Hi Everyone,
I am running XP Pro on a P3 laptop. Everything was fine until yesterday when I was doing some work in FrontPage and my system froze (this has happened before; didn’t think much of it). I turned the system off, restarted it, and then got the error: Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM.” I used Recovery Console to copy the backup files from C:\windows\repair, rebooted, got part-way into Windows, and then things really went downhill. I am certain that my computer froze again, so I shut it down, restarted …
Now all I get is the standard: “We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not … Safe Mode / Safe Mode with Networking / Safe Mode with Command Prompt / Last Known Good Configuration / Start Windows Normally.” I can’t get past this at all (on my own … that’s why I’m here!). None of the options work, the HD just grinds away and I can’t get into the Recovery Console anymore either. When I hit “r” after booting up with the XP install CD it just drops me to the C:\ prompt and nothing is valid.
My drive is NFTS. I found the READNFTS program online and created a bootable floppy with it onboard, but it doesn’t seem to want to scan the HD. The scan dialogue comes up, but nothing happens.
Any suggestions here? I’m near desperate … many important files I’d like to retrieve from the HD. Should the fact that I can at least get to the “We apologize” screen mean that I can have some hope?
Thanks in advance for anyone’s help!
Mark