Had 98SE with statement : not able to load hive file" bought and installed XP
and had same message with "stemroot \system32\config\software" corrupt.
Hi Freighter,
That sounds like a corrupt registry.
If you had that message in Windows 98 and you then installed an
Upgrade version of Windows XP, you may have carried forward corrupted
registry entries from Windows 98. If this is the case, you would
probably be better off saving all your data to removable media and
reinstalling XP with a clean install. If you just have an Upgrade
version of XP you can do this by wiping (formatting) )the drive,
starting the XP install, and when asked for a qualifying installation,
insert your Windows 98 installation CD, let it be recognized, and when
it has been, re-insert your XP CD.
If the computer has been starting with the XP install, and this has
just happened, it can be repaired with these instructions - very
complicated, so follow them carefully:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q307545/
