windows\system32\config\system file corrupt

[Gail Miller]

Hello

My son (in a town 250 miles away from me) called to say he had gotten the
error message above.

The screen said he could try to repair Windows XP by inserting the startup
disk and typing R at the setup screen.

He inserted the system recovery disk (1 of 2) and did not get a setup
screen. Instead, it offered options to boot to the command prompt or repair
Windows XP (which went on to say it would have to reformat the HDD and
reinstall windows xp).

Moreover, when he booted to the command prompt, he was getting a:\> -- not
d:\ which I think the CD-ROM drive is named. I did a quick Google search for
that error message and came up with a few suggestions from other news
groups -- but nothing that told us how to get from the A drive to the D
drive or to load the recovery console.

My son is very naive when it comes to computers, knowing only that they work
or don't when you turn them on! And I have been unable to find anything in
the knowledge base that suggests what to do.

I did read in a recent post to this newsgroup that system32 is not a valid
file -- but a virus. He claims his anti-virus program (McAfee) is thoroughly
up to date and I know it was when I visited there last week.

Any suggestions? He does not have an emergency bootdisk on a floppy -- but
when he ran a dir command at the command prompt, it returned 11 files (which
look like bootdisk files -- autoexec.bat, choice.com, command.com,
donfig.sys, ejectcd.exe, ghost.env, ghost.exe, himem.sys, mscdex.exe, and
two others I didn't write down).

Thanks so much in advance...

Gail Miller
Communications Consultant
Writing . Editing . Web Design

[Taurarian]

Hope this assists a little:

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

When you try to start or restart your Windows XP-based computer, you may
receive one of the following error messages:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM



Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE



Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive
(file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate



"Gail Miller" > wrote in message
...
> Hello
>
> My son (in a town 250 miles away from me) called to say he had gotten the
> error message above.
>
> The screen said he could try to repair Windows XP by inserting the startup
> disk and typing R at the setup screen.
>
> He inserted the system recovery disk (1 of 2) and did not get a setup
> screen. Instead, it offered options to boot to the command prompt or
repair
> Windows XP (which went on to say it would have to reformat the HDD and
> reinstall windows xp).
>
> Moreover, when he booted to the command prompt, he was getting a:\> -- not
> d:\ which I think the CD-ROM drive is named. I did a quick Google search
for
> that error message and came up with a few suggestions from other news
> groups -- but nothing that told us how to get from the A drive to the D
> drive or to load the recovery console.
>
> My son is very naive when it comes to computers, knowing only that they
work
> or don't when you turn them on! And I have been unable to find anything in
> the knowledge base that suggests what to do.
>
> I did read in a recent post to this newsgroup that system32 is not a valid
> file -- but a virus. He claims his anti-virus program (McAfee) is
thoroughly
> up to date and I know it was when I visited there last week.
>
> Any suggestions? He does not have an emergency bootdisk on a floppy -- but
> when he ran a dir command at the command prompt, it returned 11 files
(which
> look like bootdisk files -- autoexec.bat, choice.com, command.com,
> donfig.sys, ejectcd.exe, ghost.env, ghost.exe, himem.sys, mscdex.exe, and
> two others I didn't write down).
>
> Thanks so much in advance...
>
> Gail Miller
> Communications Consultant
> Writing . Editing . Web Design
>
>
>

[Gail Miller]

> Hope this assists a little:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545
> How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from
> Starting
>
> When you try to start or restart your Windows XP-based computer, you may
> receive one of the following error messages:
>

Hello and thanks!

Are you telling me, then, that when the "boot to command prompt" results in:
a:\> that IS the Recovery Console -- and that the commands listed in the MS
Knowledge Base file should be written at the a:\> prompt? I haven't called
him yet, but all the other commands we tried writing there failed to produce
anything (e.g., chkdsk /p /r ... fixmbr ... help ... ) gave back an "invalid
command" message.

I would appreciate your clarifying that ... and also ... are we presuming
the registry is corrupted because the setup disk does not go to Windows
Setup -- or what?

Again...thanks in advance!

Gail Miller

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I can verify from personal experience that this method works:

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"Gail Miller" > wrote in message
...
> Hello
>
> My son (in a town 250 miles away from me) called to say he had
gotten the
> error message above.
>
> The screen said he could try to repair Windows XP by inserting the
startup
> disk and typing R at the setup screen.
>
> He inserted the system recovery disk (1 of 2) and did not get a
setup
> screen. Instead, it offered options to boot to the command prompt or
repair
> Windows XP (which went on to say it would have to reformat the HDD
and
> reinstall windows xp).
>
> Moreover, when he booted to the command prompt, he was getting
a:\> -- not
> d:\ which I think the CD-ROM drive is named. I did a quick Google
search for
> that error message and came up with a few suggestions from other
news
> groups -- but nothing that told us how to get from the A drive to
the D
> drive or to load the recovery console.
>
> My son is very naive when it comes to computers, knowing only that
they work
> or don't when you turn them on! And I have been unable to find
anything in
> the knowledge base that suggests what to do.
>
> I did read in a recent post to this newsgroup that system32 is not a
valid
> file -- but a virus. He claims his anti-virus program (McAfee) is
thoroughly
> up to date and I know it was when I visited there last week.
>
> Any suggestions? He does not have an emergency bootdisk on a
floppy -- but
> when he ran a dir command at the command prompt, it returned 11
files (which
> look like bootdisk files -- autoexec.bat, choice.com, command.com,
> donfig.sys, ejectcd.exe, ghost.env, ghost.exe, himem.sys,
mscdex.exe, and
> two others I didn't write down).
>
> Thanks so much in advance...
>
> Gail Miller
> Communications Consultant
> Writing . Editing . Web Design
>
>
>

[Taurarian]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b307654
How to Install and Use the Recovery Console in Windows XP

Hope this clarifies it a bit more

"Gail Miller" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> > Hope this assists a little:
> >
> > http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545
> > How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from
> > Starting
> >
> > When you try to start or restart your Windows XP-based computer, you may
> > receive one of the following error messages:
> >
>
> Hello and thanks!
>
> Are you telling me, then, that when the "boot to command prompt" results
in:
> a:\> that IS the Recovery Console -- and that the commands listed in the
MS
> Knowledge Base file should be written at the a:\> prompt? I haven't called
> him yet, but all the other commands we tried writing there failed to
produce
> anything (e.g., chkdsk /p /r ... fixmbr ... help ... ) gave back an
"invalid
> command" message.
>
> I would appreciate your clarifying that ... and also ... are we presuming
> the registry is corrupted because the setup disk does not go to Windows
> Setup -- or what?
>
> Again...thanks in advance!
>
> Gail Miller
>
>