Recovery console & missing sytem file

[molan]

I have Windows XP home which has been installed for around three years
and always updated to latest settings vis the MS updater.

I've never had any major problems but yesterday got a missing system
file message which said I was missing the

\windows\system\config\system file.

The recommended action was to try & repair via the recovery console. I
tried this and got as far as a message whcih asked

"which windows installation would you like to log onto".

This option continually only gave me a single character input & I
tried the entire alphabet in both upper & lower cases - none of these
was accepted.

If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Shouldn't you be entering a number instead of a letter?

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Below that line should be a listing of the detected Windows installations,
each with a number preceeding it. If there is only one installation, then
the answer to the question should be the number "1" (make sure the numlock
key is on if you're using the number pad).

What bothers me is if there is no listing, then the existing installation's
file system may be damaged. Try running "chkdsk C: /r" from the prompt to
see what it reports.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[barriecree]

I did try entering numbers and simply got the Windows command prompt I
think?

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

The installations are normally accessed by a number in the Recovery Console.
Have you checked the hard disk for any errors?

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[barriecree]

Ran chkdsk & it seemed OK gave me a volume no that started with a 1 -
entered this & jsut seemed to go to the command prompt

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Failing that, have you tried a 'Repair' install of XP?

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[barriecree]

Sorry Will - hadn't explained clearly, I was in the repair install
section when it asked me which volume I would like to log onto.

Maybe the answer is that i log onto volume 1 but then I have a command
prompt & not sure where to go from here?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

That's what the Recovery Console is - a command prompt. If you've reached
it, then you can follow the steps here to fix the system:

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry [Q307545]
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

A 'Repair' install is different. See if Rick's suggestion works first.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[barriecree]

Thanks for this guys - I'm currently using my office machine so I'll
print this off & take them home with me to see if it helps. From what I
can see I was getting to the correct place in the recovery mode & need
to go through the process as described on the Microsoft "recovery from
a corrupted registry" link that Rick linked to.
I'll let you know how I get on!

 

[barriecree]

Well - it worked, kind of!

Took a few hours but eventually managed to re-boot with my original
files & software intact but had to use the repair "system" file.

The recommended course of action was to use files from a previous
system restore point but there simply weren't any! For some reason i
don't understand all previous restore points and corresponding files
have vanished. I have run a system clean up programme recently so maybe
it deleted them?

Had to install a few drivers & re-set internet connections etc.

Only issue now is that I ran Windows Update & it said I had 19 required
security & critical updates. However if I try to download & install
they simply fail every time.

Also tried to re-install some stuff from my original XP disk but also
had problems with this.

Will not be able to play until tomorrow now but - if anyone has any
further suggestions then they'd be greatly appreciated!