Please help... windows/system32/config/system error!

[kmuss215]

Hi. i recently experienced the windows/system32/config/system error. It does not let me log on, do anything. I am not that experienced so guided help would be much appreciated. I do not have a Windows Xp startup disk (it came preinstalled), and I can not log on using safe mode. Please help me as soon as possible. I would greatly appreciate it if I can go back to the last good restore point, but that is not accessible.
Thank you.

[Jokke]

I'm not an expert, but I have seen other give this advice:

Put in your Xp-disc and do a repair install.

[kryyst]

Not to criticize your attempt to help Jokke, but in the initial post it said 'I don't have a windows XP disk'.

As for fixing that problem without the disk if your system came pre-installed from a certified vendor and not pre-installed from some friend or small shop with a hacked on copy of XP. You should have on your harddrive a recovery partition, or it possibly even came with recovery disks. They will have the tools to reinstall your system to the factory defaults. Unfortunately, that means exactly what it sounds like. They wipe your harddrive and return it to it's ship-to state.

Now Jokke, is pretty much right. Without a Windows XP disk you are basically screwed. But there may be some things we can do. However you would need access to another computer so that you can pull the harddrive out of your failed computer and connect it to the other machine. Then the first step is to backup all the data on it to that other computer.

Then we can try to copy a few select system files from the other computer on to yours and see about copying a good file over top of your damaged one. However if it's a file on your machine that is linked to any low level motherboard drivers you will at some point need a Windows CD there is no real way around it.

[arvetus]

Yes, without an XP recovery disc, your next option is to pull the drive out of the problem machine, connect it to a working machine and then copy some system files out of the %windir%\repair folder back to %windir%\system32\config

[Jokke]

I'm so sorry, I didn't see the "not":banghead:

[danmiluk]

do you know anybody that does have a xp disc as mine needed a repair & i just used my friends, as long as you press r for repair then it will not ask you for the serial number

[Tex]

do you know anybody that does have a xp disc as mine needed a repair & i just used my friends, as long as you press r for repair then it will not ask you for the serial number

Not true. You can get to recovery console without a serial but without all but a few OEM disks you still need a serial number to do a full repair install.

Tex

[danmiluk]

Not true. You can get to recovery console without a serial but without all but a few OEM disks you still need a serial number to do a truew full repair install.

Tex

i don't think not true but maybe not always possible,but if you don't have go down the full repair install you would get away with it

[Tex]

I said that WITHOUT a full repair (which means you hit recovery console) then you need no serial number. Ever. You only need the administartor password.

When you do a FULL REPAIR INSTALL and do not have one of the OEM disks from a couple manufactures then yes you need a serial number.

I have done this hundreds of times with many many disks.

Cheers