Stop:c0000218 registry file failure !

albalad

So , turned on pc to be met by blue screen showing the above message.
have had a quick look around google & microsoft support which suggests reinserting XP disc - which i have got, but if i do this will i lose everything ? will it wipe my drive ?
is there any way to recover my photos before i reinstall XP ?
i can't believe i have not backed up for ages !! and can't bear the thought of losing all my pictures , don't even mind if the pc is dead .

can anyone help , please

closed

The easiest way of getting at the data is a usb hard disk caddy, or attaching the disk internally to another desktop

albalad

thanks closed

have just ran chdsk , which listed a corrupt file - thought it was too easy , when it restarted the same message comes up !

closed

How did you run chkdsk? which parameters?

Does it boot?

albalad

when i put in xp disc it started automatically . i did not apply any parameters
but i have tried to do the same thing again without success

closed

Not sure how it started automatically, unless you switched it off and it rebooted.

you could try http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

also run chkdsk c: /r from recovery console first.

Reinstalling will lose your data, a repair might work, but you should get your data backed up first.

albalad

trying the chkdsk /r from the recovery console at the moment ,
if that does not work ,then i'll have to get a local techie to back up for me - i'm not used to taking my pc to pieces.
i guess that without my pc booting up my external hard drive would be useless ?

thanks again for your help

closed

If you are planning on paying someone, a hard disk caddy costs about £3.50, and it takes 5 minutes to put the hard disk in it, techie labour is far more expensive