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Win XP Pro - "System File Missing or Corrupt"

B

bpt8056

Senior member
I've had this happen to me twice and I don't know why it's happening. After three weeks of a fresh install, this would come up and I had to reinstall Windows again cuz I don't know how to get it fixed. I couldn't get a hold of tech support so I'm hoping one of you will be able to help me.

My system would just stop booting and it reports: "c:\windows\system32\config\system file missing or corrupt". I know it's not a hard drive problem, but I can't pinpoint the exact problem. If anybody has the same experience, let me know how you get it fixed. Thanks.

Click below for my system config. Thanks again.
 
I've gotten that same exact msg too.. And I booted off the cd and hit repair and was told it cant repair it LOLOL.. I love this pain in the arse os. You gotta love it.
 
How do you know it's not a hard drive problem? You've got an IBM 75GXP for chrissakes! If you've eliminated that, I'd ask you if you keep doing something a few weeks after the install that might mess things up.

edit: I'd suggest going through the steps to make sure it's not your hard drive. It's been discussed here.
 
Yeah I tried the repair option and that was a no-go. It said something like an "Internal Setup Error".

I just used Norton Disk Doctor and MS Scandisk to see if there were any bad sectors and there were none. I'm pretty sure it's not hard-drive related cuz I've talked with a few people that said they ran into the same problem and they don't know why it happened.
 
I, and many others running W2K Pro have had a similar problem. And I'm here to report it can be a real dog, too. I have had to format and reinstall on a number of occasions. It is a known issue, and there is a sometimes successful fix. It can be found here
Good luck!
 
I noticed you have DDR RAM. I was having the same problem. So before you do anything drastic, try setting your RAM to resonable settings. I was trying to run my 2.5 CL RAM at 2CL, but setting it back to 2.5CL fixed it.
 
MCS, I do not know with any certainty if the described fix will also work for XP as it does for W2K. The first link I provided earlier seems to suggest that it does.
 
possible bad harddrive, i had this problem when i first built this rig, had it working perfect.. for an hour or so a reboot later... corrupted!!!! :| bad HDD, run some test on it just make sure, i hope its not Dead though 🙂
 
peto,

I did have my memory set at a CL of 2. How could that have affected it? I was thinking that it has to do with one of the programs I installed...although I hadn't installed anything new recently.
 


<< peto,

I did have my memory set at a CL of 2. How could that have affected it? I was thinking that it has to do with one of the programs I installed...although I hadn't installed anything new recently. >>

So it works now? I just tried it again and got the same message, completely reproducable. I have no clue why it does that, it worked fine on Win98SE. I guess we're just screwed.
 
Hmmm, it looks as if I may have fixed the problem in my case, but I won't say anything more yet until I am sure of it (need to reboot some more times!). I didn't use the hotfix.
 
Okay, I have had the same problem 3 times now, assumed it was just another of the massive problems with Civ 3, but I guess not.

I can't even get my primary boot to show up in the recovery console, so I'm going to have to reinstall for the third time in 3 weeks.........

The big question is, how the F--K do we keep this from happening again? I mean, I am not going to go through this every 2 or 3 weeks (or worse yet, walk my wife through it on the phone if I'm out of town).

Any ideas at all?

Lee
 
<<so I'm going to have to reinstall for the third time in 3 weeks>>

Oh, that not so bad, once i had to reinstall 3 times in one week, for this reason too. Whenever i would install SP2 for win2k i got this message, really pissed me off, its nice to see that someone has recognized this problem and has come up with some kind of fix. 😉
 
This happened to me a few weeks after I installed XP and I didn't have to reinstall windows at all. I used a Windows 98 boot disk and worked my way to the file in question and deleted it. Then copied a backup from another folder, windows\repair I believe, and viola. Windows booted up, just back to the state when the backup was recorded. In my case, before I had installed a bunch of programs, Word, etc.. The programs were on the HD just not recognized by windows. I just had to reinstall them again.

I know my problem came from a program I had installed and uninstalled in one shot without rebooting. I believe it was ACDSee...but this problem hasn't occurred since for me. Now I make sure to make a ghost image every so often just in case this happens again.

Just my experience.
 
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