Corrupt Registry

[bcoleman0167]

HP 743C Desktop
Windows XP Home Edition

From time to time I have had dificulty connecting to internet via DSL,

so typically I restore 2 or 3

Tried to do a Windows XP Home Edition restore from a 3-day old restore
point. During restore..bam... reboot, then error message:

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

Insert XP Recovery disk and press "R"

I've searched for 2 days to locate original XP disk (I was thinking
that no actual disk came with system - purchased new), but no luck.

Here is where I got really boneheaded; thinking I had a bootable floppy
disk from the past I cold-booted to a disk that actually contained:

IBM Bios Version JW3EN5E (vintage 1998)
all indications were that the Bios was updated (downdated) off the
floppy.

Then, after some research, attempted to press F8 on bootup, selected
"restore to last known good boot" and this seemed to work. Windows XP
logo appears, old desktop wallpaper appears, desktop icons, etc. Then,
within a few seconds the New Hardware Wizard takes off, trying to
identify 30 or 40 new hardware devices. The really strange thing is
that some of these "devices" appear to not be devices, but just simple
files, like config.sys (this may not be one of the exact ones, but
similar).

At this point, it runs most all applications wtihout problem, but shows
no network or internet configurations available. I have tried to run
Restore to point, hoping to restore a recent good bootup, but when it
get to the last screen to restore and press continue, no luck. Won't
budge.

Looking for advice.

Thanks ahead of time.

Bill

 

[Pennywise]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

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

For the next time.

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

 

[Frank]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:
|| HP 743C Desktop
|| Windows XP Home Edition
||
||| From time to time I have had dificulty connecting to internet via
||| DSL, so typically I restore 2 or 3
||
|| Tried to do a Windows XP Home Edition restore from a 3-day old
|| restore point. During restore..bam... reboot, then error message:
||
|| Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or
|| corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
||
|| Insert XP Recovery disk and press "R"
||
|| I've searched for 2 days to locate original XP disk (I was thinking
|| that no actual disk came with system - purchased new), but no luck.
||
|| Here is where I got really boneheaded; thinking I had a bootable
|| floppy disk from the past I cold-booted to a disk that actually
|| contained:
||
|| IBM Bios Version JW3EN5E (vintage 1998)
|| all indications were that the Bios was updated (downdated) off the
|| floppy.
||
|| Then, after some research, attempted to press F8 on bootup, selected
|| "restore to last known good boot" and this seemed to work. Windows XP
|| logo appears, old desktop wallpaper appears, desktop icons, etc.
|| Then, within a few seconds the New Hardware Wizard takes off, trying
|| to identify 30 or 40 new hardware devices. The really strange thing
|| is that some of these "devices" appear to not be devices, but just
|| simple files, like config.sys (this may not be one of the exact
|| ones, but similar).
||
|| At this point, it runs most all applications wtihout problem, but
|| shows no network or internet configurations available. I have tried
|| to run Restore to point, hoping to restore a recent good bootup, but
|| when it get to the last screen to restore and press continue, no
|| luck. Won't budge.
||
|| Looking for advice.
||
|| Thanks ahead of time.
||
|| Bill

||
|| Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or
|| corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
||
|| Insert XP Recovery disk and press "R"
||
This message is really bad news. When you go into the recovery console
using
the install CD, the administrator password will not even be recognized.
There are
probably ways to correct this situation, but I don't know of any, other
than to
_write zeros to the drive, repartition, reformat and reinstall_. If you
don't have a
healthy recent backup of your data, use another boxen to get the data
from your
hard drive before the reinstall.
Good Luck