system 32 corrupt making pc unable to boot

[Frankie Deschacht]

I often get the message "Windows will not start because
C:\WINDOWS\System32\config\system is missing or corrupt".
I have now learned how to restore Windows when this
happens.
The only question is: Why does it keep happening?
Where could the fault be?
Also, sometimes when I work in Windows, a text balloon
pops up in my
taskbar telling me "This or that file is corrupted,
please run the
chkdsk utility", how do I do that?
What I do is: Start->Run->chkdsk /r.
Then it asks if I want to schedule it for the next boot
up, to which I
answer yes.
When I then reboot and chkdsk starts, I often get the
message
"Insufficient disk space to correct error in file.....",
and this is
often followed by "An unspecified error occured".
Then, usually, after that, I get the same misery again
(about
"C:\WINDOWS\System32\config\system is missing or
corrupt").
Can anyone shed some light on this please, as I am tired
of
re-installing or restoring Windows.
Thanks,
Frankie.

 

[Gary Thorn [MVP-Windows Technologies/Xbox]]

-----Original Message-----
I often get the message "Windows will not start because
C:\WINDOWS\System32\config\system is missing or corrupt".
I have now learned how to restore Windows when this
happens.
The only question is: Why does it keep happening?
Where could the fault be?
Also, sometimes when I work in Windows, a text balloon
pops up in my
taskbar telling me "This or that file is corrupted,
please run the
chkdsk utility", how do I do that?
What I do is: Start->Run->chkdsk /r.
Then it asks if I want to schedule it for the next boot
up, to which I
answer yes.
When I then reboot and chkdsk starts, I often get the
message
"Insufficient disk space to correct error in file.....",
and this is
often followed by "An unspecified error occured".
Then, usually, after that, I get the same misery again
(about
"C:\WINDOWS\System32\config\system is missing or
corrupt").
Can anyone shed some light on this please, as I am tired
of
re-installing or restoring Windows.
Thanks,
Frankie.
.

To fix this see this MS article:

http://tinyurl.com/1773

To access the Recovery Console:
1) Insert the Windows CD and restart your computer. Follow
your computer's prompts to start from the CD. (You may
need to adjust settings in the computer's BIOS to enable
the option to start from a CD.)
2) Follow the setup prompts to load the basic Windows
startup files. At the Welcome To Setup screen, press R to
start the Recovery Console.
3) If you have multiple options on the Windows startup
menu, enter the number of the Windows installation you
want to access from the Recovery Console.
4) When prompted, type the Administrator password. If
you're using the Recovery Console on a system running
Windows XP Home Edition, this password is blank by
default, so just press Enter.
5) At the command prompt, enter Recovery Console commands
directly.
6) To quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer,
use the Exit command.


Hope this helps!

Gary Thorn
MVP-Windows Technologies/Xbox
Associate Expert

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights

More about the Windows XP Expert Zone:


More about the MS MVP Program:
http://tinyurl.com/n08

 

[Frankie Deschacht]

Thank you for your reply Gary.
I have found the way to fix it and managed to do it too
(although with a bit of trial and error as the
explanation by Microsoft is not 100% accurate).
My question, however, was : "Why does my registry keep
becoming corrupted ?"
After I have fixed it, nothing has happened yet (touch
wood), but I had that corruption problem over and over
again.
There wer no viruses, I ran Maxtor's PowerMax utility and
my HDD is 100% certified error free, so, what could have
caused that constant corruption.
There was also the matter of sometimes the balloon
popping up, telling me about a corrupted file (see
original posting).
Any advice will be very welcome.
Thanks,
Frankie.

 

[Gary Thorn MVP - WinXP]

Thank you for your reply Gary.
I have found the way to fix it and managed to do it too
(although with a bit of trial and error as the
explanation by Microsoft is not 100% accurate).
My question, however, was : "Why does my registry keep
becoming corrupted ?"
After I have fixed it, nothing has happened yet (touch
wood), but I had that corruption problem over and over
again.
There wer no viruses, I ran Maxtor's PowerMax utility and
my HDD is 100% certified error free, so, what could have
caused that constant corruption.
There was also the matter of sometimes the balloon
popping up, telling me about a corrupted file (see
original posting).
Any advice will be very welcome.
Thanks,
Frankie.

I would start suspecting Ram and or Motherbaord controller issues. I
lean more towards Ram. Everything goes through the Ram and WinXP is
very picky on good quality Ram. If you have a spare stick, swap it and
see what happens.


Hope this helps!

Gary Thorn
MVP-Windows Technologies
Associate Expert


More info about the Windows XP Expert Zone:
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/

More info about the MS MVP Program:
http://tinyurl.com/n08