(Help) Windows can not start

[ViciouS]

I am getting the error,

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or currupt: \windows\system32\config\system

i found this page on Microsoft.com; however i can not get passed step one because it says Access Denied after i type md tmp. When i do the copy command i get the same problem.

I am not using the same XP exact disc that was installed on this computer, and I am doing this for a small business. Please Help

 

[Severian]

"Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously."

This is probably your problem with "Access Denied". I think your best bet is to attempt a repair installation of XP from the boot disc, and if that doesn't work, you could try an overlay installation. If you need to salvage data from the hard disk in question, and can't access it otherwise, you could slave it in another computer and get the data off that way first.

good luck

 

[ViciouS]

Originally posted by: Severian
"Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously."

This is probably your problem with "Access Denied". I think your best bet is to attempt a repair installation of XP from the boot disc, and if that doesn't work, you could try an overlay installation. If you need to salvage data from the hard disk in question, and can't access it otherwise, you could slave it in another computer and get the data off that way first.

good luck

Boot disc? They wont be able to find any disc's.... can i make one? and by Overlay you meen Reformat?

 

[Severian]

the windows xp cd itself is bootable. How else are you getting into the recovery console?

And no, Overlay means re-installing windows over the old installation in the same partition. It usually means you don't lose your data, but may need to re-install drivers.

I wouldn't format until you've retrieved whatever data your client can't live without. Once that's done, then I'd feel free to reformat and do a fresh install of Windows.

 

[ViciouS]

Originally posted by: Severian
the windows xp cd itself is bootable. How else are you getting into the recovery console?

And no, Overlay means re-installing windows over the old installation in the same partition. It usually means you don't lose your data, but may need to re-install drivers.

I wouldn't format until you've retrieved whatever data your client can't live without. Once that's done, then I'd feel free to reformat and do a fresh install of Windows.

Where can i find the overlay option? Yes i did use an XP cd i didnt realize thats what you ment by boot cd.

 

[ViciouS]

Also under Install Windows on the partition it says I have to format. Another thing thats wierd it says that C: Partition1 [Unknown] drive is 19085 <19085 free>

 

[Severian]

first, boot off the cd, then the setup utility will give you the option of installing windows in the same partition. Setup will give you a warning about overwriting your existing Windows install, but that's what you're there for. Proceed with installation as usual, without formatting the partition.

I wouldn't do this lightly, nor without slaving the drive in another machine to recover data if that's a possibility for you. The overlay install of windows is a not a real long-term solution. If the registry is corrupted, it's likely that other parts of the windows install are corrupted too. Once you get back the data your client needs, a clean install of windows is in order.

 

[ViciouS]

Originally posted by: Severian
first, boot off the cd, then the setup utility will give you the option of installing windows in the same partition. Setup will give you a warning about overwriting your existing Windows install, but that's what you're there for. Proceed with installation as usual, without formatting the partition.

I wouldn't do this lightly, nor without slaving the drive in another machine to recover data if that's a possibility for you. The overlay install of windows is a not a real long-term solution. If the registry is corrupted, it's likely that other parts of the windows install are corrupted too. Once you get back the data your client needs, a clean install of windows is in order.

I do not get the option to install windows, it takes me right to the screen where i choose which method to format.

 

[Severian]

are you sure it's not setup Windows? Formatting choice comes after you dictate installation type... like here:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/images/Image4.gif

then you get

http://www.salisbury.edu/camptech/resne...ages/howto/xp_reformat/step7_insxp.jpg

 

[ViciouS]

Originally posted by: Severian
are you sure it's not setup Windows? Formatting choice comes after you dictate installation type... like here:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/images/Image4.gif

then you get

http://www.salisbury.edu/camptech/resne...ages/howto/xp_reformat/step7_insxp.jpg

Thats exactly what i did, I hit enter on the first screen. I've never done an overlay.

 

[Severian]

after you select "To set up Windows XP on the selected item, press ENTER.", you should get a choice as to whether you want to format or not. If you choose not to, XP will prompt you with a warning that you'll overwrite your existing installation of Windows, but that's what you want to do. If you don't get the choice, you'll see this screen:

http://safecomputing.umn.edu/images/guides/xpinstall/format.png

and that usually means the previous install has serious errors, bad enough that setup will force you to format before it'll re-install XP.

In that case, you should slave the drive to another machine, extract the needed data, and then just format and clean install WinXP.

good luck

 

[ViciouS]

Originally posted by: Severian
after you select "To set up Windows XP on the selected item, press ENTER.", you should get a choice as to whether you want to format or not. If you choose not to, XP will prompt you with a warning that you'll overwrite your existing installation of Windows, but that's what you want to do. If you don't get the choice, you'll see this screen:

http://safecomputing.umn.edu/images/guides/xpinstall/format.png

and that usually means the previous install has serious errors, bad enough that setup will force you to format before it'll re-install XP.

In that case, you should slave the drive to another machine, extract the needed data, and then just format and clean install WinXP.

good luck

Yes thats what happend, thanks for all the help