Computer won't boot, \windows\system32\config\system

[Loitering]

Hi
I turned my computer on this morning and instead of loading up it said
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
\windows\system32\config\system

You can attempt to repair this file be starting windows setup using origional setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."

The problem is, I don't have a setup CD-ROM, the computer is a packard bell, and as such all the installation stuff was allready on the computer. I have tried using the recovery CD, but that doesn't work.

The other problem is, any key I press seems to re-boot the computer, only bringing it back to that message.

Please help me!!

Thank you
James

btw, it's xp home

[Ant]

Can you get as far as the f8 boot menu? (press f8 to bring up a menu after booting)

Try it and see if you can boot to last known good config or safe-mode.

[Loitering]

I was able to bring up the menu, which I guess is a start. Only problem is that the same thing happened when I used 'last good configuartion'

[Ant]

And safe-mode?

[Loitering]

Tried all of them, no luck.
Even tried windows recovery consol, that said
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

[Ant]

You're probably going to struggle without an xp cdrom. Friends?

[Loitering]

I'll look around for a CD, thanks for your help!

[Dark_om3n]

strange thing I had the same issue today
I tried to repair the disk through the hitting R the first time as I was told by winXP. Went with chkdsk /R to repair all damaged files etc. This didn't cause it to work though. I couldn't boot at all from the disk. I had to repair the windows installation by hitting R a few screens later on the installation cd. After this repair install was done everything worked as it should and my profiles etc were all as they were before.

[7antrum]

Originally Posted by Loitering

Hi
I turned my computer on this morning and instead of loading up it said
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
\windows\system32\config\system

You can attempt to repair this file be starting windows setup using origional setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."

The problem is, I don't have a setup CD-ROM, the computer is a packard bell, and as such all the installation stuff was allready on the computer. I have tried using the recovery CD, but that doesn't work.

The other problem is, any key I press seems to re-boot the computer, only bringing it back to that message.

Please help me!!

Thank you
James

btw, it's xp home

Hey ya.

I just wanted to let some peoples know that I was able to resolve this same problem just this morning.

A user on another forum pointed me to this KB article...

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q307545

I didn't follow it exactly but more or less. I booted up off of an NTFS DOS boot disk. I renamed only c:\windows\system32\config\system to system.bak and copied c:\windows\repair\system to c:\windows\system32\config\system.

I was able to boot after that.

7

[Nelchael]

Ok.. I did lotsa searches over the internet and either all say the same or the tips on this forum are the most accurate, so here goes my experience and how I somehow solved the matter..

My problem was the following.. while attempting the installation of a second OS on a different HDD it seemed that it corrupted the registry of my original OS.. a WINDOWS XP. So when I got into the boot choice screen, whenever I choosed the 1st OS I would get the following screen message:

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

I started by reading the KB article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/ but then I saw the post of 7antrum that said he had gotten the problem solved without doing all the steps so I tried it too.. the conclusions I got were that I would indeed be able to boot into the system ..yay.. but it would leave the system without recognizing any mapped drives, other computers on the network and many applications were as if they werent installed.. This fast tip of 7antrum is great if you intend only to extract the data out to a backup HDD or fast install a CD/DVD recording program, get the data out and then format the computer.

The solution I found actualy solved the problem and without needing to install the OS again it is at 100% now.

Keep in mind that I had a second OS working to which I could easily access the HDD with the corrupted OS, so I could move files from one place to another easily. If you dont have the same luck I advice to simply take the HDD to a second computer and use it as a secondary HDD so that you are able to swap files from one place to another as I'll state ahead.

I'll assume you are working with a second OS installed on a different HDD ^_^ adapt this explanation to your actual situation if possible.

My steps were:

1. Copy the \windows\system32\config\ directory to a backup directory in your HDD. Copy all the files and folders there.

2. Copy the system, software, sam, security and default files from the \windows\repair\ to the \windows\system32\config and overwrite all.

3. Start the OS that was corrupted and enter into SAFE MODE. Dont get scared, when you finaly boot up and enter the OS it will look like it was reinstalled, so everything will be cleaned, no User accounts, no installed applications, nothing.. I say not to panic because I got myself freaked out when I saw it XD

4. Shutdown and enter in the working OS. Copy everything you had backed up to \windows\system32\config again.

And voila, when you start your corrupted OS again, everything will be in place, all programs recognizing well, all working ^_^

Hope this helps anyone with the same prob!

Sarabada~

[kaz2]

Originally Posted by 7antrum

Hey ya.

I just wanted to let some peoples know that I was able to resolve this same problem just this morning.

A user on another forum pointed me to this KB article...

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q307545

I didn't follow it exactly but more or less. I booted up off of an NTFS DOS boot disk. I renamed only c:\windows\system32\config\system to system.bak and copied c:\windows\repair\system to c:\windows\system32\config\system.

I was able to boot after that.

7

How does anyone get a prompt to do any of these changes?

I tried a boot disk but can't see hard drive (NTFS)

Tried to boot from CD but keep getting windows\system32\config\system error instead

[kaz2]

When i put in the Win XP Pro CD, I have boot CD first in my BIOS yet never get any choices from the CD, just the same error (\windows\system32\config\system)

[Informer]

If your registry hive becomes badly corrupted,you will probably be faced with error messages such as:

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

* NTLDR is missing

* Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll

when you boot your computer and Windows will fail to boot.

If you are in a situation where you cannot boot from the Windows CD,which means you won't be able to access the Recovery Console,and also hitting F8 and choosing Last Known Good Configuration fails to fix the problem,then you will need to repair it manually.

This will require that you have READ/WRITE access to the NTFS partition of the hard drive from within MS-DOS.You will need a program called NTFSDOS Professional.

Download: NTFSDOS Professional 5.0 http://www.flyupload.com/?fid=6794034

To create a boot disk,run BootDisk.exe.It will then require that you enter some licence details.You can find those details in the licence.txt file.Copy and paste them into the space provided.It will then ask you to specify the directory from which it will copy the required Windows files.For this,use your Windows CD which would be D:\I386 .Next you will need to choose where you want to save the boot disk to.Save it onto some floppy disks on drive A:\ .You will need 3 blank floppy disks.

Boot up the computer using the floppy boot disks you made.It will take you into a MS-DOS screen.From there,run the file NTFSPRO.EXE and you will now have access to the files on your hard drive.

Next you will need to type in the following lines as per the instructions from the Microsoft website:

md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

Remove the floppy disk from the drive and reboot the computer.Your Windows should now boot up and be working.

[Elderous]

well i had the same problem and i had to use a XP CD to install it all over again. and then after i was done i was left with a whole new problem....

My Laptop's built-in wireless can't be found and my sound card can't be found either.... everything i mean EVERYTHING was wiped from my Lappy... what do i do now???