This computer problem has me completely stumped. I booted up my PC
today, and I received the message,

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

I thought, no problem, I'll just get out my Windows XP install CD, and
use the recovery option. So I changed my BIOS to boot from the cd,
and selected R for recovery. THe next thing the screen is choose the
windows session that you want to login to:

1:c:\windows

I only have one partion with a single install. I typed 1 and pressed
Enter. THen nothing. The screen freezes. I let it set for 30
minutes, and nothing else happens. I even selected the option to just
reinstall XP, and it will say "checking for previous versions of
windows". And nothing else happens. I let the screen sit for 30
minutes. SO I can't even reinstall Windows because there is a
previous version. Is there any way I can just get to the DOS prompt
and wipe everything out? The only other option I know of is to buy a
new hard drive. This is nuts. Please help.

Recover from a Corrupted Registry Preventing Win XP from Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q307545

regards,
ssg MS-MVP

Alvin wrote:

> This computer problem has me completely stumped. I booted up my PC
> today, and I received the message,
>
> "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"
>
> I thought, no problem, I'll just get out my Windows XP install CD, and
> use the recovery option. So I changed my BIOS to boot from the cd,
> and selected R for recovery. THe next thing the screen is choose the
> windows session that you want to login to:
>
> 1:c:\windows
>
> I only have one partion with a single install. I typed 1 and pressed
> Enter. THen nothing. The screen freezes. I let it set for 30
> minutes, and nothing else happens. I even selected the option to just
> reinstall XP, and it will say "checking for previous versions of
> windows". And nothing else happens. I let the screen sit for 30
> minutes. SO I can't even reinstall Windows because there is a
> previous version. Is there any way I can just get to the DOS prompt
> and wipe everything out? The only other option I know of is to buy a
> new hard drive. This is nuts. Please help.

Alvin wrote:
> This computer problem has me completely stumped. I booted up my PC
> today, and I received the message,
>
> "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"
>


How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307545

Once you've recovered, you might want to look here, as well:

How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;822705


--

Bruce Chambers

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

Is the file system FAT or NTFS?
If it's FAT try booting with a 98 or ME startup disk.
Then try following the article the other fellows
mentioned.
If it's NTFS....well you may be able to still use the
article but you will need the XP startup disk set
available from MS site.
Sounds to me like a HDD problem though.
Good luck.