I have a Dell Dimension 8200 using Windows XP. The computer I am writing this on is obviously not the computer I am having the problem with.
Yesterday, when I tried to turn on my computer, I got a blue screen with this error message:
Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate
I went on Dell's support website and found this page concerning my problem:
Dell Support
I followed the instructions exactly up to step 2 of "Back Up Corrupted Registry and Create Default Registry". Everything went fine until I had to type in this line:
copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
When I typed it in, the computer said something to the effect of file not found. Now when I try to turn on my computer (in normal mode or any of the 3 safe modes), I get this error message:
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
Dell's instructions (on the page above) don't work. I haven't tried anything drastic like formatting the drive or re-installing Windows yet because there is about 3 years of stuff (without any backup, stupid me) on the computer I would like to keep. If there is any way I can copy these files (mostly msword, notepad files and pictures) on to a floppy or an RW CD, I would like to know. I would prefer not having to open the CPU (I heard something about slaving hard drives, which I know nothing about nor do I want to try). The files aren't that important, but I would really like to save them. So, my question is two-fold:
1) How do I get my computer to load Windows and run properly?
2) Is there any way I can copy my files before they are destroyed?
Thank you very much for your time and help.
Yesterday, when I tried to turn on my computer, I got a blue screen with this error message:
Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate
I went on Dell's support website and found this page concerning my problem:
Dell Support
I followed the instructions exactly up to step 2 of "Back Up Corrupted Registry and Create Default Registry". Everything went fine until I had to type in this line:
copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
When I typed it in, the computer said something to the effect of file not found. Now when I try to turn on my computer (in normal mode or any of the 3 safe modes), I get this error message:
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
Dell's instructions (on the page above) don't work. I haven't tried anything drastic like formatting the drive or re-installing Windows yet because there is about 3 years of stuff (without any backup, stupid me) on the computer I would like to keep. If there is any way I can copy these files (mostly msword, notepad files and pictures) on to a floppy or an RW CD, I would like to know. I would prefer not having to open the CPU (I heard something about slaving hard drives, which I know nothing about nor do I want to try). The files aren't that important, but I would really like to save them. So, my question is two-fold:
1) How do I get my computer to load Windows and run properly?
2) Is there any way I can copy my files before they are destroyed?
Thank you very much for your time and help.