missing or corrupt config sys

[traumajohn]

Hi,
I am trying to help a friend with her Dell xps 400. It booted up and gave
the error of a missing or corrupt config.sys. Unable to boot up to safe mode
or dos prompt. I can start to boot to a boot disk but get the BSOD with
error stop; 0x0000007e pci sys address base at f7487000 date stamp 3b7d855c.
She can't find her reinstall/restore disk. I removed her drive and put it in
a usb external enclosure connected it to my pc and can see all her files and
folders. I want to restore it to earlier that day. How can I do a restore
from an external enclosure when Windows won't load? She has Microsoft Windows
Media Center edition with all service packs installed. Are there any manual
commands to set the next boot up to an earlier date? Can I recreate the
config.sys file? Is there a way to do it from the usb enclosure since I can't
boot to cd and have no floppy drive?
Thanks,
John
sorry I did post in the Media Center area and got redirected to repost here.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi,
I am trying to help a friend with her Dell xps 400. It booted up and gave
the error of a missing or corrupt config.sys. Unable to boot up to safe
mode
or dos prompt. I can start to boot to a boot disk but get the BSOD with
error stop; 0x0000007e pci sys address base at f7487000 date stamp
3b7d855c.
She can't find her reinstall/restore disk. I removed her drive and put it
in
a usb external enclosure connected it to my pc and can see all her files
and
folders. I want to restore it to earlier that day. How can I do a restore
from an external enclosure when Windows won't load? She has Microsoft
Windows
Media Center edition with all service packs installed. Are there any
manual
commands to set the next boot up to an earlier date? Can I recreate the
config.sys file? Is there a way to do it from the usb enclosure since I
can't
boot to cd and have no floppy drive?
Thanks,
John
sorry I did post in the Media Center area and got redirected to repost
here.

You can perform a manual System Restore while the disk is in its USB
enclosure - see here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545.

Config.sys is a legacy 0-byte file and is not used by WinXP. Have another
look at the error message - it's probably complaining about some other file.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi,
I am trying to help a friend with her Dell xps 400. It booted up and gave
the error of a missing or corrupt config.sys. Unable to boot up to safe
mode
or dos prompt. I can start to boot to a boot disk but get the BSOD with
error stop; 0x0000007e pci sys address base at f7487000 date stamp
3b7d855c.
She can't find her reinstall/restore disk. I removed her drive and put it
in
a usb external enclosure connected it to my pc and can see all her files
and
folders. I want to restore it to earlier that day. How can I do a restore
from an external enclosure when Windows won't load? She has Microsoft
Windows
Media Center edition with all service packs installed. Are there any
manual
commands to set the next boot up to an earlier date? Can I recreate the
config.sys file? Is there a way to do it from the usb enclosure since I
can't
boot to cd and have no floppy drive?
Thanks,
John
sorry I did post in the Media Center area and got redirected to repost
here.

First, contact Dell for reinstall media. This should have a small cost,
and she should have the CD.

Second, while you have her drive attached, back it up for her! There's a
risk at this point, and everyone will feel better if the data is safe.

There is no config.sys file in XP. There is a file named "config", and
it's one of the registry hive files.
The directions at this site can be used to fix this problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Note that you can go directly to the later part, where you manually restore
one day's system restore files. You don't have to use the original set in
the first part if you have the drive attached as you do.

You can also use *any* bootable XP CD to get to the recovery console.

HTH
-pk

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

There is no config.sys file in XP. There is a file named "config", and
it's one of the registry hive files.

There is actually a config.sys file, together with io.sys, msdos.sys and
autoexec.bat. They are all hidden and 0 bytes in size. They get placed there
when you install WinXP but they are not used.

 

[traumajohn]

You can perform a manual System Restore while the disk is in its USB
enclosure - see here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545.

Config.sys is a legacy 0-byte file and is not used by WinXP. Have another
look at the error message - it's probably complaining about some other file.

Thanks for the rapid response. I have a question about doing the manual
repair in the external enclosure. How do you do it. Lets say the external is
drive f. I have the external drive connected to my good pc. Do I boot my pc
while connected to the enclosure and change to its drive letter?
Thanks again.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thanks for the rapid response. I have a question about doing the manual
repair in the external enclosure. How do you do it. Lets say the external
is
drive f. I have the external drive connected to my good pc. Do I boot my
pc
while connected to the enclosure and change to its drive letter?
Thanks again.

Yes, because that's where the registry files reside that were created by the
problem machine.

 

[traumajohn]

I was able to figure out the external and got into the repair window. I tried
to copy the files from windows\repair and said it couldn't find them. I
booted back into windows on my pc and looked in the windows\repair folder and
see the fiels. When I am in the dos command of the repair the folder shows
empty. I did a restore point before it crashed so I know it is there
somewhere.
John

 

[traumajohn]

Okay so I was able to complete the restore in step 1. I booted into safemode
and I have no keyboard or mouse control. I booted into windows and I am still
without keyboard mouse. Is there a way to code these back into working order?
John

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Thanks for the rapid response. I have a question about doing the manual
repair in the external enclosure. How do you do it. Lets say the external
is
drive f. I have the external drive connected to my good pc. Do I boot my
pc
while connected to the enclosure and change to its drive letter?
Thanks again.

Yes., You can do this in Explorer as well as the command prompt. You do
need to have "show hidden and system files" turned on.

HTH
-pk

 

[traumajohn]

The keyboard works during boot so I can select which safe mode to log into
but stops when I enter sage mode or windows. The keyboard and mouse lights
are on but nothing happens just frozen on screen. I tried some keyboard keys
to work the desktop and that didn't work either. Should I do another manual
restore?

 

[Kelly]

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
starting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm