Advice pls. corrupt files

jockettuk

hi need some help with getting the neices pc working again this is what we are getting on the screen


windows will not start because the following files are missing or corrupt

\windows\system32\config\system

you can attempt to repair this file by starting windows set up using the original set up cd rom select r at the first screen to start repair

but this isnt working and any key you press on the keyboard restarts the pc and you get the same error message again

ive tried all the different ways to start the pc

gone through list from safe mode last known good configeration down to return to os choice menu and none of these have worked

is there a file we can download to put on disc or anyother info we can do to repair please

thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Browntoa

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm

albertross_2

You have a corrupt registry.

Did you try booting from the XP CD, then recovery console, then

chkdsk c: /r

sometimes works

jockettuk

hi yes i have tried booting from the XP CD but it dont work

fwor

You'll probably get more useful advice if you say ~in what way~ it doesn't work.

Does it try to boot from the CD and fail in some way, or does it not even try to boot from the CD and behaves as if no CD were there?

If the latter, you may need to change the BIOS settings so that it will boot from CD before the hard disk. Typically you can get into the BIOS setup by hitting DEL or F2 shortly after turning it on - which of these depends on the make of PC.

Browntoa

I've managed to do this manually with a Linux CD like Knoppix or Ubuntu, then copy the system file over.

Restore points are saved in under C:\system volume information\_restore{558C94FD-3C7F-4954-A02D-26679E6D849E}.

Each restore point's files are saved in a folder named RPXX where XX is a two digit number corresponding to the restore point

you need to copy over

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

after naming the originals system.old, software.old etc

this article shows the process

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

but using a Linux Cd menas you can sidestep most of the steps shown, just rename the existing files to .old, then copy the files over from the restore points, then rename the restore point files from their current name like

Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT

for all the 5 files

then reboot when finished and it should come up