Help with possible corrupt registry

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and probably not as technical as a lot of you, but I'm
trying to repair a problem and could really use some help.

After performing my Windows 2000 updates and rebooting my PC, I received the
following message:

file WINNT\System32\config\system is missing or corrupt

So far, I've tried fixing it with the Emergency Repair Disk and chkdsk C: /p
/r but it hasn't helped. Coincidentally, this same thing happened a day
earlier with another computer in our office but there was no Windows update
involved -- just a reboot. I tried the above fixes in addition to renaming
the system and system.alt files and moving the winnt/repair/system file over
to the config folder but that seemed to make things worse since I now am
unable to gain access to the recovery console on that one.

I did search the knowledge base and found the same info as above but so far
it hasn't helped with my problem. Does anyone have any other advice? There
are a few files on the computers I'd like to save, otherwise, I'd reinstall
the O/S.

Thanks,

Tana
 
"seemed to make things worse "

How is it worse? Does the operating system start? If not what happens when
you try? When the registry is corrupt it may not prompt for the local
administrator password which may be where you're at now.

"unable to gain access to the recovery console"

Tell us why.

--
Regards,

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

:
| Hi all,
|
| I'm new to this forum and probably not as technical as a lot of you, but
I'm
| trying to repair a problem and could really use some help.
|
| After performing my Windows 2000 updates and rebooting my PC, I received
the
| following message:
|
| file WINNT\System32\config\system is missing or corrupt
|
| So far, I've tried fixing it with the Emergency Repair Disk and chkdsk C:
/p
| /r but it hasn't helped. Coincidentally, this same thing happened a day
| earlier with another computer in our office but there was no Windows
update
| involved -- just a reboot. I tried the above fixes in addition to renaming
| the system and system.alt files and moving the winnt/repair/system file
over
| to the config folder but that seemed to make things worse since I now am
| unable to gain access to the recovery console on that one.
|
| I did search the knowledge base and found the same info as above but so
far
| it hasn't helped with my problem. Does anyone have any other advice? There
| are a few files on the computers I'd like to save, otherwise, I'd
reinstall
| the O/S.
|
| Thanks,
|
| Tana
|
| --
| ....
 
Hi Dave,

After moving the repair version of the system file over and rebooting, the
ability to type 'r' to gain access into the recovery console apparently went
away. I can't seem to get into the repair console now at any point. It does
try to boot up (I see the normal Windows 2000 screen come up for about 30
seconds or so) but then it reboots itself and seems to be caught in a loop
doing this.

As for the admin password, I have never been prompted for this on either
computer but I was allowed entry to the recovery console.

Thanks,

Tana
 
How are you starting the RC? 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

:
| Hi Dave,
|
| After moving the repair version of the system file over and rebooting, the
| ability to type 'r' to gain access into the recovery console apparently
went
| away. I can't seem to get into the repair console now at any point. It
does
| try to boot up (I see the normal Windows 2000 screen come up for about 30
| seconds or so) but then it reboots itself and seems to be caught in a loop
| doing this.
|
| As for the admin password, I have never been prompted for this on either
| computer but I was allowed entry to the recovery console.
|
| Thanks,
|
| Tana
 
I am starting the RC by using the Win2000 setup CD. I seem to be able to get
into the RC without being prompted for a userid and password, however. I've
been prompted to press 'R' and then 'C' and it then takes me to a DOS prompt.
I guess I thought I was in at that point. I did run a chkdsk but nothing
changed. I'm trying to access some files that are located in the Documents
and Settings folder but it won't allow me in at that point. I could at least
download the docs I don't want to lose and then reinstall the O/S. Does
anyone know how I can accomplish this?

Thanks,

Tana
 
"Tana" wrote:
|I am starting the RC by using the Win2000 setup CD. I seem to be able to
get
| into the RC without being prompted for a userid and password, however.
* Typical when the registry is corrupt.


I've
| been prompted to press 'R' and then 'C' and it then takes me to a DOS
prompt.
| I guess I thought I was in at that point.
* Yes, that's it.


I did run a chkdsk but nothing
| changed. I'm trying to access some files that are located in the
Documents
| and Settings folder but it won't allow me in at that point.
* In order to have access to other folders you need to have (ahead of time);
Control Panel|Admin Tools|Local Security Policy Recovery console:
"Allow floppy copy and access to all drives/folders" set to enabled.

Then from the recovery console command line;
SET allowallpaths = TRUE

to gain access to all folders.

You might try;
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/ntfsdos.shtml

If nothing else you can at least recover your data from the parallel install
prior to rebuilding the operating system. This article may also help you.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266465


--
Regards,

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

The following has worked for us on about 80% of the cases where the
Win 2000 registry has gotten corrupt:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830570


To download the Windows 2000 Registry Repair Utility, visit the
following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=56D3C201-2C68-4DE8-9229-CA494362419C


You end up building a set of floppies, which we then made into a
bootable CD since we don't have too many machines with floppy drives
anymore.

Good luck!

HTH

Harry



Dave Patrick said:
"Tana" wrote:
|I am starting the RC by using the Win2000 setup CD. I seem to be able to
get
| into the RC without being prompted for a userid and password, however.
* Typical when the registry is corrupt.


I've
| been prompted to press 'R' and then 'C' and it then takes me to a DOS
prompt.
| I guess I thought I was in at that point.
* Yes, that's it.


I did run a chkdsk but nothing
| changed. I'm trying to access some files that are located in the
Documents
| and Settings folder but it won't allow me in at that point.
* In order to have access to other folders you need to have (ahead of time);
Control Panel|Admin Tools|Local Security Policy Recovery console:
"Allow floppy copy and access to all drives/folders" set to enabled.

Then from the recovery console command line;
SET allowallpaths = TRUE

to gain access to all folders.

You might try;
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/ntfsdos.shtml

If nothing else you can at least recover your data from the parallel install
prior to rebuilding the operating system. This article may also help you.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266465
Click to expand...


Ha®®y

(e-mail address removed)
 
Back
Top