Corrupted File - Windows 2000 will not Install

[Bill]

After runing this PC for 3 plus years, I started having
problems booting. In less than a few hours the system
would not boot and a message with the word "hive" flashed
on the screen along with a statement about a corrupt file.
It wasn't there long enough to read.

First I attempted a repair. It asked for which
installation I was trying to repair. The response needed
to be one character long. What should have been entered
here?

Next I attempted to run setup with a new installation of
the OS, but without formatting the hard drive. Some
recently created files have not been backed-up. During
this install, 3 files would not copy (mgsync.inf,
mgwan5.inf and migpwd.exe). I believe that these are
password related files, but I am not sure.

The computer was on a network until recently, now its a
stand-alone. Is this a possible issue.

How can I boot the system long enough to save the unsaved
files before formatting the hard disk?

 

[mICHAEL sHERRELL]

-----Original Message-----
After runing this PC for 3 plus years, I started having
problems booting. In less than a few hours the system
would not boot and a message with the word "hive" flashed
on the screen along with a statement about a corrupt file.
It wasn't there long enough to read.

First I attempted a repair. It asked for which
installation I was trying to repair. The response needed
to be one character long. What should have been entered
here?
i HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM: THE BLUE SCREEN STATED:

STOPCOOOO218(REGISTRY FILE, FAILURE THE RIGISTRY CANNOT
LOAD THE HIVE (FILE). SYSTEMROOT/SYSTEM 32 / CONFIGURE/
SOFTWARE OR IT'S LOG OR ALTERNATE IS CORRUPT, ABSENT, OR
NOT WRITABLE THEN COMPUTER BEGANS TO DUMP OF PHYSICAL
MEMORY TO DISK! I NEED HELP.

 

[Dave Patrick]

If the software hive is corrupt, it may be possible to rename the software
hive found in;
%windir%\system32\config\software
to software.old
then copy the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback
as
%windir%\system32\config\software

If that fails you can copy/ use the file
%windir%\repair\software
This file is an image of the hive at the time the OS was installed, so you'd
have to reinstall all software. This being the case you might just as well
blow it away and start a new install. (note: this would at least allow you
to start the OS to make any necessary backups prior to wiping the drive.)

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Once the password has been
validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access
to the hard disk. You can only access the following folders on your
computer: %systemroot% and %windir%

 

[Andy]

After runing this PC for 3 plus years, I started having
problems booting. In less than a few hours the system
would not boot and a message with the word "hive" flashed
on the screen along with a statement about a corrupt file.
It wasn't there long enough to read.

First I attempted a repair. It asked for which
installation I was trying to repair. The response needed
to be one character long. What should have been entered
here?

A single digit number like 1.