No authorization to change files in Recovery Console

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Guest

I've got what I've discovered is a common problem: Windows cannot start
because the following file is corrupt... I have opened the XP Recovery
Console using 6 Boot Floppies, since my computer would not boot off of the XP
CD. Once in the repair window, I can't do anything because I don't have the
authorization. However, I have never set up any accounts on my XP computer,
nor have I set a password for the administrator user. Is there a command I
can use to switch to the admin user? Any other suggestions as to how to work
around this?
Thanks in advance for your help. I'm glad there is help available on this
forum.
-MV
 
Did you try just pressing <Enter>? The Administrator password is blank
by default. As for the CD not booting did you go in the BIOS and change
the boot order to boot to CD first?

John
 
I entered "md tmp" per the instructions for the fix, and got an error
message. How do I request to log in as Administrator? When asked for a
password I can leave it blank.

Are there instructions somewhere for how to access BIOS from the Recovery
Console?

Sorry about the repeated posts - MS sent back messages that an error occurred.

-Eric
 
You can't access the BIOS from the Recovery Console. To access the BIOS
you have to press a key when the computer starts up, usually you will
see a message telling you which key to press, something like "To enter
setup press whatever key." or "Setup=whatever key". Common keys are
F1, Esc or Del. That information is in your computer hardware
documentation. The ONLY THING that you might want to do there is change
the BOOT ORDER to the CD so that you can boot with the Windows XP CD
instead of the cumbersome 6 floppy diskette.

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058

You HAVE to log on with the Administrator password before you can do
anything!

Tell us which Microsoft article you are trying to use, we might have an
idea of your problem but we don't want to guess. If we don't know what
exactly you are trying to do we can't help. When you get an error
message post the EXACT error message here so we can offer relevant
suggestions instead of guesses. Do you have a corrupt System or
Software hive? Is that what you are trying to fix, where do you get the
repair instructions from, which Microsoft document?

But, as I said earlier, you HAVE to confirm to us wether or not you can
properly start the Recovery Console and access your Windows
installation. If you can't get beyond that point any attempt at fixing
the problem is futile unless you use a different repair method.

John
 
Hello John John,

The exact error message is:
"Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

The Knowledge Base article is 307545. (How to recover from a corrupted
registry that prevents Windows XP from starting)

How do I log on with the admin user when I am using the 6 floppies to get to
the Recovery Console? I can get to the Recovery Console, but when I try to
enter any command, I get the following message:
"Access is denied"

Thanks for your help and tips for getting help.
-Eric
 
http://tinyurl.com/4m58

1- Select the Windows installation you want to log on to. You HAVE to
enter a number from the list provided. For example:

Press 1 then press <Enter>

2- Now it will say to Type the Administrator password. If you don't
know the password just press <Enter>. That is the default password on
many installation. If however a password was given when Windows was
installed or if the password was changed thereafter, obviously just
pressing enter will not let you in and you will get the access denied
error. Note also the warning in the Microsoft article about OEM
installations.

If you really can't logon because the password is rejected you can try
to reset the password with this:
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ but being that your hives
might be corrupt the utility may not work, give it a try and see.

If that fails it might be easier to put your Windows drive in another
Windows 2000/XP computer and try the repairs from there. You can also
do the same with your computer if you install a second (parallel)
installation of Windows XP. If that is necessary it would be preferable
that you install on a different partition or a different disk. You
won't need to activate the installation, you only need it to fix the
problem, once you're done you can delete the installation. And if you
can't do that then you will have to resort to an in-place (repair)
installation.

John
 
Good luck. If your System Restore was working properly and if you have
a fairly recent restore point the repair, although a bit tedious,
usually yields fairly good results. The exception to that might be when
drive corruption is involved, and a chkdsk /r is necessary to fix the
drive problem. Then the restore points/data may end up in File####.chk
files and may be a bit harder to find or be in an unusable state because
of missing bits.

John
 
Great links, which I will save, but I still can't change the log on. I don't
get the option to choose between installations, i.e. no list. It goes
straight to the C prompt. The picture given in the Repair XP page is valid
for a computer with a partition, I think. I don't have a partition so it goes
straight in and doesn't ask for a password. Any other ideas before I take my
hard drive to a shop to get them to do it? I don't have another PC to
install the HD as a "slave", only a laptop. Is there no command that I can
give to change logons from the C:\ prompt?
-Eric
 
Yeah, at the C:\> prompt issue

LOGON

and press enter. What happens?

I think maybe you need SATA drive controller drivers on a diskette to
access the hard drive.

John
 
I had already tried LOGON. Nothing. Also LOGON ADMIN. Just brings me another
line with C:\> and still if I enter MD TMP or COPY something, it says Access
is denied.
 
Try:

cd \Windows

then try from there. Or try:

cd %systemroot%

If that fails do:

map

what do you see?

John
 
Hi again. Haven't had a chance until today to try this. Here are the results
cd \Windows
Click to expand...
"The path or file specified is not valid"
cd %systemroot%
Click to expand...
"The path or file specified is not valid"
map
Click to expand...
C: 76293 MB \Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
A: \Device\Floppy0
D: \Device\CDRom0
E: \Device\CDRom1

And another question, what if I reinstall Windows from the 6 floppies?

Cheers,
Eric
 
And another question. Should I run the command FIXMBR? I do not have a
partition, at least not one that I created. When I type the command I get a
warning: FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could
cause all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible. If
you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue.

-Eric
 
Use your Windows XP cd, unless there is something wrong with the cd you
don't need the floppies to install Windows. The cd is the best and
preferred way for you to install Windows.

John
 
The results of the MAP command just a while ago revealed that you have
a 76293 MB Partition on your first hard disk. It seems that you are
preparing to reinstall Windows anyway so why not try it and let us know?
Someone here said it worked for them http://tinyurl.com/y38yns

John
 
Hi again,

Next week I am going to take my hard drive to a friend's house to install
as a slave and access the files that way. Wish me luck!
 
Good luck!. Possibly your disk is corrupt. Not being able to access
the disk or getting access denied messages while being able to run a
select few commands is a symptom of disk corruption. You may have to
run chkdsk on it. Try to copy the files from the disk but don't try to
write to it.

John
 
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