please help before i throw my pc in the bin!

chardonnay_2

(i am typing this on my hubbies laptop)

my pc is driving me nuts- it keeps crashing and i have to reinstall xp again. then after reinstalling drivers etc and doing anti virus checks it breaks again - seems to only work for max 2 days before the cycle repeats all over again.

the error message says system 32 is either missing or corrupt.

i don't have a recovery disk so i bought one from ebay - tried to run the recovery console and after pressing r it opens up a black screen with the following message
1:c:\windows
which windows install would you like to log onto

if i type 1 nothing happens

can anyone help me please

fwor

If you formatted the hard disk each time you reinstalled and you're sure that you've installed the correct drivers for all of your devices, this ~may~ be a symptom of imminent hard disk failure.

Most drive manufacturers have diagnostic utilities that you can download to test the drive. If it indicates problems - and particularly if SMART has tripped - it's probably time to replace it.

banger9365

duff power supply,
it's overheating,duff cpu,and duff ram ,crashes after a few hour so you install windows again and the cycle starts all over again
my moneys on a old/duff power supply ( i bet its a winpower or something like it )

chardonnay_2

loaner i did what you said and it found and fixed one or more errors on the drive. what do i do next?

chardonnay_2

i haven't rebooted it yet it is still on the black screen waiting on a command - should i reboot it without the disc in the drive and see if it loads?

chardonnay_2

fwor wrote: »

If you formatted the hard disk each time you reinstalled and you're sure that you've installed the correct drivers for all of your devices, this ~may~ be a symptom of imminent hard disk failure.

Most drive manufacturers have diagnostic utilities that you can download to test the drive. If it indicates problems - and particularly if SMART has tripped - it's probably time to replace it.

hi, i think so, but could you tell me how i find who the drive manufacturer is?

fwor

loaner wrote: »

the error message sounds like a corrupt registry (could you tell us the full message), which is usually a logical corruption and not a faulty hd.

But a corrupt registry would not survive a reinstall of Windows, whereas the system files that are reported as corrupt always tend to end up in the same place on the disk?

chardonnay_2

windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
\windows\system32\config\system

chardonnay_2

loaner wrote: »

I have seen that message loads of times, and it has never been a faulty disk, usually caused by switching the pc off without shutting down. It could be faulty, but what are the odds that the only bit of the faulty disk that causes a problem, happens to coincide with the registry file.

There are a couple of options,

repair or reinstall windows.

or

attempt to recover an old copy of the registry and copy it over the top of the system file.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

how do i repair it? and i have completely wiped the system and reinstalled xp and it has crashed with the same message after working for a couple of days - it isn't caused by switching the pc off, this is about the third time this has happened in a week

i don't know how to recover an old copy of the registry etc?

fwor

Loaner - you may be right, but the problem I have with that explanation is that the OP has already done several reinstalls of Windows.

Given that the registry is completely wiped away and re-written as part of that process, how can a logical corruption survive that?

It seems fair to conclude that ~something~ is causing the registry to become corrupt - repeatedly.

If the computer is made by one of the main manufacturers, something else you could try is the diagnostic tools that some provide in (typically) the "Support and Downloads" section of their website. That might find a hardware-related problem such as intermittent memory errors...

chardonnay_2

loaner wrote: »

I have seen that message loads of times, and it has never been a faulty disk, usually caused by switching the pc off without shutting down. It could be faulty, but what are the odds that the only bit of the faulty disk that causes a problem, happens to coincide with the registry file.

There are a couple of options,

repair or reinstall windows.

or

attempt to recover an old copy of the registry and copy it over the top of the system file.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

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

okay bear with me i need an idiots quide:o

the command prompt says c:\windows>

i typed it as exactly you typed and it came up with an error. the file name, directory name or volume label syntax is incorrect.

i then tried splitting it into 2 parts

i then typed copy c:\windows\repair software and it replied 1 file(s) copied.

i then typed the second bit and it said command not recognised.