SYSTEM file corrupted

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike

I'm getting the following message when I try to boot my
Compaq laptop running Windows XP Home:

"Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

I can get to the recovery console C: prompt, but it won't
recognize directories on the C: drive. The floppy and CD
drives are accessible.

I have a feeling that Norton Utilities or Antivirus is
the culprit, as they've been the cause of most of my
computer problems lately. This all started after a
Windows lockup.

If any of you have any advice, I would greatly appreciate
hearing it.
 
Hi Mike - While this won't be of too much help with your current problem
(you'll just have to work your way through the Recovery Console process,
I suspect), for future reference:

Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/index.htm I've set it
up to take a scheduled backup each night at 12:01AM on a weekly
round-robin basis, and a Monthly on the 1st of each month. See here for
how to set that up:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some
useful information about this subject This program is one of the best
things around - saved my butt on many occasions, and will also run very
nicely from a DOS prompt (in case you've done something that won't let
you boot any more and need to revert to a previous Registry) if you're
FAT32 or have a DOS startup disk with NTFS drivers. (BTW, it also
includes a Registry defragger program). Free, and very, very highly
recommended.

BTW, quoting from the above document:

Note: The "Export registry" function in Regedit is USELESS (!) to make
a complete backup of the registry. Neither does it export the whole
registry (for example, no information from the "SECURITY" hive is
saved), nor can the exported file be used later to replace the current
registry with the old one. Instead, if you re-import the file, it is
merged with the current registry, leaving you with an absolute mess of
old and new registry keys.



--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP
Please respond in original thread in Newsgroup.




In [email protected], Mike typed:
 
If you can not do it try this: How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade
(Reinstallation) (Repair) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341
--
-----
Paul
-----
www.paulsxp.com
www.paulsxp.com/forums

Mike said:
Thanks - this article looks to be exactly what I needed.
Unfortunately, I'm even more screwed up than I thought -
when I try to do the first step, making a "tmp" directory
from the C:\> prompt, I get the "Access is denied"
message. Am I looking at a reload?
-----Original Message-----
How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; [LN];307545

--
-----
Paul
-----
www.paulsxp.com
www.paulsxp.com/forums

Mike said:
I'm getting the following message when I try to boot my
Compaq laptop running Windows XP Home:

"Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

I can get to the recovery console C: prompt, but it won't
recognize directories on the C: drive. The floppy and CD
drives are accessible.

I have a feeling that Norton Utilities or Antivirus is
the culprit, as they've been the cause of most of my
computer problems lately. This all started after a
Windows lockup.

If any of you have any advice, I would greatly appreciate
hearing it.
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