Archivist said:
My mothers pc will not boot up after SP3 was installed.
She gets to the screen before XP Home boots asking if she wants to go to
Safe Mode, etc. But when a option is selected it states to insert the
setup
disc and press "R" to try to correct a corrupted or missing system file.
She is looking for her installation disc. Is there a way to correct this
without having to purchase a new one?
Does it mention which system file? This is a very important detail.
If the displayed filename really does end with "system", this is one of the
registry files, and there's a relatively easy fix.
However, you need a bootable XP CD to do this, or a bootable Linux CD (such
as the Ubuntu Live CD) or you can attach the drive to another working XP
system to do the file manipulations.
When I say a bootable XP CD, your OEM system recovery disk won't work.
However, *any* bootable MS XP CD of any version will work. You can borrow
one for the occasion, just be careful to follow the directions exactly.
You are looking for the Recovery console, and you'll know you are there when
you see a black screen with this prompt:
c:\windows
From there, follow the directions here, and read them carefully first:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545
If the system has a floppy drive, take advantage of the directions for
saving the text to file. This can save you a lot of time and typing.
If you cannot get a bootable XP CD, you can use other means for accessing
the drive, and you will have to adjust the directions accordingly.
HTH
-pk