Corrupted: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

[Guest]

Hello all. Last night my computer froze and I was forced to hit the reset
button. When the bootup started the auto-detection of my primary master hard
drive hung for several seconds and eventually stated "not detected." The boot
continued until I got the error message saying that
"\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is missing or corrupt." I searched around on
this newsgroup to find the answer and found two.

The first one is located here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us .

The second solution was written by the user peterk:
when XP won't start, boot with the XP CD and go to the Recovery
Console. Type:

cd system32\config [enter]
ren system system.old [enter]
ren system.alt systemalt.old [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\system [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\regback\system [enter]
exit

peterk's seems way, WAY too easy and suspiciously simple in comparison to
the first option. Which of these two options would you all recommend?

Thank you very much.
Jeremy

 

[Ron Martell]

Hello all. Last night my computer froze and I was forced to hit the reset
button. When the bootup started the auto-detection of my primary master hard
drive hung for several seconds and eventually stated "not detected." The boot
continued until I got the error message saying that
"\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is missing or corrupt." I searched around on
this newsgroup to find the answer and found two.

The first one is located here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us .

The second solution was written by the user peterk:
when XP won't start, boot with the XP CD and go to the Recovery
Console. Type:

cd system32\config [enter]
ren system system.old [enter]
ren system.alt systemalt.old [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\system [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\regback\system [enter]
exit

peterk's seems way, WAY too easy and suspiciously simple in comparison to
the first option. Which of these two options would you all recommend?

If you look at peterk's method, as you have posted it here, then it is
basically a stripped down version of part 1 (and only part 1) of the
Microsoft procedure. If you follow peterk's method you may or may
not end up with a bootable computer because of the mixed versions of
the registry files as the system file will be from the original
install of Windows XP whereas all of the other registry files will be
the current ones.

The Microsoft procedure, while cumbersome and time consuming, does
work and you end up with a fully usable registry that is current as of
the most recent System Restore point prior to the crash.

Good luck



Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

Ok, I'll do the Microsoft method then. Thank you very much, Ron.

Jeremy

Hello all. Last night my computer froze and I was forced to hit the reset
button. When the bootup started the auto-detection of my primary master hard
drive hung for several seconds and eventually stated "not detected." The boot
continued until I got the error message saying that
"\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is missing or corrupt." I searched around on
this newsgroup to find the answer and found two.

The first one is located here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us .

The second solution was written by the user peterk:
when XP won't start, boot with the XP CD and go to the Recovery
Console. Type:

cd system32\config [enter]
ren system system.old [enter]
ren system.alt systemalt.old [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\system [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\regback\system [enter]
exit

peterk's seems way, WAY too easy and suspiciously simple in comparison to
the first option. Which of these two options would you all recommend?

If you look at peterk's method, as you have posted it here, then it is
basically a stripped down version of part 1 (and only part 1) of the
Microsoft procedure. If you follow peterk's method you may or may
not end up with a bootable computer because of the mixed versions of
the registry files as the system file will be from the original
install of Windows XP whereas all of the other registry files will be
the current ones.

The Microsoft procedure, while cumbersome and time consuming, does
work and you end up with a fully usable registry that is current as of
the most recent System Restore point prior to the crash.

Good luck



Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

It worked! Option 1 fixed the problem and now I'm back up and running!

Jeremy

Ok, I'll do the Microsoft method then. Thank you very much, Ron.

Jeremy

Hello all. Last night my computer froze and I was forced to hit the reset
button. When the bootup started the auto-detection of my primary master hard
drive hung for several seconds and eventually stated "not detected." The boot
continued until I got the error message saying that
"\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is missing or corrupt." I searched around on
this newsgroup to find the answer and found two.

The first one is located here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us .

The second solution was written by the user peterk:
when XP won't start, boot with the XP CD and go to the Recovery
Console. Type:

cd system32\config [enter]
ren system system.old [enter]
ren system.alt systemalt.old [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\system [enter]
copy c:\windows\repair\regback\system [enter]
exit

peterk's seems way, WAY too easy and suspiciously simple in comparison to
the first option. Which of these two options would you all recommend?

If you look at peterk's method, as you have posted it here, then it is
basically a stripped down version of part 1 (and only part 1) of the
Microsoft procedure. If you follow peterk's method you may or may
not end up with a bootable computer because of the mixed versions of
the registry files as the system file will be from the original
install of Windows XP whereas all of the other registry files will be
the current ones.

The Microsoft procedure, while cumbersome and time consuming, does
work and you end up with a fully usable registry that is current as of
the most recent System Restore point prior to the crash.

Good luck



Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."