Help

[CJG]

my pc has crashed i am getting message
\windows\system\config\system file missing or corrupt
i have tried to reboot using original disk but cant get past first screen my cd reader is not reading disks??

Any one who can help please reply
Thanks

[JANINE]

my pc has crashed i am getting message
\windows\system\config\system file missing or corrupt
i have tried to reboot using original disk but cant get past first screen my cd reader is not reading disks??

Any one who can help please reply
Thanks

your system configuration file has become corrupted and the only way ur going to get this back is to reinstall windows.

what do you mean your cd reader isnt reading disks? are there any error msgs showing up here? can you see your cd drive in bios?

[CJG]

your system configuration file has become corrupted and the only way ur going to get this back is to reinstall windows.

what do you mean your cd reader isnt reading disks? are there any error msgs showing up here? can you see your cd drive in bios?

Hi thanks for thee reply
I am getting a message to use setup disks but when i put in cd drive it is as if the pc doesnt now the drive is there and is going straight back to the original message relating to missing corrupted file it is also telling me to place setup cd in drive and press r at first screen but i am not able to get that far.

cjg

[Kintak]

If you have WinXP, just revert to a previous setting.
If you have Win2k, you might be able to repair it with boot disks or something, but if it doesn't repair automatically then we'd have to get a little more in depth to the procedure.

[CJG]

i have tried to install previous version date but my pc still boots back to error message

cjg

[Kintak]

This may sound confusing if you don't know the objects I'm talking about, but don't be afraid to ask.
Restart your computer and go into the BIOS (press Delete at the motherboard splash screen, or whatever it is before Windows starts loading up. I recommend just pressing delete alot until you get into the BIOS).
You need to set your 'First Boot Item" as your CD-R drive. It's pretty self explainatory once you see the option for it. Anyway, 1st Boot -> CD-R drive, 2nd Boot -> Maybe floppy drive or something. 3rd Boot -> HDD. If you don't have a floppy just disable the 3rd boot and make the 2nd your HDD.
Now, 'Exit and Save Settings'. Put your WindowsXP disk into your CD-R drive, then restart. Now, before your computer begins loading Windows, it will check the CD-R drive for any bootable CDs. You should get a small message that says "Press any key to boot cd". Do that.
Now, once you get into the setup, press "R" to go into the repair console. Log into your administrator account (default password is blank). It should automatically ask you to do this.
After that, you should get a prompt something like "C:\WINDOWS\>". Type in 'fixboot', and that SHOULD fix the files you need to boot up.

I give no guarantees though. :P

[JANINE]

hopefully it will... if not you'll need to reinstall

[CJG]

Hi tried all that was suggested probebly me but pc is still rebooting to error screen i have gone into bios to put cd as boot up drive but still no goo

cjg

[Kintak]

did you get into the windows setup and then into the repair console?

[CJG]

no it just keeps going back to the error screen

[Kintak]

Well if you set your BIOS so your CD-R gets read first, then it should read it. It doesn't load up Windows until after it checks for a bootable CD.

[antioed]

If you've actually set the cd drive to be the first boot device then it sounds like your cd is not being recognized as "bootable". If the cd is recognized as bootable you'll generally receive a message saying something like "to boot from cd press any key..." at which point any keystroke will invoke a boot from cd and you'll be able to move on to trying to repair Windows. You should be able to use any 2000/XP cd to do repair so borrow/burn a known good copy from a friend, if possible, so you can move on to try to repair.

To anyone who says that a corrupt system file means that Windows will need to be reinstalled; not true. Yes...generally a novice user may have problems completing the functions required to repair this file but that does not mean that it can't be repaired. Actually if you can boot from cd and the hard drive isn't corrupted and it's the system file that's actually corrupted there's a good chance that the file can be restored from a backup which is created at the time Windows is setup. Often times Windows will report that system is corrupt because the portion of the hard drive where that file resides has corrupted - not necessarily the file itself. If that is the case then you can try to run chkdsk from the cd by choosing the Recovery Console option once you've obtained a bootable XP/2000 cd.

So assuming the Recovery Console can be loaded the first thing to try is running chkdsk. After running this and rebooting if you still get the error you can try restoring the system.bak file, which should've been created during the initial setup of Windows, from the Recovery Console:

Note: I am assuming you're using XP - if it is 2000 or was upgraded from 2000 then any references to c:\windows should be changed to c:\winnt. Commands in bold italics require you to hit the Enter key on your keyboard to run.

Type these commands after logging into the broken Windows install (which, after choosing Recovery Console, is done by typing the system number for the broken Windows installation which will usually be located in c:\windows; usually selected by typing 1 and then hitting Enter and then typing the administrator password for that installation)

Assuming you make it that far:

Type: cd c:\windows\repair and type dir and and you should see a list of files come up...one of them should be system.bak.

Assuming that file is present, rename the corrupted system file: rename c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\system32\config\system.old

Then copy the backup over: copy c:\windows\repair\system.bak c:\windows\system32\config\system

Reboot and hopefully your system will work again. You may have to reinstall some device drivers but most importantly all your data should be in tact. Good luck.

[CJG]

Thanks for all your help i have tried all
i am unable to alter boot it just keep going backto error screen its as if it is in a loop
i think i am going to go for the ultimate repair IE get new system

Thanks to all.

CJG

[JANINE]

.

To anyone who says that a corrupt system file means that Windows will need to be reinstalled; not true. Yes...generally a novice user may have problems completing the functions required to repair this file but that does not mean that it can't be repaired. Actually if you can boot from cd and the hard drive isn't corrupted and it's the system file that's actually corrupted there's a good chance that the file can be restored from a backup which is created at the time Windows is setup. Often times Windows will report that system is corrupt because the portion of the hard drive where that file resides has corrupted - not necessarily the file itself. If that is the case then you can try to run chkdsk from the cd by choosing the Recovery Console option once you've obtained a bootable XP/2000 cd.

QUOTE]

i meant repair - sorry. was talking to my brother about installs at the time and accidently put it as reinstall. my apologies once again:o

[JANINE]

Thanks for all your help i have tried all
i am unable to alter boot it just keep going backto error screen its as if it is in a loop
i think i am going to go for the ultimate repair IE get new system

Thanks to all.

CJG

i dont think you'll need a new system. it might be your disk has lost its boot ISO image and therefore cant be detected as a bootable disk by the machine.

it might even be that you have a faulty drive or component on the motherboard that is preventing the disc from loading.

by all means take it in for a repair as i think this is the only way we're going to get round this.:)

[CJG]

Can you tell me is there any way a novice like me can bypass the bios

\windows\system\config\system file missing or corrupt and i am getting a message to press r at the first screen using my setup disks i have tried using my cd as primary drive nto no avail is there somthing i can reset on mother board to ge around this problem
Thanks

CJG

[Kintak]

Press R at the first screen of the setup discs? Does this mean that you can boot up into the windows setup?
That's what setting the CD-R as the primary boot device is. It tells your computer to look for a bootable CD before loading Windows.
Did you try my solution that I posted earlier? Try fixboot? Remember, press R to go into the repair console, and when it says C:\Windows\> just type 'fixboot'

If that doesn't work, and your system IS booting into the setup CDs, just press ENTER to continue with the windows setup. Check if there is an option there to repair your windows installation.

[hp/compaqdave]

i love doing this......droppin a copy and paste bomb........BOOM!!!: :twisted:

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 307545
Last Review : June 23, 2005
Revision : 9.2
This article was previously published under Q307545
On This Page
SUMMARY
MORE INFORMATION
Part one
Part two
Part Three
Part Four
REFERENCES
APPLIES TO

SUMMARY
This article describes how to recover a Windows XP system that does not start because of corruption in the registry. This procedure does not guarantee full recovery of the system to a previous state; however, you should be able to recover data when you use this procedure.

Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously. If you use the procedure that is described in this article, you may not be able to log back into the recovery console to restore the original registry hives.

You can repair a corrupted registry in Windows XP. Corrupted registry files can cause a variety of different error messages. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base for articles about error messages that are related to registry issues.

This article assumes that typical recovery methods have failed and access to the system is not available except by using Recovery Console. If an Automatic System Recovery (ASR) backup exists, it is the preferred method for recovery. Microsoft recommends that you use the ASR backup before you try the procedure described in this article.

Note Make sure to replace all five of the registry hives. If you only replace a single hive or two, this can cause potential issues because software and hardware may have settings in multiple locations in the registry.

If you experience a repetitive occurrence of registry corruption related issues, Microsoft recommends that you obtain and install the hotfix in the following article:
318159 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318159/) Damaged Registry repair and recovery in Windows XP
This update is also included in Windows XP Service Pack 1.
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MORE INFORMATION
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
System error: Lsass.exe
When trying to update a password the return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct.
The procedure that this article describes uses Recovery Console and System Restore. This article also lists all the required steps in specific order to make sure that the process is fully completed. When you finish this procedure, the system returns to a state very close to the state before the problem occurred. If you have ever run NTBackup and completed a system state backup, you do not have to follow the procedures in parts two and three. You can go to part four.
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Part one
In part one, you start the Recovery Console, create a temporary folder, back up the existing registry files to a new location, delete the registry files at their existing location, and then copy the registry files from the repair folder to the System32\Config folder. When you have finished this procedure, a registry is created that you can use to start Windows XP. This registry was created and saved during the initial setup of Windows XP. Therefore any changes and settings that occurred after the Setup program was finished are lost.

To complete part one, follow these steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
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

6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.
Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example). To create this file, run the following command when you start in Recovery Console:
batch regcopy1.txt
With the batch command in Recovery Console, you can process all the commands in a text file sequentially. When you use the batch command, you do not have to manually type as many commands.
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Part two
To complete the procedure described in this section, you must be logged on as an administrator, or an administrative user (a user who has an account in the Administrators group). If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, you can log on as an administrative user. If you log on as an administrator, you must first start Windows XP Home Edition in Safe mode. To start the Windows XP Home Edition computer in Safe mode, follow these steps.

Note Print these instructions before you continue. You cannot view these instructions after you restart the computer in Safe Mode. If you use the NTFS file system, also print the instructions from Knowledge Base article KB309531. Step 7 contains a reference to the article. 1. Click Start, click Shut Down (or click Turn Off Computer), click Restart, and then click OK (or click Restart).
2. Press the F8 key.

On a computer that is configured to start to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the Startup menu.
3. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
4. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to access, and then press ENTER.
In part two, you copy the registry files from their backed up location by using System Restore. This folder is not available in Recovery Console and is generally not visible during typical usage. Before you start this procedure, you must change several settings to make the folder visible: 1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these files appears.
6. Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to display a list of the folders. If is important to click the correct drive.
7. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder is unavailable and appears dimmed because it is set as a super-hidden folder.

Note This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as "_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".

Note You may receive the following error message:
C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied.
If you receive this message, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to gain access to this folder and continue with the procedure:
309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/) How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder
8. Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There may be one or more folders starting with "RPx under this folder. These are restore points.
9. Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder. The following path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder:
C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot
10. From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder: • _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

11. Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as follows: • Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

These files are the backed up registry files from System Restore. Because you used the registry file that the Setup program created, this registry does not know that these restore points exist and are available. A new folder is created with a new GUID under System Volume Information and a restore point is created that includes a copy of the registry files that were copied during part one. Therefore, it is important not to use the most current folder, especially if the time stamp on the folder is the same as the current time.

The current system configuration is not aware of the previous restore points. You must have a previous copy of the registry from a previous restore point to make the previous restore points available again.

The registry files that were copied to the Tmp folder in the C:\Windows folder are moved to make sure that the files are available under Recovery Console. You must use these files to replace the registry files currently in the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. By default, Recovery Console has limited folder access and cannot copy files from the System Volume folder.

Note The procedure described in this section assumes that you are running your computer with the FAT32 file system.

For additional information about how to access the System Volume Information Folder with the NTFS file system, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/) How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder
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Part Three
In part three, you delete the existing registry files, and then copy the System Restore Registry files to the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder: 1. Start Recovery Console (or by using a Windows 98 Boot Disk).
2. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
del c:\windows\system32\config\sam

del c:\windows\system32\config\security

del c:\windows\system32\config\software

del c:\windows\system32\config\default

del c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
Note Some of these command lines may be wrapped for readability.
3. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts.
Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example).
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Part Four
1. Click Start, and then click All Programs.
2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous RestorePoint.

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REFERENCES
For more information about using Recovery Console, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
216417 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216417/) How to install the Windows XP Recovery Console
240831 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240831/) How to copy files from Recovery Console to removable media
314058 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/) Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
For more information about System Restore, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
306084 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084/) How to restore the operating system to a previous state in Windows XP
261716 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261716/) System Restore removes files during a restore procedure :)

[JANINE]

thanks for the info. it was a copy and paste bomb well dropped ;-)

it'll be stored in my archive of useful information