SYSTEM File!

[Arpan]

I am working in Windows 2000 Pro which is installed in C:\. I also have
Windows XP Pro installed in D:\ in my machine.

Today while working in Win2K, there was a sudden power failure in our
area due to which I could not shut down my machine in the conventional
manner. After the power supply was restored, I switched on my machine
to go to Win2K but found Windows throwing an error message which meant
that Win2K can not start as the file C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
has become corrupt. In order to avoid reinstalling Win2K & wasting time
in the process, as directed by Windows, I started the repair process
using the Win2K Setup CD but was finally told that Windows couldn't
find anything to repair! All my efforts were in vain & went down the
drain!

I then thought of copying the SYSTEM file from the Win2K Setup CD to
the CONFIG folder in Win2K but searching the CD didn't yield any file
named SYSTEM; so I had to abort this idea!

Finally I logged into WinXP, copied the file named SYSTEM (from
D:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG) & pasted a shortcut of this file in
C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG. Before doing so, I renamed the existing
SYSTEM file in Win2K to SYSTEM1. I had to paste it as a shortcut since
WinXP wasn't allowing me to paste it saying that the SYSTEM file in
WinXP was in use. I renamed this shortcut to SYSTEM. After this, I
restarted my m/c & luckily I could log into Win2K this time. I
navigated to C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG & found that Windows has already
created a file named SYSTEM in Win2K (remember that I had renamed the
original SYSTEM file in Win2K to SYSTEM1)-the size of this new SYSTEM
file in Win2K being exactly the same as the size of the original SYSTEM
file in Win2K i.e. 2.76MB (I had noted down the original size earlier).

I thought that everything was OK now with Win2K but when I restarted my
m/c & tried to boot into Win2K, I was again told by Windows that Win2K
can't be started as the file C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM in Win2K
is corrupt! I had to again log into WinXP, copy-paste a shortcut of the
SYSTEM file from WinXP to Win2K to log into Win2K. The bottomline is
from now on whenever I have to log into Win2K, I have to do so in this
tedious way!

Why is this happening? Are there any other ways by which I can boot
into Win2K in the usual way instead of this unconventional way by which
I am booting into Win2K right now? How can the corrupt SYSTEM file in
Win2K be repaired permanently? Please do not suggest me to reinstall
Win2K! Please help me get this Win2K SYSTEM file problem resolved as
soon as possible! My work's getting hampered!

Lastly please note that Win2K in my machine is armed with the latest
updates & SPs though WinXP isn't!

Thanks,

Arpan

 

[Dave Patrick]

You can't copy the system hive from another operating system or other
machine and expect it to work.

If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and
choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found
in
%windir%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%windir%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%windir%\system32\config\system

You can also try using the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%windir%\repair\system
to
%windir%\system32\config\system
You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
original OS install.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I am working in Windows 2000 Pro which is installed in C:\. I also have
| Windows XP Pro installed in D:\ in my machine.
|
| Today while working in Win2K, there was a sudden power failure in our
| area due to which I could not shut down my machine in the conventional
| manner. After the power supply was restored, I switched on my machine
| to go to Win2K but found Windows throwing an error message which meant
| that Win2K can not start as the file C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
| has become corrupt. In order to avoid reinstalling Win2K & wasting time
| in the process, as directed by Windows, I started the repair process
| using the Win2K Setup CD but was finally told that Windows couldn't
| find anything to repair! All my efforts were in vain & went down the
| drain!
|
| I then thought of copying the SYSTEM file from the Win2K Setup CD to
| the CONFIG folder in Win2K but searching the CD didn't yield any file
| named SYSTEM; so I had to abort this idea!
|
| Finally I logged into WinXP, copied the file named SYSTEM (from
| D:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG) & pasted a shortcut of this file in
| C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG. Before doing so, I renamed the existing
| SYSTEM file in Win2K to SYSTEM1. I had to paste it as a shortcut since
| WinXP wasn't allowing me to paste it saying that the SYSTEM file in
| WinXP was in use. I renamed this shortcut to SYSTEM. After this, I
| restarted my m/c & luckily I could log into Win2K this time. I
| navigated to C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG & found that Windows has already
| created a file named SYSTEM in Win2K (remember that I had renamed the
| original SYSTEM file in Win2K to SYSTEM1)-the size of this new SYSTEM
| file in Win2K being exactly the same as the size of the original SYSTEM
| file in Win2K i.e. 2.76MB (I had noted down the original size earlier).
|
| I thought that everything was OK now with Win2K but when I restarted my
| m/c & tried to boot into Win2K, I was again told by Windows that Win2K
| can't be started as the file C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM in Win2K
| is corrupt! I had to again log into WinXP, copy-paste a shortcut of the
| SYSTEM file from WinXP to Win2K to log into Win2K. The bottomline is
| from now on whenever I have to log into Win2K, I have to do so in this
| tedious way!
|
| Why is this happening? Are there any other ways by which I can boot
| into Win2K in the usual way instead of this unconventional way by which
| I am booting into Win2K right now? How can the corrupt SYSTEM file in
| Win2K be repaired permanently? Please do not suggest me to reinstall
| Win2K! Please help me get this Win2K SYSTEM file problem resolved as
| soon as possible! My work's getting hampered!
|
| Lastly please note that Win2K in my machine is armed with the latest
| updates & SPs though WinXP isn't!
|
| Thanks,
|
| Arpan
|

 

[Arpan]

Thanks, Dave, for your prompt reply. The very first option you have
suggested has done the needful. I renamed SYSTEM to SYSTEM.OLD & then
SYSTEM.ALT to SYSTEM. Now I am able to boot into Win2K without any
hitches.

Now that I have renamed SYSTEM.ALT to SYSTEM, I don't have any
SYSTEM.ALT file. What do I do if this SYSTEM file gets corrupt in the
future? Before renaming SYSTEM.ALT to SYSTEM, I created a copy of the
SYSTEM.ALT file. So should I rename this copy of the SYSTEM.ALT file to
SYSTEM.ALT so that if the newly created SYSTEM file gets corrupt again
in the future, I can resolve the problem in the same way as what I have
done today?

To be very honest, my knowledge in this subject is highly limited &
thus would like to get your approval before renaming the copy of the
old SYSTEM.ALT file to SYSTEM.ALT.

BTW I don't find any file named REGBACK in %windir%\repair directory. I
even had a look at all the hidden files & folders along with the
protected operating system files. Searching the entire hard disk for
REGBACK too doesn't yield any result! Is something wrong with W2K?

Thank you once again for your help.

Regards,

Arpan

 

[Dave Patrick]

"I don't have any SYSTEM.ALT file."

The operating system will recreate it.

"I don't find any file named REGBACK "

You never created a backup. You can run Programs|Accessories|System
Tools|Backup, then choose ERD, then if you check the box for "Also
backup....", then the reg will also be backed up to
%windir%\repair\RegBack
leaving the
%windir%\repair\
directory files intact as original installation.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Thanks, Dave, for your prompt reply. The very first option you have
| suggested has done the needful. I renamed SYSTEM to SYSTEM.OLD & then
| SYSTEM.ALT to SYSTEM. Now I am able to boot into Win2K without any
| hitches.
|
| Now that I have renamed SYSTEM.ALT to SYSTEM, I don't have any
| SYSTEM.ALT file. What do I do if this SYSTEM file gets corrupt in the
| future? Before renaming SYSTEM.ALT to SYSTEM, I created a copy of the
| SYSTEM.ALT file. So should I rename this copy of the SYSTEM.ALT file to
| SYSTEM.ALT so that if the newly created SYSTEM file gets corrupt again
| in the future, I can resolve the problem in the same way as what I have
| done today?
|
| To be very honest, my knowledge in this subject is highly limited &
| thus would like to get your approval before renaming the copy of the
| old SYSTEM.ALT file to SYSTEM.ALT.
|
| BTW I don't find any file named REGBACK in %windir%\repair directory. I
| even had a look at all the hidden files & folders along with the
| protected operating system files. Searching the entire hard disk for
| REGBACK too doesn't yield any result! Is something wrong with W2K?
|
| Thank you once again for your help.
|
| Regards,
|
| Arpan
|

 

[Arpan]

Thanks once again, Dave, for your help & suggestions and for sparing
your invaluable time & energy for me.

Regards,

Arpan

 

[Dave Patrick]

You're quite welcome.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Thanks once again, Dave, for your help & suggestions and for sparing
| your invaluable time & energy for me.
|
| Regards,
|
| Arpan