boot failure

[Paul Lang]

Since upgrading to WinXP, I have had consistent failures
to boot, all based on the following message:

windows cannot start because the following file is either
missing or corrupt

c:\windows\system32\config\system

Inspecting the bad file, I see a size of 3,145,728
for "system"; where "system.save" is 38,912.

Usually the problem goes away with a hard restart; but the
last time this happened, I had to re-create the whole
system from a clean hard drive.

How can I prevent this? and what is the best strategy for
recovery?

The problem recurs after normal shut downs; WinXP is fully
up to date; and we sweep for viruses and spy programs
almost daily.

[R. C. White]

Hi, Paul.

That file (named system, no extension) is a major part of your Registry.

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

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP



"Paul Lang" > wrote in message
...
> Since upgrading to WinXP, I have had consistent failures
> to boot, all based on the following message:
>
> windows cannot start because the following file is either
> missing or corrupt
>
> c:\windows\system32\config\system
>
> Inspecting the bad file, I see a size of 3,145,728
> for "system"; where "system.save" is 38,912.
>
> Usually the problem goes away with a hard restart; but the
> last time this happened, I had to re-create the whole
> system from a clean hard drive.
>
> How can I prevent this? and what is the best strategy for
> recovery?
>
> The problem recurs after normal shut downs; WinXP is fully
> up to date; and we sweep for viruses and spy programs
> almost daily.