Windows XP Pro Bootup Problem?

[Guest]

Hi all,
My pc hangs when I press the start button. I get the normal BIOS screen but
then it stops and displays the following:-

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

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

I hit the RETURN key on the keyboard and the Windows XP carries on
installing as if nothing has happened. I do get various problems during the
time I am working on the pc and I am sure that the initial problem is causing
this.

I have tried installing windows XP by putting the 'Windows XP' disc in the
cdrom and doing a 'repair' but the problem remains and I have also
reinstalled Windows XP but htis has not stopped the problem?

Has anybody got any ideas what the problem is and how I can fix it, please!!!

Regards
Gerryw

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi all,
My pc hangs when I press the start button. I get the normal BIOS screen
but
then it stops and displays the following:-

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

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

I hit the RETURN key on the keyboard and the Windows XP carries on
installing as if nothing has happened. I do get various problems during
the
time I am working on the pc and I am sure that the initial problem is
causing
this.

I have tried installing windows XP by putting the 'Windows XP' disc in
the
cdrom and doing a 'repair' but the problem remains and I have also
reinstalled Windows XP but htis has not stopped the problem?

Has anybody got any ideas what the problem is and how I can fix it,
please!!!

Regards
Gerryw

Yes, your system has some registry corruption, and there's a KB article on
that exact message. It's not an uncommon problem.
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=307545

If the problem is persistent, consider fully backing up your system - at
least all your data, including email and account settings, and then doing
disk tests. The problem may (or may not) be related to drive or filesystem
damage, which you may need to get past by reinstalling cleanly. If you do
that, it's not a bad idea to just put in a new physical drive - then you
have the old one, and a new faster drive with no errors. I buy 80-gig
drives for around CDN$50, so it's not a really expensive proposition.

HTH
-pk

 

[WTC]

Use a BartPE Bootable CD to repair your system. Follow the directions on how
to create a BartPE Bootable CD from their website.Use a working Windows
2000/XP/2003 machine to create the Bart PE Bootable CD.

Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Boot the computer with the BartPE CD.

This procedure assumes Windows XP is installed on the C Drive.

Navigate to this folder on your Hard drive:

c:\windows\system32\config

Copy the following files to a temp folder, if present:

system
software
sam
security
default

Then delete the above files from "c:\windows\system32\config".

Navigate to the following folder:

c:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}

NOTE: "_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}" will have a different
name on your computer.

Now there should be folders with names like RP1, RP2, RP3 and so on. Open
the folder with the highest RP# then open the "Snapshot" folder.

Copy the following files to "c:\windows\system32\config":

_REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

Rename the files in "c:\windows\system32\config""

Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

Reboot the machine and see if you can use Windows.