XP Startup problem

[Phil & Louise Jones]

Hi,

I just installed a reputable Internet Security Suite package, doing a few
restarts through the process, as prompted. Then I ran the spyware removal
utility, which found a few minor items and successfully removed them. During
one of the reboots, I did get a message that Windows had found a registery
error, but claimed to have successfully fixed the problem. After getting rid
of the small amount of spyware (I regularly had run both Adaware and S&D
anyway) I decided to do another reboot to make sure everything was OK on my
newly secured PC.

However, XP won't reboot. It bombs out very early in the process now, with
the statement similar to "Windows cannot load - file
C:\windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupted. Try running
Recovery Console". I have tried selecting safe mode, but as you might expect
this is no good either, with the same error message.

Although I'm new to the RC, I followed the instructions, and booted to the
RC using my XP disk. I navigated to the directory above and observed that
the file is actually there. I see that there are commands such as bootcfg,
chkdsk, amongst others, but am not willing to try these unless someone
guides me, since I think my system is precariously balanced!

Can anyone suggest what I should do? I presume the 'system' file referred to
aboveis backed up under periodic background XP System Restore points, so
should I find the last one (where would it be?) and copy it over the one
that is apparently corrupt? Or is life more complicated?

Any help appreciated!

Thanks, Phil

 

[Netpunkz]

Hi Phil,

Unfortunatly it is refering to your registry. The file "system" holds a
lot of registry information and is most likely corrupt. I recommend
putting the HDD in another PC and then checking that this file is
there. Unfortunatly, as far as i am aware, there is very little you can
do to repair this file apart from performing a repair install of
windows but you will still need to reinstall most of your programs
etc.... Please make sure to backup any data or information before
attempting to reintall windows (just in case). I don't think system
restore backs this up, but i will check for you.

Regards

 

[Netpunkz]

Hi Phil,


Unfortunatly it is refering to your registry. The file "system" holds a

lot of registry information and is most likely corrupt. There is a
microsoft KB article on how to recover from this. Please note that this
method will not restore the data that was in this file. It is only
designed as a last attempt after any recovery procedures available to
you have been tried. Please read the document carefully as further data
loss could occur.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545

Regards

 

[Phil & Louise Jones]

Thanks (even though you seem to be the bearer of bad news!).

I should say that I have a good copy of BartPE which could be useful in my
predicament. For those not aware of what this is, it is a bootable CD you
can create that allows you to run a cutdown version of Windows XP direct off
a CD. You then have a GUI type Explorer to look over your hard drive, and
even includes networking and file sharing. However, I digress (I just think
its a great tool!).

However, if what you say is correct, wouldn't that be the sort of file that
could be restored using info from a system restore point (if I could run it
perhaps from BartPE?).

If no one else has other ideas, I'll print out your referenced article and
follow it carefully! Actually, I think I can use BartPE to drag and drop the
file moves required by the article.

Thanks, Phil

 

[Netpunkz]

Hi Phil,

The system restore files are located in "c:\system volume
information\_restore" You can have a look there to see if it has entire
copies of these files (i haven't used system restore a great deal so i
am not sure). If it does i believe you need to replace all the registry
files, not just the one that is corrupt. Also be sure to backup your
registry files first. Bart PE is the perfect program to do this with

Regards

 

[Phil & Louise Jones]

I followed the procedure you gave me, and I'm all up and running again!

Thanks for the help. Phil

 

[John J McAssey]

Try this. Restart system and press f8 to get the boot menu. Then choose
restart using the last known good configuration.