Need Help with Registry File Failure

[Alana]

Hi,

I was running xp on my Dell laptop and everything was fine this morning.
However, when I came home this afternoon and turned on the computer, I got
this message:

STOP: C0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

I tried rebooting several times. I cannot get to a command prompt. No
matter which restart option I choose, I get the same error message. Do I
need to relaod the operating system? Is that downloadable somewhere?

Please help.
Thanks,
Alana

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Alana" <[email protected]>

| Hi,
|
| I was running xp on my Dell laptop and everything was fine this morning.
| However, when I came home this afternoon and turned on the computer, I got
| this message:
|
| STOP: C0000218 {Registry File Failure}
| The registry cannot load the hive (file):
| \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
| or its log or alternate.
| It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.
|
| I tried rebooting several times. I cannot get to a command prompt. No
| matter which restart option I choose, I get the same error message. Do I
| need to relaod the operating system? Is that downloadable somewhere?
|
| Please help.
| Thanks,
| Alana

If your system was on and running and created a NT Stop error indicating 'Registry File
Failure' then this may be indicative of a failing hard disk where the registry data file is
sitting on a bad sector.

Go to the hard disk manufacturer's web site and download their diagnostic software
respective to your hard disk. After the test, you will know if the hard disk is bad or
not.

Western Digital - Data LifeGuard Tools (DLGDiag)
http://support.wdc.com/download/

Hitachi/IBM - Drive Fitness Test (DFT)
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Seagate - SeaTools
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/

Fujitsu - Diagnostic Tool
http://www.fcpa.com/download/hard-drives/

Samsung - Disk manager
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/shdiag.htm

 

[Alana]

How do I know who made the hard drive?
Isn't it Dell?

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Alana" <[email protected]>

| How do I know who made the hard drive?
| Isn't it Dell?
|

No, not by Dell. They don't manufacturer hard disks. They use disks from various
manufacturers of hard disks.

Open the cover. Dell makes opening the chassis and examining the hard disk very easy.

You also may be quite surprised about the amount of dust that may be inside and it would be
a good time to clean the PC of the dust. Use a soft bristle paint brush to dislodge the
dust and a wand on a vacuum cleaner to suck up the dislodged dust.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi,

I was running xp on my Dell laptop and everything was fine this morning.
However, when I came home this afternoon and turned on the computer, I got
this message:

STOP: C0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

I tried rebooting several times. I cannot get to a command prompt. No
matter which restart option I choose, I get the same error message. Do I
need to relaod the operating system? Is that downloadable somewhere?

Please help.
Thanks,
Alana

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:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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