Windows 2000 System Hive Too Large?

[Beyond X]

When I moved a Win2K Pro HDD working on an MSI mobo to a new ASUS mobo,
it did not work. So I put it back to the original computer. Now I got
all kinds of problems and failed to boot even in Safe Mode. One is the
error message "missing or corrupt Systemced". Documents advises to copy
WINNT\Repair\Regback System to WINNT\System32\config. This way I was
indeed able to boot but lost all drivers. The computer automatically
loaded back most of them save Display adaptor. When I restarted, the
computer bootrd normally. But when I restarted again, it failed to boot
showing the same error message as above.
It is certain that when the OS was exposed to a new mobo, The OS's
registry got screwed up and resulted in a kind of hodgepodge registry.
It appears that Windows finds the repaired 'System' file too large. I
repeated the repair attempts a few times but ended up with the same
strange failure. My search found an article that says that some times
the system hive gets too large and needs to be reduced. So I examined
its System's file sizes and found:
4984KB in \WINNT\Repair\Regback
4984KB after copied to WINNT\System32\Config
6404 in WINNT\System32\Config after first successful reboot
6404 in WINNT\System32\Config after failure

1. Does this indicate that the "missing or corrupt Systemced" message is
indicative of too large a System file?
2. Can I replace the 4984KB System file in \WINNT\Repair\Regback by this
6404 KB in WINNT\System32\Config? (I do not have an A drive so that I am
unable to carry out ERD back up.)
3. In //support.microsoft.com/kb/322756, described is a method to reduce
the System file size which is said to be applicable to Windows 2000
Professional as well as WinXP.
But there is no "Save Key" in the Registry menu in Win2K. Is there a
document available for Win2K?

If anyone knows or can guide to how I can solve my unusual problem,
please help.

 

[Dave Patrick]

Sounds like the copy in %systemroot%\repair\regback must also have problems.
Try using %systemroot%\repair\

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
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%systemroot%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%systemroot%\system32\config\system

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

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%systemroot%\repair\system
to
%systemroot%\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

 

[Beyond X]

Thanks so much for the detailed suggestion.

Sounds like the copy in %systemroot%\repair\regback must also have
problems. Try using %systemroot%\repair\

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
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%systemroot%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%systemroot%\system32\config\system

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

I already tried this method, but no luck.

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

I tried this without luch, too.

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%

When I go to Recovery Console, I got C: prompt all right. In order to
access to config\System file I typed CD \WINNT\SYSTEM32, then I got an
error message Failed in Directory Enumeration.
However, this computer happened to contain WinXP Pro, too. So I can
change WINNT files while in XP. But tinkering new and old SYSTEM file
brought about no result any way.

The presence of XP in the same partition was not my intension, but due
to my careless attempt to upgrade Win2K to WinXP, that is, while I
wanted to upgrade 2K to XP, I accidentally installed XP in the same
partition. In the boot selection menu both 2K and XP are listed, but if
I select 2K, the computer crashes. I am not sure whether this crash is
the result of incompatibility of 2K and XP in the same partition or
whether something wrong with 2K system including the missing or corrupt
Systemced issue.
Now I am beginning to wonder what will happen if I uninstall XP. But it
turned out another problem. I will post this problem in a separate posting.

 

[Dave Patrick]

You're welcome.


--

Regards,

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