Cannot Boot to XP (\Windows\System32\Config\System)

[Chris Guimbellot]

Hello,

Windows XP Prop

I have a notebook that when I tried to boot, I get the following message:

Windows cannot start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\Windows\System32\Config\System

I have tried the steps in the article located at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=319011. I also tried creating the boot
disk, but could not get in.

Then, I found the following article: http://www.dslreports.com/faq/3546. I
tried the steps there as well as the article that he refers to
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545), but when I
tried to copy the windows\system32\config\system file, I got the cannot find
file specified. Of course, when I go into the windows\system32\config\system
file, I see the following files (some may be the result of my efforts):

system.log
system.sav
system.tmp.log

There is no system (no extension) like with software, default, etc. I tried
the rest of the steps of the article anyway but no luck. I am out of ideas
short of reinstalling the OS. Are there any other things I can try? I
appreciate the help.

Chris

 

[Chris Guimbellot]

George,

Thanks for the link and the idea. I had tried before to run the repair
install, but the option was not there. I tried to follow the directions for
getting it back on the screen, but they didn't seem to work. I tried to run
bootcfg, but all it did was give me the list of options. I tried to run a
few of them, but nothing seemed to work. Also, the 'attrib -h -r -s
c:\boot.ini del c:\boot.ini' didn't work. I received a message saying I had
an invalid parameter. Then I ran the attrib command three times, one for
each of the parameters. Then, I ran the delete command. At that point, I ran
'bootcfg /rebuild' but it started asking me for these entries I didn't
understand, so I kept hitting enter. Needless to say, this didn't work. Do
you know where I went wrong with this? I am lost here. I appreciate the
help.

Chris

 

[George Schloicka]

Did you try to do a repair install of xp from the cd??

 

[George Schloicka]

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm