physical memory dump

[Lewis]

I have the following message on a Dell Dimension8200 and
don't have any idea what happened. I tried to reload
Windows XP Home Edition but to no avail. Can someone
help....please.

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
|SystemRoot|System 32| Config|Software
or its log or al;ternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

Beginning dump of physical memory.

Physical memory dump complete.

Contact your system administrator or tech support group
for further assistance.


I called Dell and they referred me to Microsoft. When I
called Microsoft it was going to be a 1 1/2 hour wait
which I couldn't and I can't call back before Monday at
the earliest.

Thanks for any help you can send my way.

Lewis

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have the following message on a Dell Dimension8200 and
don't have any idea what happened. I tried to reload
Windows XP Home Edition but to no avail. Can someone
help....please.

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
|SystemRoot|System 32| Config|Software
or its log or al;ternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

Beginning dump of physical memory.

Physical memory dump complete.

Contact your system administrator or tech support group
for further assistance.


I called Dell and they referred me to Microsoft. When I
called Microsoft it was going to be a 1 1/2 hour wait
which I couldn't and I can't call back before Monday at
the earliest.

MS would just refer it back to Dell anyway, as they, the 'OEM' maker of
the machine, take on the support responsibility.

You might find that the solution at
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;307545 will cure things.

Otherwise it is a case for doing a complete repair re-install, which I
think the CD Dell provides will do. Set the BIOS setup to boot CD
before HD. Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard disk, then boot the XP
CD, start Setup (do not take 'Repair' at this stage), then after the
license agreement take 'Repair Installation'. This will retain your
existing software installations and most settings. But Updates will
have to be run again, especially SP1; and if you have drivers that only
arrived with that, like USB 2 ones, you will need to update drivers for
the devices concerned. You may find that things like virtual memory
settings and some aspects of appearance have reverted to defaults

If that does not do it, then it is a case of the clean 'New Install'
instead - when it asks where, hit ESC and select and delete the current
partition, then make a new one. Or whatever other recipe for restoring
to ex-factory state Dell offers