config error

hello, i have had a problem with my computer for about a week now and nothing i have read or asked people about have helped... so i turn to you guys here for advice.

my computer has this problem:
windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

i was using windows me and upgraded it to xp a year or two ago... but i do not know how to recover the file without erasing the drive at the same time.

the microsoft website does not help at all and i am obviously clueless

 

This article explains how to replace the corrupted system registry hive. You need only perform the steps related to that hive and not the others.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545&Product=winxp

The alternative, and possibly easier, is to do a repair installation from your XP CD.

 

i have an xp upgrade cd not the full installation, would i still be able to repair it without reinstalling the cd? i saw that page before on the ms site but seemed to be unable to do what it said.

 

You can do a repair with the upgrade CD. An upgrade CD contains the full installation.

All you do is boot from the CD. When it asks if you want to repair and to press "R", don't. Continue with the installation just like you were installing for the first time.

You will then get a license agreement and it will ask you to press F8 to agree. Right after that screen, you will see a list of Windows installations that setup found. It will ask if you want to repair it. Read the directions on that page!!!

Then, you will actually press "R" this time and XP will re-install.

When done, you will be back to your familiar desktop with everything looking just like it did before. But all your Windows Updates are gone and you will need to get those again.

If you have any problems booting from CD, set the CD to boot earlier then the hard drive in BIOS setup, or come back for more help.

 

thank you. i shall try that and post in about an hour. much appreciated.

 

Good luck.

 

hmmm... it asks me to put the ME cd in... i do so.. then asks me to set up windows xp on the partition i already have. creat a second partition on the original, or delete... should i choose the first?

 

It doesn't give you the option to repair? If not, it may be because it is not detecting the old installation due to the corrupted system registry hive.

If that is the case, I'd suggest you go back and try the repair that was suggested in the article. If you go forward without it saying explicitly that it is repairing, you may end up with 2 installations in the same partition, or all of your stuff gone.

I haven't seen that choice before so I can't tell you what will happen if you choose the first. It may be fine.

 

if i try was the ms site says, and i am unable to, i should just re install and deal with not having my files there then yes? that is the only two options you are saying there is to choose from then i am assuming...

 

All I can think of. Without some good form of the system hive, you won't go very far.

 

You didn't use some registry backup program like ERUNT, by any chance?

 

have not heard of that so no.... is that a bad thing?

 

No, but it would make replacing that hive very easy. Just for later reference, here it is. You can make backups manually, or have it set as a scheduled task to back it up periodically.

http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt

 

thank you. should i just suck it up and reinstall?

 

Wish I knew what to tell you. What is the problem following the plan in the article?