"file is missing or corrupt"

[nikko]

I'm trying to help out a friend whose computer is not working. She has a Sony Vaio desktop. Whenever I try to start it, I get the following error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is 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.

The Sony recovery disks it came with don't give you an option to repair, however. Only reformat/reinstall. So I used my Windows XP disk but I've never had to do a repair using the Windows disk before so I'm not really sure what to do once I get into the DOS prompt. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[phisrow]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/usin...pandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

The first link gives the quick and cheery from Microsoft. The second is basically the same; but with alarming warnings thrown in.
I've not heard too many horror stories; but you would save yourself some risk by backing up her critical files first(boot from a Linux LiveCD, or BartPE and copy them off).
The repair install should do the trick, at least in the short term. Depending on the reason the OS broke in the first place, she may or may not have the problem again.

If it is HDD or memory corruption, hardware fixing is in order. The latter can be tested with memtest86+, and the former with a SMART utility.
If it is malware or user error, you'd best clean the machine up, or do a complete reinstall, then set her up on a more secure basis.

 

[Alone]

The repair install worked the one time I tried it. I would definitely recommend it as well.

 

[TeeJay1952]

Boot from XP CD
Choose repair
copy Boot drive\windows\repair\system
to
Boot drive\windows\system32\config\system

 

[lobbyone]

chkdsk /r? or was it chkdsk /f...either one, those worked very well for me.

 

[pcgeek11]

chkdsk /r the /r is for repair any errors that it finds. This is usually a symptom of another problem. Ask yourself where did my registry hive go or why is it corrupt???

search the microsoft knowledge base for:

" Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\windows\system32\config\system "


pcgeek11

 

[chemwiz]

The repair install is the easiest way I've found, boot from CD and start a setup. You keep all your data and installed programs, you just need to redo windows updates. phisrow's links are the way to go.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: TeeJay1952
Boot from XP CD
Choose repair
copy Boot drive\windows\repair\system
to
Boot drive\windows\system32\config\system

Do NOT do this without backing up the current SYSTEM file first.

New directions:

1. Run CHKDSK /f (/r?) and then fix any errors found.
2. Confirm problem still exists.
3. If so, back up c:\windows\system32\config\system (copy it to system.bak)
4. Copy c:\windows\repair\system to c:\windows\system32\config
5. Try booting now

This will get things so you can boot, and then from there you can try to repair the bad system file found in c:\windows\system32\config\system.bak.

If you have a 'system.alt' file in c:\windows\system32\config\ you can try copying that to c:\windows\system32\config\system too, in order to see if that will let you boot. That's a newer version of the system file than what's in c:\windows\repair.