Corrupt system file. Can't boot. Repair disk?

[JEDI]

WinXP sp2, Sempron 3100/Nforce3-A

Something screwed up and my machine kept on rebooting.

then i got this msg and no longer could boot:
windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\windows\system32\config\system

it suggests i use winxp cd and select 'r' for repair.

i cant find my winxp cd. 🙁 (it's been 2+ years since i last installed)

suggestions?

 

[Tarrant64]

Yikes! That's a pretty bad situation without the system disk.

Do you have any other way of getting one, perhaps from a friend?

I'm not sure that doing a repair install would work if you don't have your original disk(different keys), HOWEVER, you may be able to repair or replace the files needed by the system to boot.

How about safe mode, can you do that?

 

[Smilin]

That file is the HKLM\system portion of your registry. The Hive file is stored in windows\system32\config. It's just a corrupted file you're dealing with but it's a very important one. The good news is the OS knows this and makes backups of it for you.

As long as you haven't disabled system restore this is a very recoverable situation. If you have then you're going to need to use a repair copy of the system hive to get booted then do some kung-fu to fix the existing hive (send me a PM if this is the case)

You can use an XP, 2000, 2003 CD to reach recovery console. Any one of any make (oem, retail) will do. You can also use a linux boot CD or WinPE disk. Basically anything that will get you to a command prompt on your NTFS drive.

You'll want to run a chkdsk /p first thing.

This KB covers the rest:

307545 How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting
http://support.microsoft.com/d...x?scid=kb;EN-US;307545

 

[TeeJay1952]

Seems to me that Microsoft should have a way (batch file) to copy c:\Windows\Repair\*.* C:\windows\system32\drivers\*.*

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
Yikes! That's a pretty bad situation without the system disk.

Do you have any other way of getting one, perhaps from a friend?

I'm not sure that doing a repair install would work if you don't have your original disk(different keys), HOWEVER, you may be able to repair or replace the files needed by the system to boot.

How about safe mode, can you do that?

nope, not even safe mode.

it gets to:
windows\system32\config\system.alt

next line, i get the "windows cannot start because file is missing or corrupt:
\windows\system32\config\system"

file system is Fat32, so i can probably get to it via dos bootup disk. but how does that help me repair WinXP?

 

[Smilin]

Fat32 eh?

Ok, the bad news: there is a chance that filesystem had something to do with this pickle.
The good news: www.bootdisk.com. Grab a dos boot disk and get to a command prompt. Use the recovery console steps outlined in that KB I linked.

The steps I provided are not for performing a "repair". They are for using a backup copy of your corrupted files.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: TeeJay1952
Seems to me that Microsoft should have a way (batch file) to copy c:\Windows\Repair\*.* C:\windows\system32\drivers\*.*

You can write your own I spose.

In recovery console you don't just execute batchfile.bat you run the command "batch batchfile.bat".

Keep in mind that the windows\repair hives are usually old as dirt on a lot of systems. If you use the Microsoft NTbackup that folder gets updated any time you backup the system state. Most people use 3rd party backups which fail to do this step (makes smilin angry too). What you often see is the original hives left over from when gui mode setup completed. They'll get you booted so you can do other recovery steps but otherwise they are useless.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Smilin
Fat32 eh?

Ok, the bad news: there is a chance that filesystem had something to do with this pickle.
The good news: www.bootdisk.com. Grab a dos boot disk and get to a command prompt. Use the recovery console steps outlined in that KB I linked.

The steps I provided are not for performing a "repair". They are for using a backup copy of your corrupted files.

i found my winXP cd. i wanted recovery console, but it went thru the installation procedure?! (it said it removed pagefile!?!?!?!?) i stopped after the reboot.

now my files on c:\windows\repair are all dated 7/11/02 🙁

and i fvcked? and format/reinstall?

 

[thegorx]

If you reinstalled over the top you might have zapped the System Volume Information folder which would remove any recent backups. You might be able to get them back but that procedure more than likely will take more than a undeleting tool.

Otherwise, since the format is fat32 you should be able to go directly to the System Volume Information folder and get the back up there and not worry about the Repair folder.

you might want to use a DOS disk instead of the Recovery Console it might be easier.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: thegorx
If you reinstalled over the top you might have zapped the System Volume Information folder which would remove any recent backups. You might be able to get them back but that procedure more than likely will take more than a undeleting tool.

Otherwise, since the format is fat32 you should be able to go directly to the System Volume Information folder and get the back up there and not worry about the Repair folder.

you might want to use a DOS disk instead of the Recovery Console it might be easier.

what directory is the System Volume Information folder?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: thegorx
If you reinstalled over the top you might have zapped the System Volume Information folder which would remove any recent backups. You might be able to get them back but that procedure more than likely will take more than a undeleting tool.

Otherwise, since the format is fat32 you should be able to go directly to the System Volume Information folder and get the back up there and not worry about the Repair folder.

you might want to use a DOS disk instead of the Recovery Console it might be easier.

what directory is the System Volume Information folder?

I'm gonna need you to read that kb I linked from start to finish.


If your repair files are dated from 2002 then in all likelyhood you did *not* do an install over the top of itself so you are still ok. If you have an XP CD then you can now follow that KB exactly. Don't stray from the yellow brick road at all. You're making me nervous 😛

 

[thegorx]

Originally posted by: Smilin
Fat32 eh?

Ok, the bad news: there is a chance that filesystem had something to do with this pickle.
The good news: www.bootdisk.com. Grab a dos boot disk and get to a command prompt. Use the recovery console steps outlined in that KB I linked.

The steps I provided are not for performing a "repair". They are for using a backup copy of your corrupted files.

Actually, All the systems I've worked on with this error were NTFS, the reason more than likely is the fact that the Hive files creation date only changes when the are restored. So basically the hive files are always getting written to but never completely rewritten unless restored.

 

[thegorx]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: thegorx
If you reinstalled over the top you might have zapped the System Volume Information folder which would remove any recent backups. You might be able to get them back but that procedure more than likely will take more than a undeleting tool.

Otherwise, since the format is fat32 you should be able to go directly to the System Volume Information folder and get the back up there and not worry about the Repair folder.

you might want to use a DOS disk instead of the Recovery Console it might be easier.

what directory is the System Volume Information folder?

I was thinking about this and with DOS names it would make it tough to get to the SYSTEM hive backup, the hive file back ups start with _REGISTRY_MACHINE_ that might make it kind of tough in DOS.

Hopefully the 2002 SYSTEM hive in the repair folder will work long enough to get something more current in there, being that there may be a lot of hardware changes and it's before SP2

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: thegorx

Originally posted by: Smilin
Fat32 eh?

Ok, the bad news: there is a chance that filesystem had something to do with this pickle.
The good news: www.bootdisk.com. Grab a dos boot disk and get to a command prompt. Use the recovery console steps outlined in that KB I linked.

The steps I provided are not for performing a "repair". They are for using a backup copy of your corrupted files.

Actually, All the systems I've worked on with this error were NTFS, the reason more than likely is the fact that the Hive files creation date only changes when the are restored. So basically the hive files are always getting written to but never completely rewritten unless restored.

I'm guessing the reason you see this on NTFS systems more is because you work on more NTFS systems 🙂

 

[thegorx]

true but its not a because of whether it's NTFS or Fat32 but there are times when there is a format problem and chkdsk finds a problem but in most cases only one hive file is effected. I mean you couldn't even expect a word document to be edited every minute of every day for 5 years and never rewritten to not become corrupt at some point.

 

[mundane]

This happened to me just last night - unfortunately I'm not at home, so I don't have the resources (blank disks or OS disc) to perform the maintenance. The laptop dual-booted into Linux (Mandriva), but it couldn't write to the NTFS disc (Mandriva 2006, ntfs ro only). The kicker is, while trying to get ntfs-3g installed (which claims full r/w support) I screwed the Linux partition too!

Some of the threads I read while researching this suggested copying those system files would not work on OEM installs. I'll find out tomorrow.

Edit: Knoppix was able to r/w ntfs just fine; replacing the five files worked. chkdsk did report some corrupted/lost file.