\winnt\system32\config\system corrupt or missing

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G

Guest

I had a RAID5 drive crash. Drive has been replaced but just a few seconds
past when the "Scrolling Bar" start-up screen appears. The system crashes and
says the "c:\winnt\system32\config\system file is corrupt or missing".

At this moment all I have to boot from are a set of W2k setup diskettes
along with the raid drivers I need for this machine.

I can get to the console and that's about it. Have navigated to the *\config
directory copied everything to another directory for safe keeping. Emptied
the *\config directory in the hopes that the system would possibly rebuild
the needed files. They do not. Copied everything back to the *\config
directory hoping that the file copies would truncate the corruption but still
leave enough for the system to boot. It did not. I do not have an ERD that is
usable and the system CD-ROM is failed, To top that off the CD-ROM is and odd
ball Dell combo floppy/slimline cd-rom. There are no other IDE controllers to
add a normal cd-rom. Have a PCI IDE controller being delivered tomorrow but
don't think that it will really help booting from the CD vice a floppy.

I'm pulling my hair out. Is there anyway to salvage this without
reinstalling the OS??

Any and all help is most greatly appreciated.

-Roger
 
Your hope that the system would possibly rebuild the needed files in the
config folder are wishful thinking indeed. These hives are created when
Windows is installed, they can't be magically recreated out of thin air.

When Windows is installed it also copies the original hives to the
%systemroot%\repair folder. If you make Emergency Repair Disks
regularly and select to back up the registry at the same time, copies of
the current registry hives are stored in the %systemroot%\repair\RegBack
folder. Your best recovery option is to replace the damaged hive(s) in
the config folder with the ones in the %systemroot%\repair\RegBack
folder. If you didn't make any backups then your only other alternative
is to replace the hive(s) with the ones in the %systemroot%\repair folder.

John
 
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
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%systemroot%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%systemroot%\system32\config\system

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

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%systemroot%\repair\system
to
%systemroot%\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
 
I ended up just reinstalling the OS... :( Lesson learned on several things.

Thanks guys.. :)

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
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%systemroot%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%systemroot%\system32\config\system

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

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%systemroot%\repair\system
to
%systemroot%\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

SkinnyDawg said:
I had a RAID5 drive crash. Drive has been replaced but just a few seconds
past when the "Scrolling Bar" start-up screen appears. The system crashes
and
says the "c:\winnt\system32\config\system file is corrupt or missing".

At this moment all I have to boot from are a set of W2k setup diskettes
along with the raid drivers I need for this machine.

I can get to the console and that's about it. Have navigated to the
*\config
directory copied everything to another directory for safe keeping. Emptied
the *\config directory in the hopes that the system would possibly rebuild
the needed files. They do not. Copied everything back to the *\config
directory hoping that the file copies would truncate the corruption but
still
leave enough for the system to boot. It did not. I do not have an ERD that
is
usable and the system CD-ROM is failed, To top that off the CD-ROM is and
odd
ball Dell combo floppy/slimline cd-rom. There are no other IDE controllers
to
add a normal cd-rom. Have a PCI IDE controller being delivered tomorrow
but
don't think that it will really help booting from the CD vice a floppy.

I'm pulling my hair out. Is there anyway to salvage this without
reinstalling the OS??

Any and all help is most greatly appreciated.

-Roger
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