Help! Can't boot XP Home desktop

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Please help. When I try to boot my WinXP Home Edition desktop computer I
get an error message, "Windows could not start because of the following file
is missing or corrupt: \Windows\System32\Config\System." It goes on to
suggest running the repair program on the WinXP CD. So I changed the BIOS
to boot first from the CD drive, put my XP disk in the drive and booted the
computer. When I got the option to run the Repair program, I was prompted
to select the Windows installation (1:C\Windows), which I selected. Then I
was prompted to enter the Administrator Password. I entered my logon
password (My account is the only account with Admin access) but it said it
was the incorrect password. After three attempts I could only reboot the
computer and try three more times. Why doesn't my password work? Is it
looking for a password for an account named "Administrator?" No such
account exists on that computer. Is there a default Administrator account
and password like XP Pro? Please help and post suggestions. I'd hate to
have to re-install the OS from scratch. Thanks,

Jim W.
http://www.gatorgrad.com
 
same thing happened when using the Recovery Console... try 1234 as the Adminstrator password.. it worked for me!
 
The administrator account is a hidden account available in Safe Mode to troubleshoot and repair problems. The password would have been assigned when you first setup Windows, so it may be a password you don't remember, or like most cases, is probably blank. The best way to test it is to boot into Safe Mode, however since you are getting this error, you probably can't boot into Safe Mode, so I would suggest booting back to the recovery console and just pressing enter when it asks for the password. If that's not it start guessing!!! Anyhow, once you finally get into the recovery console you'll have quite a task on your hands if your not very tech saavy. You can certainly mess things up if you don't follow the proper procedure, and if you don't have anything critical on your machine, you may want to consider just formatting the drive and reinstalliong Windows. However, if you want to try to save windows, visit the following knowledgebase article that will guide you through fixing your problem. Good Luck!
How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545
 
Thanks, I tried Safe Mode and you're right, that doesn't work either. I
don't recall assigning or being assigned an Administrator password when I
installed XP. I have found several sites listing the steps to take once I
can get to the recovery console. But if I can't get into the console, would
I loose any files that were under "My Documents" if I just reinstalled XP
and used a different logon name? Thanks again for your help,

Jim W.
http://www.gatorgrad.com

The administrator account is a hidden account available in Safe Mode to
Click to expand...
troubleshoot and repair problems. The password would have been assigned
when you first setup Windows, so it may be a password you don't remember, or
like most cases, is probably blank. The best way to test it is to boot into
Safe Mode, however since you are getting this error, you probably can't boot
into Safe Mode, so I would suggest booting back to the recovery console and
just pressing enter when it asks for the password. If that's not it start
guessing!!! Anyhow, once you finally get into the recovery console you'll
have quite a task on your hands if your not very tech saavy. You can
certainly mess things up if you don't follow the proper procedure, and if
you don't have anything critical on your machine, you may want to consider
just formatting the drive and reinstalliong Windows. However, if you want
to try to save windows, visit the following knowledgebase article that will
guide you through fixing your problem. Good Luck!
 
----- . wrote: -----

Please help. When I try to boot my WinXP Home Edition desktop computer I
get an error message, "Windows could not start because of the following file
is missing or corrupt: \Windows\System32\Config\System." It goes on to
suggest running the repair program on the WinXP CD. So I changed the BIOS
to boot first from the CD drive, put my XP disk in the drive and booted the
computer. When I got the option to run the Repair program, I was prompted
to select the Windows installation (1:C\Windows), which I selected. Then I
was prompted to enter the Administrator Password. I entered my logon
password (My account is the only account with Admin access) but it said it
was the incorrect password. After three attempts I could only reboot the
computer and try three more times. Why doesn't my password work? Is it
looking for a password for an account named "Administrator?" No such
account exists on that computer. Is there a default Administrator account
and password like XP Pro? Please help and post suggestions. I'd hate to
have to re-install the OS from scratch. Thanks,

Jim W.
http://www.gatorgrad.com

Try leaving the Password Blank. This seems to be the default option and probably the case if you don't remember setting any Admin pasword when XP was installed.
 
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