PC will not boot ....

[m.cringle]

Hello

I have a pc which whenever it started would instantly freeze - when
windows loaded. Eventually I decided to give-up and reinstall windows
xp. However, the pc refused to boot from the cd and eventually crashed
(after haviing to turn-off during boot - no choice).

Now have an error message saying:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt
\windows\system32\config\system

But still refuses to boot from cd (when says press any key to boot from
cd my constant thrashing of the keyboard does nothing!!) - and keyboard
is working.

If anyone has seen my previous message, this is the same make and model
of pc with the exact same / similar problem - hmmmm.....

Thanks guys

 

[Guest]

Have you tryed entering dos mode and formating your hard drive? Go into do
and type format c: (where c is your main drive letter, this is usualy C) Then
try installing windows again.

 

[S.Sengupta]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q307545

Set the BIOS to boot to the CD drive, by disabling all others or listing
the CD first in the boot order.

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

 

[Jonny]

Pardon if I draw conclusions.
There's a problem regarding an non-referenced file, rather, a subfolder per
you OP.
And, you can't boot from the CD, of which, originates from the same CD the
files and folder information.

Therein lies the answer. Be it the CD media itself, the CD hardware, or the
I/O regarding motherboard/RAM/CD. Most likely, CD media or the CD hardware.
HInt: clean it up.