
and
| said the following file was missing or corrupt:
|
| WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
|
| I had to boot in safe mode to read the filename (the normal boot screen
| obscured part of it). When booting in safe mode it listed several files
it
| was accessing before getting to SYSTEM and SYSTEM.ALT before giving me the
| error message.
|
| I tried doing a repair with my W2K disk a couple of times to no avail;
when
| I reboot after the repair it stops at the same place. So...
|
| 1) Are there other steps I can try? I did not use the Console mode since
I
| didn't know what to do once I got into it. The Setup software says if the
| repair does not work, to restart the Setup program and choose the 'Recover
| destroyed installation' option (not sure of the right phrasing). I did
not
| see this option, only the repair and setup options.
|
| 2) If my only other choice is to go with the setup option will the program
| offer the choice of only working on the Windows install and leave the rest
of
| the files alone (i.e. not do a clean install)?
|
| Any help would be greatly appreciated!
| Greg
Click to expand...
 
You'll have better luck following my direction.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Try a simple repair.
| Boot from your windows 2000 cd, when prompted choose the option to Repair
an
| Existing windows 2000 installation. Note you may need your Emergency
Recovery
| Disk if windows fails to find your windows 2000 installation.
 
Thanks for all the info guys...unfortunately I wasn't at work (the only place
I could read this forum due to the 'dead' puter at home) so Dave's insight
came a little late; I wound up doing a new install through the Setup
menu...everything seems to be up and running ok (good thing I love
reinstalling software :) )

Thanks again!

Greg
 
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