Missing or corrupt file

M

Marco

Guest
Hi, hope someone can help.
I have just received this error on my PC for he third time.

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

The first time i followed the MS Knowledge base article and that seemed to work ok.
The second time i messed up somewhere and had to format and reinstall, everything was fine for a couple of months, but all of a sudden i got the error when booting.
Any ideas??

Win XP Home edition
Asus A7A 266 -e
Asus v7100 GeForce2 400 MX 64mb (detonator 29.80)
512 mb PC 2100 DDR ram
 
This seems to be happening quite a bit. Are you sure you are not accidently deleting it? If it is corrupting maybe try replacing it with a file from someone elses computer. :confused:
 
Corrupt file

Hi Hipster!
Thanks for replying
I am 99% sure i am not deleting the file, not intenetionally anyway, i just cannot think why all of a sudden the problem has come back.
Unfortunately, i don't know anyone else using XP so i can't copy the file from there.
It's strange 'cos i did a full format and reinstall recently and everything was running hunky dory until yesterday.
 
if u have XP on cd-rom, u can boot to it and choose the repair option.
 
Originally posted by Dlovely
if u have XP on cd-rom, u can boot to it and choose the repair option.

yep only way... its a screwed up reg hive... probably from a hard shutdown
 
Corrupt file

Yeah
i tried the restore option and went through the article on MS Knowledge base about making tmp dir's etc and copying from the repair folder. Done that 4 times altogether, although only twice since my latest episode.
Even so, why would a hard shutdown cause the registry to mess up, it doesn't in any other windows versions even W2000 or NT which XP is supposedly built around.
Could it be indicative of a hardware problem?
 
What file system are you using? Does xp restart by itself or freeze up? :confused:
 
just restart ur computer with the XP cd in, then chose the repair command and you should be fine. don't bother messing with other stuff yet. its an idiots way of fixing important files that may have been corrupted/deleted.
 
Sorry , i meant the repair option.
Using NTFS, it did restart once and i used to get the occasional lockup, but not anymore.
 
If it's not playing up anymore try the repair option & then keep an eye on what happening, if anything, to cause the corruption.
 
Yeah i will.
I will check the system log and see if i can find anything theer!
Cheers guys
 
I have encountered the same exact problem, and I've always had to re-format and to re-install.

I'm running WinXP Professional, and when I try to perform the repair function, I just don't get HOW to use it.

Anyone here care to explain HOW to exactly perform a recovery/repair when this particular thing happens?
 
Yeah,
I would be interested too!
The help option seems a bit vague. Not enough descriptions
 
This has happened to me on 2 occasions and both times I restored the registry from backup using the NT backup program I got from this site. It worked both times.
 
have you tried running "sfc /scannow" (no quotes) at the command prompt?
 
not yet no.
Does the file checker actually fix files aswell or just scan them for problems?
 
it should fix them, i think you need the xp cd in the drive.

run sfc /? to see the full list of options
 

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