WINNT\SYSTEM32 .. file missing or corrupted

  • Thread starter Thread starter paulamvidal
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paulamvidal

I am having problems to start my pc, all of the sudeen I get the
message that file \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is either missing or
corrupted, pressing f8 didn't work neither inserting the Win2000
setup cd.

I'm trying to fix these myself, before actually sending it to a tec,
so can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.
 
Did you ever make an Emergency Repair Disk? If so you can use the disk
to try to repair the installation.

If you don't have an ERD you can boot to the Recovery Console and
replace the System hive at C:\WINNT\system32\config with the System hive
from the C:\WINNT\repair folder. If you have previously made an ERD and
selected to save the registry a copy of the hive will be stored in the
C:\WINNT\repair\RegBack folder, the file in the RegBack folder will be
newer than the one in the Repair folder.

When Windows 2000 is installed a copy of the original (as installed)
registry and its hives is stored in the \WINNT\repair folder, when you
create an Emergency Repair Disk and backup the registry at the same time
a newer copy of the registry is stored in the \WINNT\repair\RegBack 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
 
Dave 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

I am having problems to start my pc, all of the sudeen I get the
message that file \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is either missing or
corrupted, pressing f8 didn't work neither inserting the Win2000
setup cd.

I'm trying to fix these myself, before actually sending it to a tec,
so can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

EMFBI
My install of W2000SP4 +Rollup has a %systemroot%\system32\config\system AND as
you described a ...\config\SYSTEM.ALT which appears to be a duplicate generated
along with system, exact size, date, time.

Only a minimal original install 'system' file in %systemroot%\repair appears.

There is no sub-folder under 'repair'.

How to generate a backup 'system' file short of manually copying to a folder
'regback'?

Dick
 
Dave Patrick wrote:

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 am having problems to start my pc, all of the sudeen I get the
message that file \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is either missing or
corrupted, pressing f8 didn't work neither inserting the Win2000
setup cd.

I'm trying to fix these myself, before actually sending it to a tec,
so can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


EMFBI
My install of W2000SP4 +Rollup has a %systemroot%\system32\config\system AND as
you described a ...\config\SYSTEM.ALT which appears to be a duplicate generated
along with system, exact size, date, time.

Only a minimal original install 'system' file in %systemroot%\repair appears.

There is no sub-folder under 'repair'.

How to generate a backup 'system' file short of manually copying to a folder
'regback'?
Click to expand...

Create an Emergence Repair Disk and select to save the registry when you
create the disk.

How to Create an Emergency Repair Disk in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/231777

Using the Emergency Repair Disk
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/core/fndc_rec_znjl.mspx?mfr=true

John
 
Did you ever make an Emergency Repair Disk?  If so you can use the disk
to try to repair the installation.

If you don't have an ERD you can boot to the Recovery Console and
replace the System hive at C:\WINNT\system32\config with the System hive
from the C:\WINNT\repair folder.  If you have previously made an ERD and
selected to save the registry a copy of the hive will be stored in the
C:\WINNT\repair\RegBack folder, the file in the RegBack folder will be
newer than the one in the Repair folder.

When Windows 2000 is installed a copy of the original (as installed)
registry and its hives is stored in the \WINNT\repair folder, when you
create an Emergency Repair Disk and backup the registry at the same time
a newer copy of the registry is stored in the \WINNT\repair\RegBack folder.

John







- Mostrar texto citado -
Click to expand...

Ok, thank you all for the help, but it seems I didnt explain my
problem well, aftwer the error msg aand inserting the win200 cd setup
nothing happens, the screen keeps showing same error msg and even if i
turn off pc and try starting with cd already in, same results. Guess
its tec time eh...?
 
Ok, thank you all for the help, but it seems I didnt explain my
problem well, aftwer the error msg aand inserting the win200 cd setup
nothing happens, the screen keeps showing same error msg and even if i
turn off pc and try starting with cd already in, same results. Guess
its tec time eh...?
Click to expand...

Some computers allow you to access a boot menu by pressing a key when
the computer is booting up, from that boot menu you can select which
device you want to boot from. If you don't have a boot menu option go
in the BIOS and change the boot order so that the computer is set to
boot to the CD drive before the hard drive. To access the BIOS you have
to press a key when the computer is booting up, pay close attention to
the information on the screen and you should get a prompt telling you
which key to press to enter the BIOS Setup, common keys are F2, Delete
or Escape.

John
 
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