Oz said:
Hi
I have a HP Pavilion dv5000 which has stopped working for no apparent
reason. I get this message "Windows could not start because the following
file is missing or corrupted: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
I cannot boot into safe mode or access the command prompt I can't get past
this message. I do not have any disks, I bought it from comet and they have
confirmed to me that the Laptop was packaged without any disks my warrenty
ran out 3 months ago. So I'm stummped and dont know what to do PLEASE can
someone help me any assistance would be much appreciated
Thankyou
Mark.
With that error message, unfortunately you need to have a real operating
system disk in order to do repairs. Your options are to borrow a generic
OEM or take the laptop to a professional computer repair shop (not a
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad place) where they will have what is necessary.
If this is impossible for you - and frankly, in any case - call up HP
and order replacement Restore Disks. They are quite inexpensive (under
$25 USD) and you will need them at some point.
The alternative is to simply get the Restore Disks and return the
machine to factory condition. It is possible to back up data without
getting into Windows, as follows:
1. Pull the drive and slave it in a computer running a working install
of XP. Depending on the target drive's characteristics, you may need a
drive adapter; i.e., laptop-to-IDE or a SATA controller card, etc. A
usb/firewire external drive enclosure works very well, too. Use the
working Windows Explorer to copy the data to the rescue system's hard
drive and then burn the data to cd or dvd.
2. Often XP will not boot with a slaved drive that has a damaged file
system. In that case, boot the target computer with either a Bart's PE
or a Linux live cd such as Knoppix and retrieve the data that way. Here
is general information on using Knoppix for this:
You will need a computer with two cd drives, one of which is a cd/dvd-rw
OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to hold your data OR an
external usb/firewire hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS). To get
Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast Internet connection and
third-party burning software. Download the Knoppix .iso and create your
bootable cd. Then boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows
files. If you are using the usb thumb drive or the external hard drive,
right-click on its icon (on the Desktop) to get its properties and
uncheck the box that says "Read Only". Then click on it to open it. Note
that the default mouse action in the window manager used by Knoppix
(KDE) is a single click to open instead of the traditional MS Windows'
double-click. Otherwise, use the K3b burning program to burn the files
to cd/dvd-r's.
http://www.knoppix.net
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ - Bart's PE Builder
Malke
