"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or

[marty]

My computer had been running fine. I left it on overnight; in the
morning I noticed it had tried to reboot overnight and there was this
message displayed:

-------------------------------
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
-------------------------------

I have tried to enter Recovery Console by booting from the Windows CD
but I get this message when trying to boot from CD:

-------------------------------
File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded.
The error code is 7
-------------------------------

I also cannot boot into Safe Mode.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Marty

 

[marty]

By the way my system is setup dual-booting Windows XP Pro and Windows
Vista. Each OS is intalled on a separate hard disk. I cannot boot into
eaither OS.

Cheers,
Marty

 

[philo]

My computer had been running fine. I left it on overnight; in the
morning I noticed it had tried to reboot overnight and there was this
message displayed:

Hmmm...looks like a hardware problem...
I'd start out by performing a RAM test.

Next...a harddrive diagnostic

 

[Wesley Vogel]

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

SYSTEM is the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM registry hive.

This issue may occur if the SYSTEM hive of your computer's registry is
damaged.

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
starting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

How to troubleshoot registry corruption issues
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822705

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In