windows\system32\config\system - file corrupt or missing

[Guest]

Hi all,

I turned on my DELL Dimension 8300 this morning and received the above error
message.

The error message suggests pressing 'r' to attempt repairing this file.
Pressing 'r' does nothing on my PC.

I then tried booting from the Windows reinstallation CD that came with the
PC. By reading other threads here, found how to change boot sequence to use
CD first.

I then get the bright blue "WINDOWS SETUP" screen, get prompted to press F6
for 3rd party RAID/SCSI drives, F2 for ASR, then it bombs out - I get an
error message like this:

The entry "ntkrnlmp.exe" in the [SourceDiskFiles] section of the INF file is
corrupt or missing. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

I've tried SAFE MODE, LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIG but no help there. Even tried
booting to UTILITY PARTION, but I can't find a valid COMMAND.COM file

I had a thought that the Dell supplied CD that I'm trying to boot from was
for Windows XP Pro Service Pack 1 and now I'm running XP Pro Service Pack 2
on my PC.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks in advance
pk

 

[Rock]

Hi all,

I turned on my DELL Dimension 8300 this morning and received the above
error
message.

The error message suggests pressing 'r' to attempt repairing this file.
Pressing 'r' does nothing on my PC.

I then tried booting from the Windows reinstallation CD that came with the
PC. By reading other threads here, found how to change boot sequence to
use
CD first.

This error indicates a problem with the registry. You need to follow the
steps in this article. ASR is not what you use. ASR stands for Automated
System Recovery and to use it you had to have created an ASR backup inside
XP using the ASR backup wizard. It requires a floppy disk too.

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

After the problem is fixed take a look at this article for tips on how to
track down what is causing the corruption.

How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=822705

Lastly, it's a good idea to save a backup copy of the registry on a regular
basis. The best program for this is ERUNT. With it you easily restore the
registry from a backup from within the recovery console. I have it set up
to back a backup daily and I keep a certain number of backups.

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

 

[Guest]

Hi Rock,

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to use ASR - that's the last prompt I see
before I get the error message about "ntkrnlmp".

Thanks for the references. The only challenge I have is that I can't get
any further in to try any of the solutions presented in these articles.

Cheers
pk

 

[dave xnet]

Hi Rock,

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to use ASR - that's the last prompt I see
before I get the error message about "ntkrnlmp".

Thanks for the references. The only challenge I have is that I can't get
any further in to try any of the solutions presented in these articles.

Cheers
pk

Hello, to implement the fix at
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307545

you need to first boot to the recovery console
and follow the steps from there...

Dave

 

[Guest]

Hi Dave,

I can't even get to the recovery console to do anything ... I try rebooting
from the installation CD and I get the error about the "ntkrnlmp.exe" file
(missing or corrupt).

Cheers
pk

 

[dave xnet]

Hi Dave,

I can't even get to the recovery console to do anything ... I try rebooting
from the installation CD and I get the error about the "ntkrnlmp.exe" file
(missing or corrupt).

Cheers
pk

Hi PK,
Recovery console is certainly available by booting a "proper"
XP cd, either full retail or an OEM copy; but I'm not familiar with
the contents / structure of the Dell disks. Perhaps first you should
ask Dell about how to access the RC; failing that, see if you can
borrow an sp2 retail CD from a buddy.

Dave

 

[Rock]

Hi Rock,

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to use ASR - that's the last prompt I see
before I get the error message about "ntkrnlmp".

Thanks for the references. The only challenge I have is that I can't get
any further in to try any of the solutions presented in these articles.

Cheers
pk

I'm not sure why you're getting a blue screen. What kind of CD are you
booting with? Can you borrow another XP installation CD to try? It doesn't
matter what version for access to the recovery console.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Dave ... the CD I'm using is the OEM version that came with my PC and
haven't had to use it until today. I'll try the "buddy" option and see if
that fixes my problem.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers
pk

 

[Rock]

Thanks Dave ... the CD I'm using is the OEM version that came with my PC
and
haven't had to use it until today. I'll try the "buddy" option and see
if
that fixes my problem.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers
pk

Additionally make sure it's not a branded OEM disk. It needs to be a retail
or generic OEM version.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Rock ... I think that's the next step to eliminate issues with the CD
itself.

Cheers
pk

 

[NewScience]

Have you tried SAFE MODE COMMAND PROMPT and restored with repair folder
system file?

 

[Guest]

Another choice would be the XP setup boot disks if you have a floppy drive
installed. Here is the link. Choose the XP Pro SP2 set. Follow the directions
on the page for creation.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q310994

 

[Guest]

Couldn't even get it to boot under any SAFE mode.

Finally gave up and took the PC to my local repair guys - works out that one
of the memory sticks was bad.

Thanks for the advice - this is a wonderful forum.

Cheers
pk

Have you tried SAFE MODE COMMAND PROMPT and restored with repair folder
system file?

Hi all,

I turned on my DELL Dimension 8300 this morning and received the above
error
message.

The error message suggests pressing 'r' to attempt repairing this file.
Pressing 'r' does nothing on my PC.

I then tried booting from the Windows reinstallation CD that came with the
PC. By reading other threads here, found how to change boot sequence to
use
CD first.

I then get the bright blue "WINDOWS SETUP" screen, get prompted to press
F6
for 3rd party RAID/SCSI drives, F2 for ASR, then it bombs out - I get an
error message like this:

The entry "ntkrnlmp.exe" in the [SourceDiskFiles] section of the INF file
is
corrupt or missing. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

I've tried SAFE MODE, LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIG but no help there. Even
tried
booting to UTILITY PARTION, but I can't find a valid COMMAND.COM file

I had a thought that the Dell supplied CD that I'm trying to boot from was
for Windows XP Pro Service Pack 1 and now I'm running XP Pro Service Pack
2
on my PC.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks in advance
pk

 

[Guest]

Hi Ron,

I have a floppy drive on the broken machine and no way to create floppies on
my laptop - sucks, eh!?

In he end, the local repair guys found it was a harware problem ... the
memory I had installed about 5 months ago was ound to be faulty. They pulled
out the bad memory and it all works fine again!!

Thanks
pk

Another choice would be the XP setup boot disks if you have a floppy drive
installed. Here is the link. Choose the XP Pro SP2 set. Follow the directions
on the page for creation.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q310994

Hi all,

I turned on my DELL Dimension 8300 this morning and received the above error
message.

The error message suggests pressing 'r' to attempt repairing this file.
Pressing 'r' does nothing on my PC.

I then tried booting from the Windows reinstallation CD that came with the
PC. By reading other threads here, found how to change boot sequence to use
CD first.

I then get the bright blue "WINDOWS SETUP" screen, get prompted to press F6
for 3rd party RAID/SCSI drives, F2 for ASR, then it bombs out - I get an
error message like this:

The entry "ntkrnlmp.exe" in the [SourceDiskFiles] section of the INF file is
corrupt or missing. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

I've tried SAFE MODE, LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIG but no help there. Even tried
booting to UTILITY PARTION, but I can't find a valid COMMAND.COM file

I had a thought that the Dell supplied CD that I'm trying to boot from was
for Windows XP Pro Service Pack 1 and now I'm running XP Pro Service Pack 2
on my PC.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks in advance
pk

 

[Guest]

Just to close the loop on this ... finally took my machine to the local
gurus. They ran some fancy daignostics which pointed to one of the memory
banks being faulty.

Thanks to all who responded to my plight !!

Cheers and beers
pk

 

[NewScience]

You should look into MemTest86+ utility program for the future.

Just to close the loop on this ... finally took my machine to the local
gurus. They ran some fancy daignostics which pointed to one of the memory
banks being faulty.

Thanks to all who responded to my plight !!

Cheers and beers
pk

Hi all,

I turned on my DELL Dimension 8300 this morning and received the above
error
message.

The error message suggests pressing 'r' to attempt repairing this file.
Pressing 'r' does nothing on my PC.

I then tried booting from the Windows reinstallation CD that came with
the
PC. By reading other threads here, found how to change boot sequence to
use
CD first.

I then get the bright blue "WINDOWS SETUP" screen, get prompted to press
F6
for 3rd party RAID/SCSI drives, F2 for ASR, then it bombs out - I get an
error message like this:

The entry "ntkrnlmp.exe" in the [SourceDiskFiles] section of the INF file
is
corrupt or missing. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

I've tried SAFE MODE, LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIG but no help there. Even
tried
booting to UTILITY PARTION, but I can't find a valid COMMAND.COM file

I had a thought that the Dell supplied CD that I'm trying to boot from
was
for Windows XP Pro Service Pack 1 and now I'm running XP Pro Service Pack
2
on my PC.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks in advance
pk

 

[Rock]

Just to close the loop on this ... finally took my machine to the local
gurus. They ran some fancy daignostics which pointed to one of the memory
banks being faulty.

Thanks to all who responded to my plight !!

Cheers and beers
pk

Hi all,

I turned on my DELL Dimension 8300 this morning and received the above
error
message.

The error message suggests pressing 'r' to attempt repairing this file.
Pressing 'r' does nothing on my PC.

I then tried booting from the Windows reinstallation CD that came with
the
PC. By reading other threads here, found how to change boot sequence to
use
CD first.

I then get the bright blue "WINDOWS SETUP" screen, get prompted to press
F6
for 3rd party RAID/SCSI drives, F2 for ASR, then it bombs out - I get an
error message like this:

The entry "ntkrnlmp.exe" in the [SourceDiskFiles] section of the INF file
is
corrupt or missing. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

I've tried SAFE MODE, LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIG but no help there. Even
tried
booting to UTILITY PARTION, but I can't find a valid COMMAND.COM file

I had a thought that the Dell supplied CD that I'm trying to boot from
was
for Windows XP Pro Service Pack 1 and now I'm running XP Pro Service Pack
2
on my PC.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks in advance
pk

Ok, problems with memory can cause registry corruption. That's noted in
this article, which I listed in my first response to you.

How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=822705

Here are three memory diagnostic tools. It's a good idea to run them
occasionally. They should be run for some time, not just a single pass.

Memtest86+
http://www.memtest.org/

Windows Memory Diagnostic
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

DocMemory Memory Diagnostic
http://www.simmtester.com/page/products/doc/download.asp

Glad you got it sorted out and thanks for posting back the resolution.