Missing or Corrupt windows/system32/config/system/

[Brandon Carpenter]

I am getting this error at startup:
"windows will not boot because of a missing or corrupt file in the
windows/system32/config/system/

you can attempt to repair this file by running the Windows Setup
using the original setup CD-Rom.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."
I am unable to use any of the menus At F8 to restore or go into a
differant startup.
Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Kelly]

Not Alt F8, place your XP CD in and select the Recovery Console. Once
there:

In Recovery Console, change to the c:\Windows folder.

Type cd sytem32\config , and then press ENTER.
Type dir system , and then press ENTER.

Depending on your error message, use as follows:

Next type: ren software software.bak and then press ENTER.

or:

type ren system system.bak and then press ENTER.

Next type:

copy c:\windows\repair\software , and then press ENTER.

or:

copy c:\windows\repair\system , and then press ENTER.

Exit, reboot.

NOTE : If the message that you received referred to the software file,
replace "system" with "software" in the preceding command.

More info here:

Recovering XP using the Recovery Console (Line 333) right hand side
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

The precise recovery steps are here:

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545

Once you've recovered, you might want to look here, as well:

How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822705


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH

 

[Guest]

While stepping through part 1 of Article ID 307545, I'm getting the following:

Step #3: "what installation do you want to access" I'm not sure what to
enter here, through trial & error the only accepted response is "1". Does
anyone have any insight to this question.

Step #4: I should be prompted for the Administrator Password, this does not
happen. The C:\Windows prompt appears. Does anyone know why I'm not getting
this prompt.

Step #5: I'm entering "MD TMP" I get "directory could not be created" It
appears that I do not have WRITE access.

Also when I CD to C:\Windows\System32\Config and type DIR I get this message
"an error occurred during directory enumeration"

I'm trying to implement solutions, but I'm not getting anywhere... HELP!!