computer will not boot up because of missing file

[Guest]

I'M GETTING AN ERROR AT BOOT UP OF MY COMPUTER - WINDOWS COULD NOT START
BECAUSE THE FOLLOWING FILE IS MISSING OR CORRUPT:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

 

[ANONYMOUS]

When did this problem start and have got a floppy drive in your system
to boot up? If you have a floppy drive to boot up then I can give you
instructions to create a bootable floppy disk (or CD) to kick-start the
HD.

you will need your original XP CD and somewhere to create this floppy
disk i.e. anothe working machine either Win98, WinMe, Win2k or even XP.

hth

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I'M GETTING AN ERROR AT BOOT UP OF MY COMPUTER - WINDOWS COULD NOT START
BECAUSE THE FOLLOWING FILE IS MISSING OR CORRUPT:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

Your most pressing problem appears to be a stuck
CapsLock key, which makes you shout. After getting
it unstuck, please report the recent history of your
machine. What hardware/software changes have
occurred during the last few days?

 

[Guest]

The problem just started several days ago. I beleive that one of my children
may have turned off the computer without properly shutting it off. I do not
have a bootup disk but do have an XP disk and access to another computer. I
appreciate your help with this matter and look forward to your instructions

 

[ANONYMOUS]

OK try this:

1) Get a blank formatted floppy disk or blank CD

2) Copy the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files from the I386 folder on the XP
CD-ROM to this floppy disk (or from a XP system that is working from c:\
- unhide all hidden files first and enable file extensions to be
visible).

3) Rename the NTLDR file to Setupldr.bin if copied from CD-ROM.

4) Create a Boot.ini file in Notepad by copying the following:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

This disk/CD will allow you to bootup the HD. You can then do the
backups
of your data before trouble shooting.

 

[Anna]

OK try this:

1) Get a blank formatted floppy disk or blank CD

2) Copy the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files from the I386 folder on the XP
CD-ROM to this floppy disk (or from a XP system that is working from c:\
- unhide all hidden files first and enable file extensions to be
visible).

3) Rename the NTLDR file to Setupldr.bin if copied from CD-ROM.

4) Create a Boot.ini file in Notepad by copying the following:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

This disk/CD will allow you to bootup the HD. You can then do the
backups
of your data before trouble shooting.

Rey:
Before undertaking the steps recommended by Rock...

1. Take a look at the MS KB article at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545

2. Another option you may want to try is to keep tapping the F8 key upon
bootup. A menu will display with various options, one of which will be to
"Boot Using Last Known Good Configuration". Select that option and hope for
the best. It probably won't work, but it's worth a try.

3. Use your XP installation CD to perform a Repair install of the XP
operating system. It's not a difficult process but I assume you've never
done it before. Do a Google search on "xp repair install" and you'll be
pointed to a number of websites that contain step-by-step instructions for
undertaking this process.
Anna

 

[Ron Sommer]

OK try this:

1) Get a blank formatted floppy disk or blank CD

2) Copy the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files from the I386 folder on the XP
CD-ROM to this floppy disk (or from a XP system that is working from c:\
- unhide all hidden files first and enable file extensions to be
visible).

3) Rename the NTLDR file to Setupldr.bin if copied from CD-ROM.

4) Create a Boot.ini file in Notepad by copying the following:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

This disk/CD will allow you to bootup the HD. You can then do the
backups
of your data before trouble shooting.

Rey:
Before undertaking the steps recommended by Rock...

1. Take a look at the MS KB article at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545

2. Another option you may want to try is to keep tapping the F8 key upon
bootup. A menu will display with various options, one of which will be to
"Boot Using Last Known Good Configuration". Select that option and hope
for the best. It probably won't work, but it's worth a try.

3. Use your XP installation CD to perform a Repair install of the XP
operating system. It's not a difficult process but I assume you've never
done it before. Do a Google search on "xp repair install" and you'll be
pointed to a number of websites that contain step-by-step instructions for
undertaking this process.
Anna

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

 

[Guest]

I formated a disk in the A drive and copied the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files.
Ithen oppened notepad an copied and save the contents in to afile called
boot.ini

I inserted the disk in to the computer and restarted, but the following
error appeared; Invalid Boot.ini file...booting from c:\windows\

OK try this:

1) Get a blank formatted floppy disk or blank CD

2) Copy the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files from the I386 folder on the XP
CD-ROM to this floppy disk (or from a XP system that is working from c:\
- unhide all hidden files first and enable file extensions to be
visible).

3) Rename the NTLDR file to Setupldr.bin if copied from CD-ROM.

4) Create a Boot.ini file in Notepad by copying the following:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

This disk/CD will allow you to bootup the HD. You can then do the
backups
of your data before trouble shooting.

The problem just started several days ago. I beleive that one of my children
may have turned off the computer without properly shutting it off. I do not
have a bootup disk but do have an XP disk and access to another computer. I
appreciate your help with this matter and look forward to your instructions

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Are you using XP Professional on the defective PC? The Boot.ini is for
XP professional but unfortunately, I don't use home edition of XS.
Pehaps somebody on this NG can give you a copy.

I hope it did something if not botted up! at leat there is a
possibility.

I want you to boot up first and then do the necessary back ups before we
can do the trouble shooting and even to do a clean install.

Regards,

I formated a disk in the A drive and copied the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files.
Ithen oppened notepad an copied and save the contents in to afile called
boot.ini

I inserted the disk in to the computer and restarted, but the following
error appeared; Invalid Boot.ini file...booting from c:\windows\

OK try this:

1) Get a blank formatted floppy disk or blank CD

2) Copy the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files from the I386 folder on the XP
CD-ROM to this floppy disk (or from a XP system that is working from c:\
- unhide all hidden files first and enable file extensions to be
visible).

3) Rename the NTLDR file to Setupldr.bin if copied from CD-ROM.

4) Create a Boot.ini file in Notepad by copying the following:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

This disk/CD will allow you to bootup the HD. You can then do the
backups
of your data before trouble shooting.

The problem just started several days ago. I beleive that one of my children
may have turned off the computer without properly shutting it off. I do not
have a bootup disk but do have an XP disk and access to another computer. I
appreciate your help with this matter and look forward to your instructions
on how to solve the problem.

:


When did this problem start and have got a floppy drive in your system
to boot up? If you have a floppy drive to boot up then I can give you
instructions to create a bootable floppy disk (or CD) to kick-start the
HD.

you will need your original XP CD and somewhere to create this floppy
disk i.e. anothe working machine either Win98, WinMe, Win2k or even XP.

hth




Rey wrote:

I'M GETTING AN ERROR AT BOOT UP OF MY COMPUTER - WINDOWS COULD NOT START
BECAUSE THE FOLLOWING FILE IS MISSING OR CORRUPT:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the response. I'm using XP Home Edition on this PC. As you said,
it looks likes there is hope, but I'm going to need that Boot.ini file.

When creating the Boot.ini file in notepad, you are given an option of the
format in which encoding to save to (ANSI, Unicode, Unicode big endian,
UTF-8). Which of these formats should have I used when saving the created
Boot.ini file. Do you think that this will make a diference?

I appreciate your heklp very much.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

ANSI. You could easily find out by trial and error!

 

[Guest]

My sympathies. About 4 hours ago my screen blanked in an intensive graphics
process and on reboot I got exactly the same message for the same
missing/corrupt \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM. (WinXP Home) I understand
fully why you capitalized.

Mine threw me into a loop where any repair reboot from cd went through setup
which threw me back into the existing installation that wouldn't boot. Same
with boot from diskette. Setup offers a new installation on the drive and can
see that it has an OS, but a repair fails for the corrupt file. If I go
through the OS choice menu (F8), you can't get a command prompt without going
through Windows. I wound up loading DOS and NTFSDOS and I could find all my
drives except the one with my OS .

I read through the referenced articles above, which are VERY helpful to know
but won't work for me if I can't get into the drive. It leads me to believe
in my case I have more problems than a corrupt file, perhaps hardware.
Fortunately I'm a believer in a separate physical drive for the OS, if the
problem is the drive.

In any case I'm not looking forward to reinstalling and reconfiguring a
hundred apps and upgrades. I do weekly backups to another physical drive, and
I wonder if there's any way I may have backed up registry settings that can
be reapplied?

Does my problem sound familiar enough for some collective wisdom on the best
way out?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My sympathies. About 4 hours ago my screen blanked in an intensive graphics
process and on reboot I got exactly the same message for the same
missing/corrupt \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM. (WinXP Home) I understand
fully why you capitalized.

Mine threw me into a loop where any repair reboot from cd went through setup
which threw me back into the existing installation that wouldn't boot. Same
with boot from diskette. Setup offers a new installation on the drive and can
see that it has an OS, but a repair fails for the corrupt file. If I go
through the OS choice menu (F8), you can't get a command prompt without going
through Windows. I wound up loading DOS and NTFSDOS and I could find all my
drives except the one with my OS .

I read through the referenced articles above, which are VERY helpful to know
but won't work for me if I can't get into the drive. It leads me to believe
in my case I have more problems than a corrupt file, perhaps hardware.
Fortunately I'm a believer in a separate physical drive for the OS, if the
problem is the drive.

In any case I'm not looking forward to reinstalling and reconfiguring a
hundred apps and upgrades. I do weekly backups to another physical drive, and
I wonder if there's any way I may have backed up registry settings that can
be reapplied?

Does my problem sound familiar enough for some collective wisdom on the best
way out?

It sounds like you've lost your system partition. One of these
tools may help you :
http://www.restorer2000.com/r2k.htm
http://www.hddrecovery.com.au
http://bootmaster.filerecovery.biz
http://www.runtime.org/ (GetDataBack)
http://www.runtime.org/ (has a trial version)
http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/filerecoverysecdownload.html
www.acronis.com (RecoveryExpert)

Using a backed up registry is unlikely to help you - you would
also need to restore each and every file that belongs to a
particular application.

My configuration is much the same as yours. To protect myself
from mishaps like yours, I take a snapshot image of my system
drive once every six months, using imaging software such as
Acronis or Snapshot. I then keep the two most recent image
files. When disaster strikes then I restore the most recent image.
This takes less than half an hour and delivers a guaranteed result.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Thanks for the response. I'm using XP Home Edition on this PC. As you said,
it looks likes there is hope, but I'm going to need that Boot.ini file.

When creating the Boot.ini file in notepad, you are given an option of the
format in which encoding to save to (ANSI, Unicode, Unicode big endian,
UTF-8). Which of these formats should have I used when saving the created
Boot.ini file. Do you think that this will make a diference?

I appreciate your heklp very much.

Rey,

What OS is your other PC using? If it is Home Edition then you can copy
the Boot.ini from that PC. To copy it,

1) Launch Windows Xplorer and go to: c:\
2) Tools, Folder Options
3) View tab
4) Click on Show hidden Files and Folders
5) Untick Hide extensions for known file types
6) Untick Hide Protected operating system Files

Now you will be able to see the Boot.ini file in C:\

Copy it to your floppy disk.

hth