recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

[zmanb213]

Hi. I'm recieving an error message at boot: "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM".

In MS article 307545 ( http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545) MS recomends backing up the registry, reloading the registry, and then going back and doing a restore which is a huge pain in the ass. Does anyone know of an easier quicker way to fix this problem?

Thanks alot.

 

[MartyMoe]

I have had good luck booting to the original XP CD and choosing to do a Repair using the Recovery Console when the choices menu comes up. (Don't reinstall!) You will probably need to enter the Administrator password for the computer; after that what I usually do is once I am at the C:> prompt of the console, I type CHKDSK /R to run a repair, letting it do its thing for a while. When I reboot, it is often working, but you should still back up your data in case it happens again.

As with all advice, no guarantees, but I have found this works for me.

MM