What to do when windows/system32/config/system is corrupt or missi

[Guest]

I have a Sony desktop with a factory installed WindowsXP that I upgraded to
Service Pack 2. Everything was working fine for a while, but a week and a
half ago after
restaring my pc I got this error: windows/system32/config/system is corrupt
or missing. I've tried following the steps in this article
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545
but am encountering
the following proble: when I am typing in the very first command
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
I get this error:
The file could not be copied. Am I doing something wrong, or is my only
other option to use Sony recovery
disks and to completely restore my PC? My main concern (as I am sure it is
everyone else's as well) is not to loose any data that I have on my desktop.
Thanks in advance for any advice, Boris.

 

[GTS]

I suggest running chkdsk /r in the recovery console. Sometime this kind of
registry damage is due to a hard disk problem. If a bad cluster is
impacting that file, it could be causing the copy failure and will cause a
problem later if you do reinstall.

 

[dev]

/Boris/ said:

I have a Sony desktop with a factory installed WindowsXP that I
upgraded to Service Pack 2. Everything was working fine for a while,
but a week and a half ago after restaring my pc I got this error:
windows/system32/config/system is corrupt or missing. I've tried
following the steps in this article
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545 but am
encountering the following proble: when I am typing in the very first
command copy c:\windows\system32\config\system
c:\windows\tmp\system.bak I get this error: The file could not be
copied. Am I doing something wrong, or is my only other option to use
Sony recovery disks and to completely restore my PC? My main concern
(as I am sure it is everyone else's as well) is not to lose any data
that I have on my desktop.

Try a boot into Safe Mode, by hitting F8 just before the "Starting
Windows" screen would appear (takes a bit of practice).
Choose LAST GOOD.

If that does nothing, use a working PC to read this first...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q823614
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm

Related info is here...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q307545
describes a three-step process to extract a copy of the registry
from the System Restore SVI folder.

Info on dealing with corruption issues...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822705

Reinstall/repair tutorials (if needed) are here...
http://WWW.WEBTREE.CA/windowsxp/
http://michaelstevenstech.com

After your system is restored, the ERUNT utility available here may
make it easier to fix the problem if it recurs...
http://HOME.T-ONLINE.DE/home/lars.hederer/erunt

If the problem persists, try swapping current RAM (even if it checks
good) for a single, high-quality 512Mb chip. XP reportedly is sensitive
to memory timing.

 

[Guest]

Can you elaborate on what commands I should type in order to check disk
consistancy? Or is this it "chkdsk /r"?
Boris.

 

[GTS]

Yes, that's it.
--

Can you elaborate on what commands I should type in order to check disk
consistancy? Or is this it "chkdsk /r"?
Boris.