Windows XP Pro will not startup 2

[ohuett]

When booting this PC, I get this message,

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupted: \windows\system32\config\system You can attempt to repair that file by starting Windows setup using the original setup CD-ROM. Select "r" at the first screen to repair."

1. I have tried to boot to the "Last Known Good Configuration" and "Safe Mode" but it gives me the same error message above.
2. I have tried to run a Repair from the CD-ROM and it just gets to a dos prompt and then stops. I have never used this "Recovery Console" so I might be doing something wrong. These are the steps that I'm taking to run a Repair from the CD-ROM. While booting, I get a message that says, press any key to boot to CD. I press a key and windows setup starts. My next prompt says, press Enter to install Windows or press R to repair windows. I press R. It takes me to the recovery console and asks me to choose a Windows installation to repair. (there is only one) I choose number 1 C:\Windows and press enter. This is when it goes to a c:\windows\ prompt and then stops.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do after this. I do *not* want to format the drive and reload all the software. There is some software on this PC that has to be setup by a 3rd Party vendor and it sometimes takes weeks to get it all working properly again. (I know, I know...sounds unbelievable right?) Any ideas?

 

[YBNormal]

You are going to the repair console. That is a DOS prompt. You can try a repair reinstall of Win XP to see if it solves the problem. However a repair reinstal will overwrite the My Documents folder (I think).
To perform a repair reinstall of win xp follow the following steps:
Welcome to Setup.

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft<R> Windows<R> XP to run on your computer.

To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using
Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

The second option reads R=Repair, Do Not Press the <R> Key at this time. This option is for the Recovery Console.
There will be another repair option available in this process.

Press the <Enter> key.
The Windows XP Licensing Agreement appears.

Press the <F8> key to agree.
Setup will search for previous versions of Windows.

Windows XP Home Edition Setup
_____________________________

If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it.

Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select an installation.

To repair the selected Windows XP installation,
press R.

To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC.

C:\WINDOWS &quot;Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition


Press the <R> key to repair.

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
- Jeff Raskin

 

[YBNormal]

Also check out this article, which I think will be more pertinent to your problem:

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from Starting

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
- Jeff Raskin

 

[ohuett]

OK, I tried to repair the installation like you said but I ran into a problem. When I get to Windows setup, I press Enter instead of R and then it goes to the license agreement screen. I press F8 to accept. Then my screen looks different (and I think it's because I'm using XP Pro instead of XP Home). My next screen says, use the up and down arrow keys to select an installation but there is not an option to do a Repair...only an option to install a fresh copy of WinXP. I don't want to do that b/c it's gonna erase all of my data.

I'm also looking at the Knowledge Base article from your second post to restore the registry. If I replace the the registries like it explains, will any of my currently installed programs still work?

Thanks for your help, YBNormal.

 

[linney]

This article explains repairing windows itself by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

If you go the way of Recovery Console this might help.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

An easy to follow recovery console description when unable to start computer due to corrupt registry.

http://www.mediaworkstation.com/htm/homeset1.htm

Click on Tutorial then the Charlie White article on XP crash.
This is a laymans version of Q307545 in simple language.


As to your programs working, most of them will, perhaps anything installed since the restore point used to restore, might have a problem. I have not heard of anything like this happening as most people are just glad that the machine is back.

 

[YBNormal]

yes, i have performed the repair of registry as suggested in the kb article on multiple computers, and all your programs will work with no problems.

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
- Jeff Raskin

 

[YBNormal]

oh, and if your win xp installation isnt giving you an option to repair that usually means that the registry is so badly corrupted that xp cant figure out that its already installed on the computer.

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
- Jeff Raskin

 

[ohuett]

Thanks for all the help. I finally got the PC to boot by taking the hard drive out of the bad PC and installing it into a good PC as a slave. (The bad drive ended up being E: drive.) So I booted up the good PC from the C: drive, and then accessed the E: drive through My Computer. I copitd the files from E:\windows\repair to E:\windows\system32\config. Then I put the bad hard drive back into the other PC and tried to boot. It booted up OK but I have about 20 yellow exclamation marks in device manager. I'm going to re-install all the drivers and then see if I can join the domain, re-install my software, and go back to work. I'll let ya'll know how it goes. Thanks again for the help.