System file missing or corrupt

[BrianF]

My daughter has an OEM Windows XP Home PC purchased from a supermarket, so
no CD provided. Last week she got a Norton Internet Security warning that
Live Update was not performing correctly and recommending that she should
uninstall and reinstal NIS. She did that but then got a warning the Windows
could not be started because the Windows\System32\Config\System file is
missing or corrupt.
I have tried booting in MS-DOS with a Windows 98 CD but could not access the
c: drive that way. I then installed another HDD and put Windows XP Pro on
that. Then, I put the original HDD back as a slave and that enabled me to
view the file hierachy in Explorer.
The System file is present on the old drive so I tried renaming it and
removed the new drive but still got the same message when attempting to
re-boot.
I tried searching the original drive for a backup copy of the corrupt file
but could not find one.
Can anyone suggest a way out of this?

brianf

 

[TaurArian [MS-MVP]]

Requires a CD -

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545

Install and Use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307654

See also

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

How Do I Repair A Missing or Corrupt Windows\System32\Config\System File
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor1.htm


--

====================================
TaurArian [MS-MVP] 2005-2007 - Australia
====================================
How to make a good post: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
Backup and data recovery: http://www.acronis.com/
Enhancing file system performance: http://www.diskeeper.com/defrag.asp


| My daughter has an OEM Windows XP Home PC purchased from a supermarket, so
| no CD provided. Last week she got a Norton Internet Security warning that
| Live Update was not performing correctly and recommending that she should
| uninstall and reinstal NIS. She did that but then got a warning the Windows
| could not be started because the Windows\System32\Config\System file is
| missing or corrupt.
| I have tried booting in MS-DOS with a Windows 98 CD but could not access the
| c: drive that way. I then installed another HDD and put Windows XP Pro on
| that. Then, I put the original HDD back as a slave and that enabled me to
| view the file hierachy in Explorer.
| The System file is present on the old drive so I tried renaming it and
| removed the new drive but still got the same message when attempting to
| re-boot.
| I tried searching the original drive for a backup copy of the corrupt file
| but could not find one.
| Can anyone suggest a way out of this?
|
| brianf
|
|

 

[Rock]

My daughter has an OEM Windows XP Home PC purchased from a supermarket, so
no CD provided. Last week she got a Norton Internet Security warning that
Live Update was not performing correctly and recommending that she should
uninstall and reinstal NIS. She did that but then got a warning the
Windows could not be started because the Windows\System32\Config\System
file is missing or corrupt.
I have tried booting in MS-DOS with a Windows 98 CD but could not access
the c: drive that way. I then installed another HDD and put Windows XP Pro
on that. Then, I put the original HDD back as a slave and that enabled me
to view the file hierachy in Explorer.
The System file is present on the old drive so I tried renaming it and
removed the new drive but still got the same message when attempting to
re-boot.
I tried searching the original drive for a backup copy of the corrupt file
but could not find one.
Can anyone suggest a way out of this?

That error indicates a corrupt registry. Have you tried Last Known Good
Configuration from the Advanced Boot Options menu? Boot the PC, as the BIOS
splash screen disappears, repeatedly tap the F8 key until the menu with Safe
Mode appears. Try Last Known Good Configuration.

If that doesn't work try safe mode with command prompt, and if it will get
to windows do a system restore by giving this command at the command prompt:
c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

If that doesn't work then the options are rapidly decreasing. See this KB
article which is the standard way for dealing with this problem.
Unfortunately it has a caveat about not using if the installation is OEM.

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307545

First make sure that all the data is backed up. If not then put it back in
the other machine as a slave drive and copy the data. You might need to
take ownership of some files/folders. From Start | Help and Support search
on Ownership for info or see this article.

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

After the data is saved then try the fix in that other KB article. There
is nothing to loose at this point.

If that doesn't work then restore the system using the mechanism provided,
either a recovery CD or the hidden partition on the drive with an image of
the drive as received from the factory. See the computer's documentation
for how to do this or contact the tech support for the computer
manufacturer. If it has a non destructive recovery option that's good, but
it might not in which case you'll have to install any other apps from their
original media and restore the data from the backup.

Once the system is up and running get rid of NIS and all Norton home
products. There are good alternatives that are either free or low cost.
For firewall there is Kerio Personal Firewall from Sunbelt Software (free),
Zone Alarm (free) and Comodo Personal Firewall (free). For AV there is
Avast (free), AVG (free) and NOD32 (paid but excellent). Any of these would
work better than NIS. For non viral malware use Defender, Ad-Aware SE
Personal, SpyBot S&D, SpywareBlaster, and BHO Demon.

The registry can be backed up on a regular basis using ERUNT which is free
and works well. Set it up as a scheduled task to run daily. If set up
properly, in this kind of situation the registry can be restored from a
backup from the Recovery Console. Her system doesn't have the XP CD but any
one will do for access to the Recovery Console.

ERUNT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt

Installing and Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html
http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm

Hopefully she backs up data regularly.

 

[BrianF]

My daughter has an OEM Windows XP Home PC purchased from a supermarket, so
no CD provided. Last week she got a Norton Internet Security warning that
Live Update was not performing correctly and recommending that she should
uninstall and reinstal NIS. She did that but then got a warning the
Windows could not be started because the Windows\System32\Config\System
file is missing or corrupt.
I have tried booting in MS-DOS with a Windows 98 CD but could not access
the c: drive that way. I then installed another HDD and put Windows XP Pro
on that. Then, I put the original HDD back as a slave and that enabled me
to view the file hierachy in Explorer.
The System file is present on the old drive so I tried renaming it and
removed the new drive but still got the same message when attempting to
re-boot.
I tried searching the original drive for a backup copy of the corrupt file
but could not find one.
Can anyone suggest a way out of this?

I've now discovered that a copy of the original installation SYSTEM file is
stored in Windows\repair, so I renamed the apparently defective copy and
replaced it with the repair copy. Now Windows gets a little further into the
startup but fails again with a panel saying that the last attempt to change
the password failed and it then shuts down and tries to restart. This
process just repeats in a continuous loop.

The same happens in Safe Mode.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

BrianF

 

[Rock]

I've now discovered that a copy of the original installation SYSTEM file
is stored in Windows\repair, so I renamed the apparently defective copy
and replaced it with the repair copy. Now Windows gets a little further
into the startup but fails again with a panel saying that the last attempt
to change the password failed and it then shuts down and tries to restart.
This process just repeats in a continuous loop.

The same happens in Safe Mode.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

This has nothing to do with the system file. Didn't you see the other
posts?

 

[BrianF]

This has nothing to do with the system file. Didn't you see the other
posts?

Unfortunately no! I did not see any of the other posts as my ISP kindly
decided to wipe all of its newsgroup servers yesterday.
I guess I had better have a look at Google Groups.

brianf

 

[BrianF]

Requires a CD -

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545

Install and Use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307654

See also

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

How Do I Repair A Missing or Corrupt Windows\System32\Config\System File
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor1.htm

Many thanks but, unfortunately, this is an OEM system with no CD supplied.
There is a copy of Phoenix Recover Pro on the PC but - guess what - it was
never configured so is no use in this case.
It seems like that the only thing to do is copy all the data and try an
upgrade.

brianf

 

[BrianF]

That error indicates a corrupt registry. Have you tried Last Known Good
Configuration from the Advanced Boot Options menu? Boot the PC, as the
BIOS splash screen disappears, repeatedly tap the F8 key until the menu
with Safe Mode appears. Try Last Known Good Configuration.

Yes, tried that but either it had already been tried by someone else or the
PC was never configured to create restore points.

If that doesn't work try safe mode with command prompt, and if it will get
to windows do a system restore by giving this command at the command
prompt:
c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

It would not boot into safe mode either. Tried it from DOS with a Win 98 CD
but that also failed.

If that doesn't work then the options are rapidly decreasing. See this KB
article which is the standard way for dealing with this problem.
Unfortunately it has a caveat about not using if the installation is OEM.

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307545

First make sure that all the data is backed up. If not then put it back
in the other machine as a slave drive and copy the data. You might need
to take ownership of some files/folders. From Start | Help and Support
search on Ownership for info or see this article.

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

After the data is saved then try the fix in that other KB article. There
is nothing to loose at this point.

If that doesn't work then restore the system using the mechanism provided,
either a recovery CD or the hidden partition on the drive with an image of
the drive as received from the factory. See the computer's documentation
for how to do this or contact the tech support for the computer
manufacturer. If it has a non destructive recovery option that's good,
but it might not in which case you'll have to install any other apps from
their original media and restore the data from the backup.

Once the system is up and running get rid of NIS and all Norton home
products. There are good alternatives that are either free or low cost.
For firewall there is Kerio Personal Firewall from Sunbelt Software
(free), Zone Alarm (free) and Comodo Personal Firewall (free). For AV
there is Avast (free), AVG (free) and NOD32 (paid but excellent). Any of
these would work better than NIS. For non viral malware use Defender,
Ad-Aware SE Personal, SpyBot S&D, SpywareBlaster, and BHO Demon.

The registry can be backed up on a regular basis using ERUNT which is free
and works well. Set it up as a scheduled task to run daily. If set up
properly, in this kind of situation the registry can be restored from a
backup from the Recovery Console. Her system doesn't have the XP CD but
any one will do for access to the Recovery Console.

ERUNT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt

Installing and Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html
http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm

Hopefully she backs up data regularly.

This is a family PC that is used with three logons so maintenance is not
easy to control. I've been called in after the damage has been done so am
doing my best to rescue the situation but, as you said, the options are
rapidly decreasing.

I agree with you other security recommendations.

brianf

 

[BrianF]

Unfortunately no! I did not see any of the other posts as my ISP kindly
decided to wipe all of its newsgroup servers yesterday.
I guess I had better have a look at Google Groups.

Now done that and answered.
It is not looking good. A new copy of Windows XP has been ordered. Seems to
me a classic example of the way in which people with little knowledge of PCs
are being led into expensive purchases of machines on which they become
dependent, with virtually no competent support available when things go
wrong. Next step will be a bit of education about PC housekeeping but I
doubt that it will have much effect.

brianf

 

[Rock]

Now done that and answered.
It is not looking good. A new copy of Windows XP has been ordered. Seems
to me a classic example of the way in which people with little knowledge
of PCs are being led into expensive purchases of machines on which they
become dependent, with virtually no competent support available when
things go wrong. Next step will be a bit of education about PC
housekeeping but I doubt that it will have much effect.

Sorry to hear it couldn't be resolved otherwise, but it did seem from the
beginning this was the direction it would go. Did you try the fix in that
KB article for a corrupted registry?

 

[BrianF]

Sorry to hear it couldn't be resolved otherwise, but it did seem from the
beginning this was the direction it would go. Did you try the fix in that
KB article for a corrupted registry?

I think it's fair to say that all of the suggestions made here required an
original installation CD. They also excluded OEM versions.
That's why I set up a new installation in a master/slave configuration so
that I could at least see the files on the slave drive.
A further complication that I hadn't mentioned is that the defective version
is a French OEM installation. Consequently, I have ordered a French copy of
XP Pro in order to attempt an upgrade or, if that doesn't work, a clean
install.

brianf

 

[Rock]

I think it's fair to say that all of the suggestions made here required an
original installation CD. They also excluded OEM versions.
That's why I set up a new installation in a master/slave configuration so
that I could at least see the files on the slave drive.
A further complication that I hadn't mentioned is that the defective
version is a French OEM installation. Consequently, I have ordered a
French copy of XP Pro in order to attempt an upgrade or, if that doesn't
work, a clean install.

Sure saving the data first is the most important thing, but once that was
done, you had nothing to loose by using that procedure in
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307545. If you are going to do a clean
install anyway, it is worth a shot, no?

 

[BrianF]

Sure saving the data first is the most important thing, but once that was
done, you had nothing to loose by using that procedure in
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307545. If you are going to do a clean
install anyway, it is worth a shot, no?

Well it does specifically say "Do not use this procedure on an OEM version."
or words to that effect. Consequently, as this is an OEM version, I decided
not to risk it. In any case we have a full version of XP Pro on order and I
think that has an upgrade option from XP Home. If so, I will attempt that
before deciding on a clean install.

brianf

 

[Rock]

Well it does specifically say "Do not use this procedure on an OEM
version." or words to that effect. Consequently, as this is an OEM
version, I decided not to risk it. In any case we have a full version of
XP Pro on order and I think that has an upgrade option from XP Home. If
so, I will attempt that before deciding on a clean install.

To do an upgrade it must be started from the XP desktop. So if XP Home
won't start, you can't do an upgrade. Even if it could start, doing an
upgrade on a system with operating problems will more than likely carry
those problems forward.