corrupt/missing \winnt\system32\config\system

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alex Ferenstein
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A

Alex Ferenstein

I have a newer XP partitions (rdisk(0)partition(1) and rdisk(0)partition(1))
and older Win2K partition (rdisk(1)partition(1))and all have lived together
merrily for some time...
Now when I attempt to boot into Win2K partition (from XP's boot loader), I
get "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM).
Now, obviously "G:\WINNT\system32\config\system" on Win2K isn't missing and
for all I can tell it's not corrupt.\
This problem seems to be well documented on the web and it seems to be a
result of a large hardware and system related part of the registry
heirarchy.
HOWEVER, my symptoms are very different - if I set HDD-1 as my boot device
in BIOS, Win2K comes up with absolutely no problems. (I've even done CHKDSK
/F a few times.) In fact, I'm writing this thread on Win2K. In Win2K there's
absolutely no sign of anything being wrong.

Here's Win2K's boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par­ tition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1­ )\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

and here's XP's boot.ini
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par­ tition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1­ )\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1­ )\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional"
/fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2­ )\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro.
Mini" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Although different, I believe the discrepancy is insignificant, since only
the boot loader (my first XP partition) has to have it right.
The only thing I can think off is that I recently installed Anycom USB
device which used Widcomm/Broadcom driver. At the time I saw nothing wrong
and I believe I even rebooted into Win2K a few times (as one does after a
driver install). I've now uninstalled it, but problem remains.
Anyone, ideas?
 
Somehow, when you're booting Windows 2000 from the XP Boot loader, it doesn't think that its on

rdisk(1)partition(1­ ), which is why its boot loader works. It believes its on rdisk(0)partition(1), which is essentially what you're telling it when you set it as the boot device in the BIOS.

You can, either do a repair installation, or use a 3rd party boot manager, such as BootIt Next Generation, www.bootitng.com. With BootIt, you would simply do the installation, then create boot menu items for each OS. You can set these boot menu items up so that each OS can see the other disk, or hide the other disk from each OS.

Another thing you can try is to edit the Win2K registry from within XP. Boot into XP and run Regedit. Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Go to File, Load Hive and navigate to G:\WINNT\System32\config and "system" file, with no extension. You'll be asked to name this key, I use LoadedHive. Now, expand Loaded Hive until you get to:

LoadedHive\System\CurrentControlSet\Control

In the right pane, you'll see the SystemBootDevice value. Modify it to point to multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)

Once done, go back and highlight LoadedHive and go to File, Unload Hive. Reboot and choose the Win2K OS. If it doesn't work, just use the same procedure to put it back.

I don't have a true "dual boot" setup here, as I'm often running 3 or more OS's, due to various betas. I use BootIt NG as my boot manager.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

Alex Ferenstein said:
I have a newer XP partitions (rdisk(0)partition(1) and rdisk(0)partition(1))
and older Win2K partition (rdisk(1)partition(1))and all have lived together
merrily for some time...
Now when I attempt to boot into Win2K partition (from XP's boot loader), I
get "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM).
Now, obviously "G:\WINNT\system32\config\system" on Win2K isn't missing and
for all I can tell it's not corrupt.\
This problem seems to be well documented on the web and it seems to be a
result of a large hardware and system related part of the registry
heirarchy.
HOWEVER, my symptoms are very different - if I set HDD-1 as my boot device
in BIOS, Win2K comes up with absolutely no problems. (I've even done CHKDSK
/F a few times.) In fact, I'm writing this thread on Win2K. In Win2K there's
absolutely no sign of anything being wrong.

Here's Win2K's boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par­ tition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1­ )\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

and here's XP's boot.ini
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par­ tition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1­ )\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1­ )\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional"
/fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2­ )\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro.
Mini" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Although different, I believe the discrepancy is insignificant, since only
the boot loader (my first XP partition) has to have it right.
The only thing I can think off is that I recently installed Anycom USB
device which used Widcomm/Broadcom driver. At the time I saw nothing wrong
and I believe I even rebooted into Win2K a few times (as one does after a
driver install). I've now uninstalled it, but problem remains.
Anyone, ideas?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, I botted into Win2K partition, here's the content:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"CurrentUser"="USERNAME"
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="20000"
"SystemStartOptions"="FASTDETECT"

As you see I don't have "SystemBootDevice". Would I need to create it?
 
Unfortunately, I no longer have any systems running Win2K to be able to verify that it should be there.

Worst case scenario, try it. You can always edit it back out from the XP operating system if it doesn't boot. Try both combinations.
 
Doug, I added the "/SOS" parameter to Win2K line in XP's boot.ini.
Now, at boot, I get printout
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT\SYSTEM32\ntoskkrnl.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT\SYSTEM32\hal.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT\SYSTEM32\KDCOM.DLL
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT\SYSTEM32\BOOTVID.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT\SYSTEM32\config\system
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT\SYSTEM32\config\system.alt
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

So, as far as I can tell, the boot loading is succesful.

Also, I loaded up almost virgin Win2K on my laptop - there's no
SystemBootDevice.
 
What you're seeing is that the System (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System) portion of the Registry is corrupt. Since this doesn't happen when you load with that drive as the boot device, it has to be something that's pointing to the drive/partition that the system thinks its on. As I said, I don't have any Win2K machines to test on to give you further guidance.
 
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