HELP! WindowsXP Failure

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The very first step is to tap the DEL key when it attempts to boot. This
will enter the BIOS setup.

No, this is not correct. What key you use to enter the BIOS setup
program depends entirely on what computer/motherboard you have. It is
*not* the same for everyone.

How to get into your BIOS depends, not on Windows, but on what
motherboard/BIOS you have. As a matter of fact, you have to access the
BIOS before Windows even starts to boot. One common way is to press
the Del key when you first power on, but that's not necessarily right
for your computer. Watch the screen carefully when you first boot;
there's often a message there telling you what to do. If not, check
your system documentation or check with your vendor.

 

[BruceM]

Well at least after the poor person had about 20 useless posts I ATTEMPTED
to help him get his reinstall started.
Sometimes you MVP's need to step back down & help the uninitiated with the
basics.
It's obvious from his comments he's prepared to kiss it all goodbye & just
do a clean install but can't work out how to boot off the CD.
Oh well.......... leave it to the MVP's.........

 

[Radian]

Okay all, when I restarted the computer and went to F8 and chose "SAFE
MODE", it went through dozens of lines that read something like this,
with the part after "system32" changing on each line:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\system32\config\system

Then it says "Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the
original Setup CD-ROM.

So my question is. . .How do I get the computer to read from the CD-ROM?
It's already in the drive.



Just start the computer with the Xp cd in the drive and wait for the prompt

 

[db ´¯`·.. >]

the o.p. can repost
the question for new responses.



--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..

Well at least after the poor person had about 20 useless posts I ATTEMPTED to
help him get his reinstall started.
Sometimes you MVP's need to step back down & help the uninitiated with the
basics.
It's obvious from his comments he's prepared to kiss it all goodbye & just do
a clean install but can't work out how to boot off the CD.
Oh well.......... leave it to the MVP's.........

 

[Sam Hobbs]

People with as much experience as a MVP often knows there are not simple
answers.