i dont have the missing or corrupt file screen anymore...
but now when i turn it on it goes to the xp loading screen then to the hp screen then to the boot screen... and it just keeps going in circles no matter what i press...
now when i try to go to the recovery console it asks for a admin password (which it never did b4) and i have tried to press enter.. didnt work... tried dif passwords that i use on the computer.. nothing seems to work...
i really need some help here... please.. and thank you
I have the original CD (from Dell), and when I boot the install CD, it finds no old installations. At first, it found no hard drives at all (I have 2). If I hit 'r', it would give errors just trying 'dir'. If I went to install, it found no hard drives.
After some surfing, I figured out to copy my ultra-ata drivers during the CD bootup (hit F6), and now it still gives an error at the prompt ater hitting 'r', (something about expanding?) but if I go to install, it finds the two hard drives. Thing is, the drive that has XP on it says '(there is no disk in this drive)', and it has 'unknown' where 'fat32' is on drive 2.
Seems like something is corrupt on the drive. I'd rather not install fresh if repair is possible. I'm sitting at the setup screen where I can setup xp, create a partition, or delete a partition. I think repair ought to be an option? please help!
Edit: The exact thing I get at the C: prompt is "An error occurred during directory enumeration". I tried fixboot anyway, and it did something - no errors. Now I'm trying chkdsk, it's 43% done. Am I on the right track?
Hello all,
I have had this same problem, but I have a little twist. I tried to turn on my computer and the first time I got the same message "windows\system32\config\system corrupt". Turned off computer restarted got the same thing. Turned off yet again, restarted this time with my Windows XP CD in but now it booted right up, back to "normal windows". So I have two questions.
1. Is it fixed?
2. If I take the XP cd out and restart will it start up nomally?
I'm sorry to keep bringing this topic back to life but I've tried (to my knowledge) everything.
So first off, I have a Dell 600M laptop
1.86GHz Pentium M
1GB of Ram (2 x 512)
Toshiba 80GB HD 5400rpm
64MB Radeon 9000 video card
Windows XP Pro
here's the situation: I get the system32\config\system missing message. I happen to have a friend's XP Pro Disc and I tried running the repair part. Here's what I get after booting from the CD Drive.
Press Any Key
Press F6 to install 3rd party (SCSI, I don't remember) or RAID
F2 for Automated System Recovery (ASR)
-I tired this and it would only accept a floppy (I don't have a floppy drive)
It eventually says "Setup is loading files" (a whole bunch of files)
Setup is starting Windows
=============
New Blue Screen
-To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.
-To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press r.
-To quit . . . press F3.
I tried the repair option and it gave me this
"Microsoft Windows XP(TM) Recovery Console.
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
1: C:\WINDOWS
Which Windows installation would you lie to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?
"
I press "1".
It responds -
"The system registry does not appear to have an active ControlSet key.
The system registry may be damaged.
If your system is currently not starting correctly, you can try restarting it
with the Last Known Good configuration or you can try repairing the installation
of Windows using the setup program's repair and recovery options.
C:\WINDOWS>______ (prompts me for some input)
I checked the websites
and I tried option 1:
chkdsk /p
then I rebooted it. Nothing happened
Then I went through pretty much the same thing
this time I followed step 2 on the site (Kelly Theriot)
the following lines were displayed and entered (the parts I entered are in quotes and ** = my comment)
**rp487 was the most recent restore point
**if it helps any bit, there were a few options after rp487
**but rp487 was the last option that had d----c--
**the others didn't have "c"
**02/26/07 06:51p d----c-- 0 RP486
**02/28/07 01:26a d----c-- 0 RP487
**random stuff d
Overwrite system [y,n]: "y"
1 file copied
C:\system~1\_resto~1\rp487\snapshot>"exit"
==============================================
it rebooted successfully and it asked how I would like to start XP. I finally got to the Window XP boot screen (where the blue bar scrolls from left to right)
the screen then goes black as if to change to the startup screen, but nothing happens (even 45 minutes later)
After this I tried booting safe mode it displayed MANY messages like:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\agp440.sys
and many, many, many more just like that . . . the agp440.sys is the last.
Then it just stops . . . completely.
I've also tried using only one of the Memory modules at a time and swapping my harddrive into another 600M. Nothing changed. I'm still stuck with either the blank screen or the laundry list (from the "safe mode").
I really don't want to lose any data. Any help would be great.
hiya all,
i bought a dfi lanparty nf4 sli-dr motherboard and i also purchased an 8800gtx today. I installed it all inot my case with my 2 gb ddr400 ram and my amd athlon 64 x2 4200+ processor. I started the system and it ran through the standart bios stuff, when it started to boot windows, it stoped at a blakc screen. I restarted the cpu nd it happened agen, and for several times aftawards. Eventually, it showed the screen reporting that windows\system32\.... is corrupted or missing. I have tried to boot from my windows cd, but every time i try that it loads a load of drivers then sez starting windows and crashes. I have tried booting into recovery console and it crashed at the end of the load bar, i have tried booting into dos with my win 98 cd, but it would not recognise that i had a c drive with windows on it. Pls can sum1 help me, i have gotten soooooo frustrated with this thing, that i almost think that it wasnt worht the dough.
Had the same problem 3+ weeks running with one of our Dell D610s. "Repaired" the OS to pull recent data then reformatted 3 times (yes, once this problem starts, it repeats randomly, again and again) before Dell sent new ram and hard drive. Knock on wood, all seems fine now. Pain in the rear, but Dell was easy to deal with.
Now my boss' laptop has the same error. Except this time it's a Sony VGN-TXN17P. The repair option doesn't exist on the Sony -- and the Sony "techs" proudly tell you this (not the one referred to in the error message, the repair option after you get into windows set up). Sony just wants us to "hit F10 to restore the laptop to factory condition" and kill all data. This coworker doesn't have a recent backup, so this is not an option for her.
I want to try to put the hard drive in a cradle and read it from another computer -- but I can't find the damned thing. Sony won't help (they just want me to push the F10 key). I've unscrewed every little compartment, but haven't found the hard drive. Sony documentation doesn't give this info. This thing is about the size of a mouse pad. I don't to completely disassemble it unless I know exactly where I'm supposed to look.
wow this is great theres a thread on my exact problem..Ok i read quite a few posts here and tried the different options u all gave but the thing with mine is that when i pop in the xp cd and try to do the R thing or even install a fresh copy my computer says there was no Hard disk drive detected. I installed another HDD and it goes all the way to the windows boot screen but continuously reboots itself not allowing me to start up windows. What can I do. Any help would be appreciated.
After reading several of these replies, I tried switching the memory configuration from single channel mode to dual channel mode. The system came up almost instantly. Interesting...I'm still having some corruption issues but at least I got past the initial error.
Like most, I am unable to boot from the OS CD. Specs are:
Dell Dimension 4400, Pen 4, 40GB HD (77% free), 512MB RAM, Windows XP Home w/SP2.
System has been well-maintained, is clean, no indication of problem like 'whirring' or beep, but on boot> black screen with 'Windows is unable to load due to missing or corrupt 'Windows\System 32\Config/System.'
Have OEM install disc, but won't boot. Have read about possible problem with this Dell 440 motherboard: Intel Corp. D845PT AAA67829-304.
Best to pull HS and try & recover some documents not yet backed up or try for repair? Physically unable to open and work in CPU. Have laptop to use also.
Like most, I am unable to boot from the OS CD. Specs are:
Dell Dimension 4400, Pen 4, 40GB HD (77% free), 512MB RAM, Windows XP Home w/SP2.
System has been well-maintained, is clean, no indication of problem like 'whirring' or beep, but on boot> black screen with 'Windows is unable to load due to missing or corrupt 'Windows\System 32\Config/System.'
Have OEM install disc, but won't boot. Have read about possible problem with this Dell 440 motherboard: Intel Corp. D845PT AAA67829-304.
Best to pull HS and try & recover some documents not yet backed up or try for repair? Physically unable to open and work in CPU. Have laptop to use also.
I have dealt with this issue several times now. A few fixes I have found (and actually rather easy). Switch the memory to run in Single channel mode....don't ask. Secondly, boot from a XP CD (Doesn't matter what kind), and go into recovery mode and do a chkdsk /f. Also run "fixmbr" at the prompt also. Remove the CD, reboot and you should be up and running. I'm still trying to determine the exact source, but it doesn't seem limited to Dells. I've also had the issue with a few Gateway systems also.
I have dealt with this issue several times now. A few fixes I have found (and actually rather easy). Switch the memory to run in Single channel mode....don't ask. Secondly, boot from a XP CD (Doesn't matter what kind), and go into recovery mode and do a chkdsk /f. Also run "fixmbr" at the prompt also. Remove the CD, reboot and you should be up and running. I'm still trying to determine the exact source, but it doesn't seem limited to Dells. I've also had the issue with a few Gateway systems also.
Thank you. But I have been unsuccessful to get any of the
CDs to boot! Is it possible to boot from a Windows 98 SE upgrade floppy? I have one of those around. If I could get in, I could give these things a try- but so far, I'm out!
I did put a floppy in just to see if the drive was working- got message it wasn't ready but at least it 'talked' to me!
What message do you get when you try and boot from the CD? Unless you are running fat32 on your XP system, you aren't going to be able to see the drive booting from a 98 floppy.
The message is as I quoted in subject. It doesn't matter whether I put a CD in or just try to boot- 'Windows can't load because a file is either missing or corrupt'-
says 'Windows\System32\Config\System' followed by instruction to put OEM CD in, select 'r'. But it won't accept the CD.
If you're getting that error even when trying to boot from the CD, it could be that the BIOS doesn't have the cdrom drive set as the first boot device. See what happens when you change it. You also should watch the bottom of the screen for a message like "Press any key to boot from cdrom".
On every Dell I've dealt with, you don't even have to go into BIOS. Simply press F12 as it comes up for the boot menu. Choose the CD/DVD drive for boot. I agree that your boot order is set with the floppy, then drive for boot order.
I don't think you all are realizing what I'm saying- I can't get into the system to do anything! I made no changes, got no updates, did no installs or uninstalls, or otherwise changed anything on mt system that has, up to this, been working perfectly! Boot order wasn't changed by me, I made no changes in the BIOS. Maintenance including disc cleanup, error check, defrag and all security scans had been done only a few days previously.
Here's what I've tried- with the floppy, message given was "non-system disc or disc error. Replace & strike any key."
Hitting the space bar just does it all over again.
Using F12 does not produce anything different than the original message saying I can attempt repair by starting Windows Setup using original CD. There is nothing at the bottom of the screen.
At this point, I don't see any alternative except to pull the hard drive out and set it up as external hard drive on my laptop and recovering some documents and pictures I hadn't yet backed up.
In order to do the repair, you need to change your boot order so that your system will recognize the Install CD so that you can get into the repair console.
My computer shut down on its own and im now getting the WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is corrupt or missing error message. This same thing happen before when the computer shut down while in sleep mode and I think i remember getting the same error but after a few reboots the scan that usually runs after a improper shutdown ran and then everything worked. This time no matter how many times I reset it the scan never runs. Im using xp home but it came with the computer which is an HP and didnt come with a disk. I downloaded the six floppies from microsoft and can reach the recovery console and enter commands. I have tried both chkdsk /r and chkdsk /p and they haven't reported an error except once which was after my second running of /p it found one error but that was all it said and no matter how many times i run it again i never pick the error back up. Are these scans the same as the one that start at startup when a problem occurs? The reason I ask this is because the scan im doing in recovery console by using /r and /p arn't as detailed as the startup scan i saw when this happened before. The one at startup had stages such as stage 1 of 5 that would appear while scaning but these recovery console scans only list a few lines about data. I tried chkdsk /f thinking maybe this would do that scan but it said it was an invalid command. I might be wrong but I keep thinking if I can get the same scan that happend when this problem first happend long ago it would fix it. I looked through the thread and I seem to be in better condition then most others with this problem as im not getting any strange errors and recovery console works fine. Im almost certain this was caused because of the computer going off suddenly so theres no hardware issues and the hd is fine it just seems like the only problem is this message that appears when starting the computer thats stopping me from getting in. Im paranoid to try anything else without advice since rc works and i dont want to break it
If you ran "chkdsk /r", it implies /f so you are fine in that regard.
After it gets done fixing any errors, run a "fixmbr" at the console. Report back. If still corrupt, I'll walk you through a manual recovery of your core files from a system restore point. I've had success that way as well, but it's a bit more annoying to accomplish. Usually, between the chkdsk and the fixmbr, it's enough. This error has only been happening to my clients recently (the last six months). I'm guessing that it is due to a KB that microsoft has as part of the upgrade path but I haven't determined which one it is. It only seems to affect certain systems. If it happens from Standby, I would recommend you turn off hibernation. It always seems to be on systems with hibernation allowed.
I'll try using F12 again tomorrow- see if it comes up.
I did find the following: Config.Sys isn't used in Windows XP- it's an MS-DOS file from earlier versions of Windows OS and is a 'bogus' message on Windows XP. It indicates that some program using DOS may be trying to access. I would like to know what the tech did when he came out the day before I crashed on reboot- all he was suppose to do is install a new wireless router- nothing else!
I noticed 4 people on another board got this message on booting up yesterday & today. One has to wonder were it came from and how it got on our machines- for myself, my system gets regular maintenance, security scans and was up and working and clean before tech put hands on it!
The problem is completely random. It has no known cause. Not even config.sys, because all Windows NT/2K/XP have one to provide support for 16 bit programs.
Should I try running fixboot as well I have seen that mentioned as a possible fix but hadn't tried that or fixmbr because I wanted to know if it was safe first. So i'll try fixmbr now.
I did some research on fixmbr and this may be me just being too careful. It says not to use fixmbr if you have dual booting or other partitions and im certain that I dont but this might be worth mentioning. When I get into the recovery console and get to the point before the command prompt im giving two choices 1 is a D drive called wininnt or someting to that effect and 2 is the C:\windows drive. The D drive is something that has been with the computer since I got it years ago. I've never looked in it so I have no idea whats in there all I know is that its about 5 gb and is called HP_Recovery. This could just be useless worrying but is it still okay to run fixmbr(while logged into the C:\windows drive obviously) in other words will my hard drive be okay since i've read stories that it can destroy it. I also read that when running fixmbr a message may appear saying it could damage your partition and asks if you want to continue. If this happens do I just ignore it and say yes and let it continue? I could just be worring over nothing but thought it would be better to ask first.
I couldn't edit my post for some reason so I had to make another. I realized I didn't say something that might be important. When I select 2 C:\windows to log into im not asked a password and it just goes to the c:\windows command line. When I run chkdsk it says it cant find autochk.exe and asks for a path name. After I type c:\windows\system32 (which is its path) it works then. Is this going to be issue when running fixmbr or fixboot and if it does what would be the path name to type?
Okay, so i might be a little late here, but is there any way to prevent from this problem to keep happening. It has happened to me at least 40 times now. And i had to reformat each time. Its really bothering me
Okay, so i might be a little late here, but is there any way to prevent from this problem to keep happening. It has happened to me at least 40 times now. And i had to reformat each time. Its really bothering me
I was able to recover from my crash by doing the following:
You will need to get into the BIOS and change the boot order to make the CD first order. If it's not reading C now, it's trying to boot from the hard drive and this doesn't work.
Immediately after the logo flashes on the screen press F10, F12 or the Delete key (last for Dell)to open the BIOS. Once there, move the choice at the top to the Boot section by using the arrows on the keyboard.
Following instructions on the lower right of what to use to select and keep, select the CD-ROM drive as first order of boot> Exit and Save> press any key "immediately" on the screen that will come up> then try the reboot.
I did not use the Recovery Console, just the Windows Setup. It may take you a couple of time if you're not use to the BIOS.
I cannot tell you how to prevent this because I don't know what caused it in my machine- I knew the system had been well maintained and was free from malware before it crashed.
I have been reading the trail of information on recovering from "windows\system32\config\system missing". I did boot from cd and selected to install windows again, and repair it when it located the previous install. However, when i select that option, I get the blue screen with "windows xp home edition setup" at the top and the bar at the bottom that states" searching for previous versions of microsoft windows..." Thats it. thats all i get. how long should this take? it doesn't seem to be responding. is it possible that something has gone idle?
I have been reading the trail of information on recovering from "windows\system32\config\system missing". I did boot from cd and selected to install windows again, and repair it when it located the previous install. However, when i select that option, I get the blue screen with "windows xp home edition setup" at the top and the bar at the bottom that states" searching for previous versions of microsoft windows..." Thats it. thats all i get. how long should this take? it doesn't seem to be responding. is it possible that something has gone idle?
If you get this error message and you get the BIOS to boot from the CD first, you 'don't' need to do a repair. All that is needed from the CD is the Windows Setup. Look at the error screen again and note the reference to 'setup'.
From my reading, I found that this is a bogus error in the Windows XP OS- it's for a MS-DOS file used on earlier versions of Windows. basically that means there really isn't anything to repair because nothing is really 'broken'..
Comments
i dont have the missing or corrupt file screen anymore...
but now when i turn it on it goes to the xp loading screen then to the hp screen then to the boot screen... and it just keeps going in circles no matter what i press...
now when i try to go to the recovery console it asks for a admin password (which it never did b4) and i have tried to press enter.. didnt work... tried dif passwords that i use on the computer.. nothing seems to work...
i really need some help here... please.. and thank you
Jodi
I have the original CD (from Dell), and when I boot the install CD, it finds no old installations. At first, it found no hard drives at all (I have 2). If I hit 'r', it would give errors just trying 'dir'. If I went to install, it found no hard drives.
After some surfing, I figured out to copy my ultra-ata drivers during the CD bootup (hit F6), and now it still gives an error at the prompt ater hitting 'r', (something about expanding?) but if I go to install, it finds the two hard drives. Thing is, the drive that has XP on it says '(there is no disk in this drive)', and it has 'unknown' where 'fat32' is on drive 2.
Seems like something is corrupt on the drive. I'd rather not install fresh if repair is possible. I'm sitting at the setup screen where I can setup xp, create a partition, or delete a partition. I think repair ought to be an option? please help!
Edit: The exact thing I get at the C: prompt is "An error occurred during directory enumeration". I tried fixboot anyway, and it did something - no errors. Now I'm trying chkdsk, it's 43% done. Am I on the right track?
I tried this: can't post link)
But all that id is make me choose between two XP installs (actually the same I assume) at bootup.
Help!
I have had this same problem, but I have a little twist. I tried to turn on my computer and the first time I got the same message "windows\system32\config\system corrupt". Turned off computer restarted got the same thing. Turned off yet again, restarted this time with my Windows XP CD in but now it booted right up, back to "normal windows". So I have two questions.
1. Is it fixed?
2. If I take the XP cd out and restart will it start up nomally?
Thanks
DEHawk
I'm sorry to keep bringing this topic back to life but I've tried (to my knowledge) everything.
So first off, I have a Dell 600M laptop
1.86GHz Pentium M
1GB of Ram (2 x 512)
Toshiba 80GB HD 5400rpm
64MB Radeon 9000 video card
Windows XP Pro
here's the situation: I get the system32\config\system missing message. I happen to have a friend's XP Pro Disc and I tried running the repair part. Here's what I get after booting from the CD Drive.
Press Any Key
Press F6 to install 3rd party (SCSI, I don't remember) or RAID
F2 for Automated System Recovery (ASR)
-I tired this and it would only accept a floppy (I don't have a floppy drive)
It eventually says "Setup is loading files" (a whole bunch of files)
Setup is starting Windows
=============
New Blue Screen
-To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.
-To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press r.
-To quit . . . press F3.
I tried the repair option and it gave me this
"Microsoft Windows XP(TM) Recovery Console.
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
1: C:\WINDOWS
Which Windows installation would you lie to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?
"
I press "1".
It responds -
"The system registry does not appear to have an active ControlSet key.
The system registry may be damaged.
If your system is currently not starting correctly, you can try restarting it
with the Last Known Good configuration or you can try repairing the installation
of Windows using the setup program's repair and recovery options.
C:\WINDOWS>______ (prompts me for some input)
I checked the websites
and I tried option 1:
chkdsk /p
then I rebooted it. Nothing happened
Then I went through pretty much the same thing
this time I followed step 2 on the site (Kelly Theriot)
the following lines were displayed and entered (the parts I entered are in quotes and ** = my comment)
C:\Windows>"CD C:\system~1\_resto~1"
C:\system~1\_resto~1\>"dir"
C:\system~1\_resto~1>"cd rp487"
C:\system~1\_resto~1\rp487>"cd snapshot"
C:\system~1\_resto~1\rp487\snapshot>"copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system"
**rp487 was the most recent restore point
**if it helps any bit, there were a few options after rp487
**but rp487 was the last option that had d----c--
**the others didn't have "c"
**02/26/07 06:51p d----c-- 0 RP486
**02/28/07 01:26a d----c-- 0 RP487
**random stuff d
Overwrite system [y,n]: "y"
1 file copied
C:\system~1\_resto~1\rp487\snapshot>"exit"
==============================================
it rebooted successfully and it asked how I would like to start XP. I finally got to the Window XP boot screen (where the blue bar scrolls from left to right)
the screen then goes black as if to change to the startup screen, but nothing happens (even 45 minutes later)
After this I tried booting safe mode it displayed MANY messages like:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\agp440.sys
and many, many, many more just like that . . . the agp440.sys is the last.
Then it just stops . . . completely.
I've also tried using only one of the Memory modules at a time and swapping my harddrive into another 600M. Nothing changed. I'm still stuck with either the blank screen or the laundry list (from the "safe mode").
I really don't want to lose any data. Any help would be great.
thanks
i bought a dfi lanparty nf4 sli-dr motherboard and i also purchased an 8800gtx today. I installed it all inot my case with my 2 gb ddr400 ram and my amd athlon 64 x2 4200+ processor. I started the system and it ran through the standart bios stuff, when it started to boot windows, it stoped at a blakc screen. I restarted the cpu nd it happened agen, and for several times aftawards. Eventually, it showed the screen reporting that windows\system32\.... is corrupted or missing. I have tried to boot from my windows cd, but every time i try that it loads a load of drivers then sez starting windows and crashes. I have tried booting into recovery console and it crashed at the end of the load bar, i have tried booting into dos with my win 98 cd, but it would not recognise that i had a c drive with windows on it. Pls can sum1 help me, i have gotten soooooo frustrated with this thing, that i almost think that it wasnt worht the dough.
Now my boss' laptop has the same error. Except this time it's a Sony VGN-TXN17P. The repair option doesn't exist on the Sony -- and the Sony "techs" proudly tell you this (not the one referred to in the error message, the repair option after you get into windows set up). Sony just wants us to "hit F10 to restore the laptop to factory condition" and kill all data. This coworker doesn't have a recent backup, so this is not an option for her.
I want to try to put the hard drive in a cradle and read it from another computer -- but I can't find the damned thing. Sony won't help (they just want me to push the F10 key). I've unscrewed every little compartment, but haven't found the hard drive. Sony documentation doesn't give this info. This thing is about the size of a mouse pad. I don't to completely disassemble it unless I know exactly where I'm supposed to look.
Can anyone help?
Thanx.
Dell Dimension 4400, Pen 4, 40GB HD (77% free), 512MB RAM, Windows XP Home w/SP2.
System has been well-maintained, is clean, no indication of problem like 'whirring' or beep, but on boot> black screen with 'Windows is unable to load due to missing or corrupt 'Windows\System 32\Config/System.'
Have OEM install disc, but won't boot. Have read about possible problem with this Dell 440 motherboard: Intel Corp. D845PT AAA67829-304.
Best to pull HS and try & recover some documents not yet backed up or try for repair? Physically unable to open and work in CPU. Have laptop to use also.
I have dealt with this issue several times now. A few fixes I have found (and actually rather easy). Switch the memory to run in Single channel mode....don't ask. Secondly, boot from a XP CD (Doesn't matter what kind), and go into recovery mode and do a chkdsk /f. Also run "fixmbr" at the prompt also. Remove the CD, reboot and you should be up and running. I'm still trying to determine the exact source, but it doesn't seem limited to Dells. I've also had the issue with a few Gateway systems also.
I did put a floppy in just to see if the drive was working- got message it wasn't ready but at least it 'talked' to me!
says 'Windows\System32\Config\System' followed by instruction to put OEM CD in, select 'r'. But it won't accept the CD.
Here's what I've tried- with the floppy, message given was "non-system disc or disc error. Replace & strike any key."
Hitting the space bar just does it all over again.
Using F12 does not produce anything different than the original message saying I can attempt repair by starting Windows Setup using original CD. There is nothing at the bottom of the screen.
At this point, I don't see any alternative except to pull the hard drive out and set it up as external hard drive on my laptop and recovering some documents and pictures I hadn't yet backed up.
Thanks for your help.
In order to do the repair, you need to change your boot order so that your system will recognize the Install CD so that you can get into the repair console.
Good luck!
After it gets done fixing any errors, run a "fixmbr" at the console. Report back. If still corrupt, I'll walk you through a manual recovery of your core files from a system restore point. I've had success that way as well, but it's a bit more annoying to accomplish. Usually, between the chkdsk and the fixmbr, it's enough. This error has only been happening to my clients recently (the last six months). I'm guessing that it is due to a KB that microsoft has as part of the upgrade path but I haven't determined which one it is. It only seems to affect certain systems. If it happens from Standby, I would recommend you turn off hibernation. It always seems to be on systems with hibernation allowed.
I did find the following: Config.Sys isn't used in Windows XP- it's an MS-DOS file from earlier versions of Windows OS and is a 'bogus' message on Windows XP. It indicates that some program using DOS may be trying to access. I would like to know what the tech did when he came out the day before I crashed on reboot- all he was suppose to do is install a new wireless router- nothing else!
I noticed 4 people on another board got this message on booting up yesterday & today. One has to wonder were it came from and how it got on our machines- for myself, my system gets regular maintenance, security scans and was up and working and clean before tech put hands on it!
anges35
I did some research on fixmbr and this may be me just being too careful. It says not to use fixmbr if you have dual booting or other partitions and im certain that I dont but this might be worth mentioning. When I get into the recovery console and get to the point before the command prompt im giving two choices 1 is a D drive called wininnt or someting to that effect and 2 is the C:\windows drive. The D drive is something that has been with the computer since I got it years ago. I've never looked in it so I have no idea whats in there all I know is that its about 5 gb and is called HP_Recovery. This could just be useless worrying but is it still okay to run fixmbr(while logged into the C:\windows drive obviously) in other words will my hard drive be okay since i've read stories that it can destroy it. I also read that when running fixmbr a message may appear saying it could damage your partition and asks if you want to continue. If this happens do I just ignore it and say yes and let it continue? I could just be worring over nothing but thought it would be better to ask first.
I was able to recover from my crash by doing the following:
You will need to get into the BIOS and change the boot order to make the CD first order. If it's not reading C now, it's trying to boot from the hard drive and this doesn't work.
Immediately after the logo flashes on the screen press F10, F12 or the Delete key (last for Dell)to open the BIOS. Once there, move the choice at the top to the Boot section by using the arrows on the keyboard.
Following instructions on the lower right of what to use to select and keep, select the CD-ROM drive as first order of boot> Exit and Save> press any key "immediately" on the screen that will come up> then try the reboot.
I did not use the Recovery Console, just the Windows Setup. It may take you a couple of time if you're not use to the BIOS.
I cannot tell you how to prevent this because I don't know what caused it in my machine- I knew the system had been well maintained and was free from malware before it crashed.
From my reading, I found that this is a bogus error in the Windows XP OS- it's for a MS-DOS file used on earlier versions of Windows. basically that means there really isn't anything to repair because nothing is really 'broken'..