OK i was getting this message when trying to load Windows XP (all explained in another thread) After reading this I changed my 2 (very expensive) 512MB RAM and all is now well again boot - enter BIOS - change BIOS everything is OK
FOR NOW,
no he swapped the ram. suggesting the spd settings on some high end ram probably is causing probs with some bios settings. And slowing down the ram timing settings probably helps.
Are you saying that changing the BIOS settings fixed your problem as well?
Certainly fixed mine! Just a pity it took me so long to find the cause.
Greg
No Tex is right - I swapped my 1GB high end Ram with generic ram and it is running perfectly well now - touch wood.
I have no idea why it suddenly decided that it didnt like it after 6 months of running perfectly well??????
Now I've done it! I'm a new member, semi-sophisticated but know just enough to be dangerous. So I had the old windows\system32\config\system missing error. I have a Sony Vaio with a crazy "System Restore" disk that offers to totally reformat your harddrive and nothing else. I brilliantly grabbed the XP disk from another Dell I have to get in to recovery console. Played around a bit and read some forums before deciding to do a "fixmbr" in the recovery console. Seconds after I hit enter, I remembered the this hard disk had a partition on it. I have this bad feeling that I am dead meat now. My question to all you helpful souls:
1) should I try something else to get this PC working?
or
2) I have one of those external shells that I can put the broken PCs hard drive in to. If I do that, will I be able to access any of the files or will my "fixmbr" action keep that from working?
I'm more concerned about getting the data than getting the PC working again.
A search on "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM" guided me to this site. I hope i'll find a solution with u guys. I get that error too when I boot my PC. I tried booting it form the CDROM, to try a new installation and then install Windows on another partition, but I get a Stop error message on a blue screen:
Stop:0xc0000135 (sth like this..with a long text before, I dont really remember what it said :P)
It's like Im really stuck there. I tried installing Linux on another partition, but it wont boot from linux. Im only trying to backup all my data on C and then format the whole thing to start all over again. I found a few things I could try out here on this thread. I'll do it and then get back to u guys with the details.
In the meantime, if anyone could help me out with another solution, I'd be grateful.
Ok I know you guys must be sick of all this by now, but yes - I am having the same trouble. I did try the stuff from http://kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm but it didn't work. (couldn't do the dir system part from /windows/system32/config/ cos apparently it couldn't find it)
However, before trying anything else I reinstalled windows xp professional on the computer on seperate partition so I could copy/back-up my files before i had to use my back up discs (which basically removes everything)
Also my laptop is a tablet pc(acer c320) so my partition running windows xp professional is kinda useless as I can't use any of the tablet options (the computer didn't come with windows xp tablet edition disc, but was already installed with it)
So I have no idea what to do now, considering i've tried so many things.
I tried fixboot from recovery console but that didn't work. I was also gonna try fixmbr but its got me worried that I may lose my files. (it says Fixmbr may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause all the parititions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible.)
I also booted from the cd and did what Tex said about doin a fresh install - and then to see if it checks for previous installs - but unfortunatly it didn't do that. So whats that mean? something wrong with boot.ini?
I suppose i could try the back-discs but for some reason i can't copy my files, tried to copy to external drive but it just doesn't detect it, tried writing to dvd error comes up, tried putting the files on the network - also doesn't work.
Its like, I can see my files - but I can't do anything with them!!! Help please.
I would love to call someone to help, for free But I'm in london, england - any technicians/helpers here in the UK?
I got a problem and hope that anyone can help me out.
On boot up, PC shows this error.
There is no way for me to access DOS since when I press a key it just reboots.
Thus I put a Windows XP Pro SP2 CD and it boots up from CD. But it also does not boot up as when I press a key for the PC to boot up from CD, very often it just switches off immediately or else it displays
the Windows Setup page (Blue screen) but after a few seconds it shows such an error (one of):
File \i386\NTKRNLMP.EXE could not be loaded
The error code is 768
Setup cannot continue
Press any key to exit
If I press a key it turns out to the same process.
I downloaded the Windows XP SP2 Boot disks and on installation it stopped on Disk 4 with similar errors.
Can you help me?
My setup:
Gigabyte GA8-SIMLH Motherboard
Pentium 4 2GHZ
GeForce FX5200-TD128LF
no I want the make/model of computer and whats inside etc...
And no you do not test the memory in another computer. That doesnt really do the job. You may need to go make the memory tester boot floppy disk on another computer... maybe the one you are posting these messages on?
I got a problem and hope that anyone can help me out.
On boot up, PC shows this error.
There is no way for me to access DOS since when I press a key it just reboots.
Thus I put a Windows XP Pro SP2 CD and it boots up from CD. But it also does not boot up as when I press a key for the PC to boot up from CD, very often it just switches off immediately or else it displays
the Windows Setup page (Blue screen) but after a few seconds it shows such an error (one of):
File \i386\NTKRNLMP.EXE could not be loaded
The error code is 768
Setup cannot continue
Press any key to exit
If I press a key it turns out to the same process.
I downloaded the Windows XP SP2 Boot disks and on installation it stopped on Disk 4 with similar errors.
Can you help me?
My setup:
Gigabyte GA8-SIMLH Motherboard
Pentium 4 2GHZ
GeForce FX5200-TD128LF
Memtest runs under linux and makes its own boot disk. Get a blank floppy, extract the memtest files, then double-click install.bat to make the disk. It will tell you what to do from there.
umm ive been having the corrupt file thing and its happend to two of me hard disks and is realy annoying me now, also i dont know how to repair any of them ive lost all me school work and i was wandering if some1 could take me through set-by-set on how to recover my hard disks becuase i have no idea on what to do.
ive tryed this but cant make it work could someone explian please http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm
Thanks,
max
0
Seoul_ManCurrently living in Sinjeong in Seoul, Korea.
edited November 2005
I'm having the same problem that started this thread (all that long time ago), but I'm still having a few problems and specifics that I thought I'd include (be warned, this is going to be a pretty long post).
First of all, the specifics on my machine. It's very new, only been together a week now. I put it together myself (teaching English in Seoul does have the perk of giving me access to Yongsan, the largest electronics market in the world).
Antec Sonata II case
Antec TruPower 2.0 450W PSU
AMD 64 Athlon 3000+
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Motherboard
Asus Extreme N6600GT Video Card
2 512MB Dual Channel DDR400 Samsung RAM chips
Samsung HD080HJ 80GB HD (SATA, 7200 rpm)
Windows XP Professional
BIOS and everything else are standard. No RAID (obviously), no overclocking, no nothing. And no, I don't have a floppy drive.
Second, the specifics of the last couple days. I've been updating my drivers and ran into some problems with the nVidia ones for the graphics card and motherboard. Chaintech gives some nice firewall and other internet protection whatnot, but I ran into some problems with it. I thought that I had all the drivers up to date, but when I installed Half-Life 2 it told me that there were new ones for the graphics card. While at nVidia's site, I first decided to update my drivers for the motherboard. Some of them gave me the warning message that they lacked the Windows logo of compatibility (hopefully you know what I mean--I wasn't exactly taking notes at the time), and I foolishly figured that it was Windows being overly protective and that something made by nVidia surely wouldn't cause any system problems. Sure enough, after restarting the system, I had to re-tell the firewall that AIM should be let through the firewall. As soon as I clicked that, the machine instantly went to a blue error message (can't really remember the details of it, since it was only up for about 1 1/2 seconds before the system restarted). After some more trial and error, I deleted the new driver for the ethernet and put back the old one, which let me access AIM without problems (however, I did not replace all the new drivers with the originals--yes, yes, even when I know how stupid I was earlier I still do stupid things later one; hopefully that'll stop soon).
After that, I got the video card drivers installed without problems and launched HL2. The game looks great and I didn't have any problems until yesterday. I had gotten a fair ways through the game and then suddenly I got that same blue screen error message that I'd gotten earlier. I've also gotten it with a couple other problems this past week as I was building the system, but I can't remember exactly where (each individual problem has been subsequently fixed, or so I thought), so I'm not sure if they're related at all. Anyway, the blue screen restarted my system, at which point everything was fine. I started the game again, and got a little bit further than where I had been earlier before the same blue screen popped up, only this time I got the infamous WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SYSTEM error message.
I found this thread and tried following it, but can't seem to get a grip on the problem. I've got the Windows setup disc in the drive and hit a key when prompted. I get the black screen telling me "Setup is inspecting your hardware etc." then the all-blue screen with "Windows Setup" at the top. Asks me if I'm running third-party RAID (I'm not) or if i want to run Automated System Recovery (I don't). Then it starts loading files, one after another, until it says something like "Starting Windows" and then loops back to the first startup screen. I'm not sure where exactly I'm supposed to be hitting "r", though it seems like I have done it everywhere, without ever getting anywhere with it. I've looked at a lot of the other suggestions on the board, and am having some difficulties at figuring out where to do stuff (the screens I'm getting don't always seem to jive well with the instructions that others are offering). I've also left the computer idle overnight (a good 8 hours or so) and the problem is still there this morning.
Now for a few special circumstances to further complicate the problem. Temperature in my apartment is pretty good. I ran the BIOS and it told me that the CPU temp was at 39 degrees. The system doesn't really feel all that warm inside, but here in Korea they have heating that comes up through the floor. Again, I don't think the system is really too warm, but I thought I'd mention it all the same.
There's another small issue that I thought I'd mention because some others have talked about the RAM in their machines. Chaintech's motherboard has four RAM slots and supports up to DDR400 memory. However, there was this fun little warning in the motherboard manual: "Due to CPU specifications limiation, two DDR400 memory modules inserted into DIMM1/3, three DDR400 into DIMM1/2/3, or four DDR400 into DIMM1/2/3/4 is not recommended." Now, I haven't done this. I do have two DDR400 chips, but they're in DIMM1 and 2. I'm not sure if this could cause a problem or not. Frankly, I've been really puzzled by this message ever since I first read it. I mention it only because people are mentioning RAM as a possible issue and I'm still confused about the whole thing.
And thus endeth my ridiculously long post, and hopefully someone will help inform me on where I went wrong ("Building your own machine when you know nothing of computer!" is not a helpful suggestion).
0
Seoul_ManCurrently living in Sinjeong in Seoul, Korea.
edited November 2005
Ok, a day or two have gone by and I've got a little more information that I hope will be helpful in getting some attention here. I've looked around some more and still can't quite find a perfect description of someone else having the same problem that I do. However, two important things I have learned in the last couple days:
Apparently the fact that I'm using an OEM version of Windows XP Pro (all that I could get in Seoul) is somewhat of an issue. I forgot to mention that earlier, but I'm noticing it mentioned in some of Microsoft's documents. Usually the document says something like "If you have OEM, be really careful of the following procedure since it might not work so well," but doesn't give me any links or suggestions to do things differently. Oh well.
Second is the fact that I have had a tiny improvement in actually getting the system repair working. I've found that if I run the process again and keep hitting "R" a bunch of times, the system doesn't loop back to a restart. However, it replaces that earlier problem with a new one: getting "hung up" on the "Setup is starting Windows" message. I've tried this with some limited success (sometimes hitting "R" gets me to the hung up screen, sometimes it doesn't). I found myself considering varying the frequency and times of hitting "R" during Setup before I realized that I am now believing in actual gremlins living in my machine, messing things up.
Anyway, I'm still at a loss here as to what I can do--none of the other messages here really line up 100% with the problem I'm having (at least not that I can see). If anyone is reading this and thinks that they do, I'd aprpeciate it if you could take the time to say "Hey, idiot, so-and-so ten messages back had the same issue that you have" just so I see what I've missed.
Hoping you can help me. I have the same system error as shown in this thread. I have booted from the Office disk but as you have stated if it doesn't fiond a prior version of Windows installed then it is having problems reading from boot.ini Can you help me repair this?
Sure. boot from the XP cd. Can you do that? Or do you need more simple instructions that tell ya how to do that too? I'm not jacking with ya, just need to know how low to target the level of instructions. There is no need for me to go through and write down here a bunch of extra steps you may know how to do now.
If you can boot from the XP cd let me know and I'll start there or I"ll walk you through getting that far if you can't get at least booted from the CD.
If you can boot and the file system isnt corrupt you just let it keep booting. It makes you hit enter or something saying you want to install, then it asks if you want to repair using recovery console and for now say "n" a few minutes later it looks for your old installs and if the disk file system is OK it should show you the disk and directory on whcih XP is installed and ask if you want to repair the existing installation and at that point I think it makes you even hit "R" for repair.
If it ever asks you to format or create a partition DON'T DO IT ! It shouldn't ask you on a repair install. So if you see that in any way we have deeper problems. BAIL OUT. Do not proceed.
As long as you do a repair install it keeps all your files and programs etc... but its got to be a repair not a fresh install. And its the second prompt about repairing NOT the first one asking if you want to use recovery console. Its only a total of like three mouse clicks and hitting "R" to get the repair going!
You can even call me on the phone and I'll walk you through it while your on the phone if your worried or in a hurry. This sounds scary but its not. Will take 5 to 10 minutes to get ya going on the phone depending on if we have other problems etc.. Get the XP cd and let me know when your ready to start if you want phone assistance. Look at it this way. I do this professionaly and your getting $100 an hour free tech support for the price of a phone call. And yes thats a great reason to pass www.short-media.com along to your friends at school or college. Very few if any web sites will actually have profesionals willing to give out their phone number and offer free tech support to other members like this. And its one reason short-media is so very cool.
god , i hope i:m not hijacking this thread. like everyone else, i have the same problem with the missing file. currently i:m living in japan and i:m sure i could borrow a windows home XP set-up CD from somebody, (my toshiba laptop didn:t come with one) but it would be the japanese version. do you think it would still work? i:m afraid of losing any files. thanks
I had this problem before . but there away all of you folk can get that files back . i got mine back.
if anyone is interstead in get the file back with window.sys.32 files back pls poste you question on the board i will answer time and if you want easy follow up step by step . pls private message me
Your "system" is your registry hive. It has become corrupt, probably from an improper shutdown. I have linked this several times in other threads and the success has always been good
Any problems, please post and do let us know how you get on
I performed the actions you listed and my system now displays the WindowsXP screen on boot, but then it continues on into a black screen and continually restarts. Any suggestions?
I performed the actions you listed and my system now displays the WindowsXP screen on boot, but then it continues on into a black screen and continually restarts. Any suggestions?
couldn't help but stumble into the same problem as all of you. I had a custom job built about 8 months ago; only i've had problems with it since day one.
To add to my luck i have now encountered "windows\system32\config\system missing" my computer if left alone once booted will show this prompt then restart.
As i press enter after booting the windows xp pro cd it goes to the partition screen and i do not have the option to repair, only reformat.
i've also tried the restore console: using chkdsk /p and /r and also bootcfg /rebuild (yet don't seem to succesful on this one; asks to restart computer to get an updated scan and to add to boot once restarted nothing seems to derive from it)
after using the restore console features i've tried once again and pressed enter and yet i still do not have the option to repair.
My computer has:
1 GRAM
3.2 GHz
120G HDS
256M graphics card ATI Radeon x600 pro
gigabyte motherboard
(had problems with card and motherboard overclocking CPU)
basically computer resets when it becomes to great a burden to handle
only this time it won't boot up.
would appreciate the help
regards Rob
0
Seoul_ManCurrently living in Sinjeong in Seoul, Korea.
edited November 2005
OK, so here's what's happened recently.
I talked to my cousin (my family's computer guy) about this and he recommended that I get a cheap video card and plug that in, since it sounded like the rebooting problem was something to do with the hardware. I went out and bought a card, but somehow I misread the thing and got a kind that wouldn't work with my motherboard.
Anyway, for some reason, as I was reinstalling my original video card, I thought to remove the second RAM stick from the machine. I did so and restarted the computer--everything is fine. I put the RAM stick back into place and the old problem comes back (even after reinstalling the original, apparently stable drivers that I had before the original problem).
Now, to reiterate something I mentioned in an earlier post: I have a Chaintech VNF4 Ultra mobo, in whose manual it states that I should not use two DDR400 sticks in DIMM 1/3. Now, I take this to mean DIMM slots 1 and 3 together, so I put the sticks in slots 1 and 2. Perhaps I misunderstood what the book said, perhaps I got a bum stick of RAM (scroll up to see my system stats), I don't know.
The point is this: I managed to circumvent the problem, but only by chopping my machine's RAM in half. I haven't been able to get through on Chaintech's website, but I'm thinking maybe someone could give a little assistance on this subject and help me figure out just what in the world is going on with this machine. There aren't any marks of damage on either the DIMM slot or the RAM itself, but I'm still not taking any chances by putting it back in in a different slot. If you're having this problem with the rebooting, maybe you should try removing a stick of RAM.
Comments
FOR NOW,
Are you saying that changing the BIOS settings fixed your problem as well?
Certainly fixed mine! Just a pity it took me so long to find the cause.
Greg
Tex
I have no idea why it suddenly decided that it didnt like it after 6 months of running perfectly well??????
1) should I try something else to get this PC working?
or
2) I have one of those external shells that I can put the broken PCs hard drive in to. If I do that, will I be able to access any of the files or will my "fixmbr" action keep that from working?
I'm more concerned about getting the data than getting the PC working again.
All help appreciated?
Good luck.
A search on "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM" guided me to this site. I hope i'll find a solution with u guys. I get that error too when I boot my PC. I tried booting it form the CDROM, to try a new installation and then install Windows on another partition, but I get a Stop error message on a blue screen:
Stop:0xc0000135 (sth like this..with a long text before, I dont really remember what it said :P)
It's like Im really stuck there. I tried installing Linux on another partition, but it wont boot from linux. Im only trying to backup all my data on C and then format the whole thing to start all over again. I found a few things I could try out here on this thread. I'll do it and then get back to u guys with the details.
In the meantime, if anyone could help me out with another solution, I'd be grateful.
Thanks a lot
Cheers
You know what, I've posted it this many times.. Im going to put it in my signature!
cheers
That should do the trick mate
Ok I know you guys must be sick of all this by now, but yes - I am having the same trouble. I did try the stuff from http://kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm but it didn't work. (couldn't do the dir system part from /windows/system32/config/ cos apparently it couldn't find it)
However, before trying anything else I reinstalled windows xp professional on the computer on seperate partition so I could copy/back-up my files before i had to use my back up discs (which basically removes everything)
Also my laptop is a tablet pc(acer c320) so my partition running windows xp professional is kinda useless as I can't use any of the tablet options (the computer didn't come with windows xp tablet edition disc, but was already installed with it)
So I have no idea what to do now, considering i've tried so many things.
I tried fixboot from recovery console but that didn't work. I was also gonna try fixmbr but its got me worried that I may lose my files. (it says Fixmbr may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause all the parititions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible.)
I also booted from the cd and did what Tex said about doin a fresh install - and then to see if it checks for previous installs - but unfortunatly it didn't do that. So whats that mean? something wrong with boot.ini?
I suppose i could try the back-discs but for some reason i can't copy my files, tried to copy to external drive but it just doesn't detect it, tried writing to dvd error comes up, tried putting the files on the network - also doesn't work.
Its like, I can see my files - but I can't do anything with them!!! Help please.
I would love to call someone to help, for free
On boot up, PC shows this error.
There is no way for me to access DOS since when I press a key it just reboots.
Thus I put a Windows XP Pro SP2 CD and it boots up from CD. But it also does not boot up as when I press a key for the PC to boot up from CD, very often it just switches off immediately or else it displays
the Windows Setup page (Blue screen) but after a few seconds it shows such an error (one of):
File \i386\NTKRNLMP.EXE could not be loaded
The error code is 768
Setup cannot continue
Press any key to exit
If I press a key it turns out to the same process.
I downloaded the Windows XP SP2 Boot disks and on installation it stopped on Disk 4 with similar errors.
Can you help me?
My setup:
Gigabyte GA8-SIMLH Motherboard
Pentium 4 2GHZ
GeForce FX5200-TD128LF
Then make a boot floppy from a memory tester. Doc mem is free and so if memtest.
Runb the full tests for an hour or so..
Tex
2x256MB
You mean I have to fix the memory on another PC, right?
And no you do not test the memory in another computer. That doesnt really do the job. You may need to go make the memory tester boot floppy disk on another computer... maybe the one you are posting these messages on?
make the test floppy.
Tex
When I typed A:\>memtest
it replied
This program cannot be run in DOS mode.
What can I do next?
ive tryed this but cant make it work could someone explian please
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm
Thanks,
max
First of all, the specifics on my machine. It's very new, only been together a week now. I put it together myself (teaching English in Seoul does have the perk of giving me access to Yongsan, the largest electronics market in the world).
Antec Sonata II case
Antec TruPower 2.0 450W PSU
AMD 64 Athlon 3000+
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Motherboard
Asus Extreme N6600GT Video Card
2 512MB Dual Channel DDR400 Samsung RAM chips
Samsung HD080HJ 80GB HD (SATA, 7200 rpm)
Windows XP Professional
BIOS and everything else are standard. No RAID (obviously), no overclocking, no nothing. And no, I don't have a floppy drive.
Second, the specifics of the last couple days. I've been updating my drivers and ran into some problems with the nVidia ones for the graphics card and motherboard. Chaintech gives some nice firewall and other internet protection whatnot, but I ran into some problems with it. I thought that I had all the drivers up to date, but when I installed Half-Life 2 it told me that there were new ones for the graphics card. While at nVidia's site, I first decided to update my drivers for the motherboard. Some of them gave me the warning message that they lacked the Windows logo of compatibility (hopefully you know what I mean--I wasn't exactly taking notes at the time), and I foolishly figured that it was Windows being overly protective and that something made by nVidia surely wouldn't cause any system problems. Sure enough, after restarting the system, I had to re-tell the firewall that AIM should be let through the firewall. As soon as I clicked that, the machine instantly went to a blue error message (can't really remember the details of it, since it was only up for about 1 1/2 seconds before the system restarted). After some more trial and error, I deleted the new driver for the ethernet and put back the old one, which let me access AIM without problems (however, I did not replace all the new drivers with the originals--yes, yes, even when I know how stupid I was earlier I still do stupid things later one; hopefully that'll stop soon).
After that, I got the video card drivers installed without problems and launched HL2. The game looks great and I didn't have any problems until yesterday. I had gotten a fair ways through the game and then suddenly I got that same blue screen error message that I'd gotten earlier. I've also gotten it with a couple other problems this past week as I was building the system, but I can't remember exactly where (each individual problem has been subsequently fixed, or so I thought), so I'm not sure if they're related at all. Anyway, the blue screen restarted my system, at which point everything was fine. I started the game again, and got a little bit further than where I had been earlier before the same blue screen popped up, only this time I got the infamous WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SYSTEM error message.
I found this thread and tried following it, but can't seem to get a grip on the problem. I've got the Windows setup disc in the drive and hit a key when prompted. I get the black screen telling me "Setup is inspecting your hardware etc." then the all-blue screen with "Windows Setup" at the top. Asks me if I'm running third-party RAID (I'm not) or if i want to run Automated System Recovery (I don't). Then it starts loading files, one after another, until it says something like "Starting Windows" and then loops back to the first startup screen. I'm not sure where exactly I'm supposed to be hitting "r", though it seems like I have done it everywhere, without ever getting anywhere with it. I've looked at a lot of the other suggestions on the board, and am having some difficulties at figuring out where to do stuff (the screens I'm getting don't always seem to jive well with the instructions that others are offering). I've also left the computer idle overnight (a good 8 hours or so) and the problem is still there this morning.
Now for a few special circumstances to further complicate the problem. Temperature in my apartment is pretty good. I ran the BIOS and it told me that the CPU temp was at 39 degrees. The system doesn't really feel all that warm inside, but here in Korea they have heating that comes up through the floor. Again, I don't think the system is really too warm, but I thought I'd mention it all the same.
There's another small issue that I thought I'd mention because some others have talked about the RAM in their machines. Chaintech's motherboard has four RAM slots and supports up to DDR400 memory. However, there was this fun little warning in the motherboard manual: "Due to CPU specifications limiation, two DDR400 memory modules inserted into DIMM1/3, three DDR400 into DIMM1/2/3, or four DDR400 into DIMM1/2/3/4 is not recommended." Now, I haven't done this. I do have two DDR400 chips, but they're in DIMM1 and 2. I'm not sure if this could cause a problem or not. Frankly, I've been really puzzled by this message ever since I first read it. I mention it only because people are mentioning RAM as a possible issue and I'm still confused about the whole thing.
And thus endeth my ridiculously long post, and hopefully someone will help inform me on where I went wrong ("Building your own machine when you know nothing of computer!" is not a helpful suggestion).
Apparently the fact that I'm using an OEM version of Windows XP Pro (all that I could get in Seoul) is somewhat of an issue. I forgot to mention that earlier, but I'm noticing it mentioned in some of Microsoft's documents. Usually the document says something like "If you have OEM, be really careful of the following procedure since it might not work so well," but doesn't give me any links or suggestions to do things differently. Oh well.
Second is the fact that I have had a tiny improvement in actually getting the system repair working. I've found that if I run the process again and keep hitting "R" a bunch of times, the system doesn't loop back to a restart. However, it replaces that earlier problem with a new one: getting "hung up" on the "Setup is starting Windows" message. I've tried this with some limited success (sometimes hitting "R" gets me to the hung up screen, sometimes it doesn't). I found myself considering varying the frequency and times of hitting "R" during Setup before I realized that I am now believing in actual gremlins living in my machine, messing things up.
Anyway, I'm still at a loss here as to what I can do--none of the other messages here really line up 100% with the problem I'm having (at least not that I can see). If anyone is reading this and thinks that they do, I'd aprpeciate it if you could take the time to say "Hey, idiot, so-and-so ten messages back had the same issue that you have" just so I see what I've missed.
Much thanks in advance.
Hoping you can help me. I have the same system error as shown in this thread. I have booted from the Office disk but as you have stated if it doesn't fiond a prior version of Windows installed then it is having problems reading from boot.ini Can you help me repair this?
Hope you don't mind helping me.
Thanks.
jim
I had this problem before . but there away all of you folk can get that files back . i got mine back.
if anyone is interstead in get the file back with window.sys.32 files back pls poste you question on the board i will answer time and if you want easy follow up step by step . pls private message me
I performed the actions you listed and my system now displays the WindowsXP screen on boot, but then it continues on into a black screen and continually restarts. Any suggestions?
couldn't help but stumble into the same problem as all of you. I had a custom job built about 8 months ago; only i've had problems with it since day one.
To add to my luck i have now encountered "windows\system32\config\system missing" my computer if left alone once booted will show this prompt then restart.
As i press enter after booting the windows xp pro cd it goes to the partition screen and i do not have the option to repair, only reformat.
i've also tried the restore console: using chkdsk /p and /r and also bootcfg /rebuild (yet don't seem to succesful on this one; asks to restart computer to get an updated scan and to add to boot once restarted nothing seems to derive from it)
after using the restore console features i've tried once again and pressed enter and yet i still do not have the option to repair.
My computer has:
1 GRAM
3.2 GHz
120G HDS
256M graphics card ATI Radeon x600 pro
gigabyte motherboard
(had problems with card and motherboard overclocking CPU)
basically computer resets when it becomes to great a burden to handle
only this time it won't boot up.
would appreciate the help
regards Rob
I talked to my cousin (my family's computer guy) about this and he recommended that I get a cheap video card and plug that in, since it sounded like the rebooting problem was something to do with the hardware. I went out and bought a card, but somehow I misread the thing and got a kind that wouldn't work with my motherboard.
Anyway, for some reason, as I was reinstalling my original video card, I thought to remove the second RAM stick from the machine. I did so and restarted the computer--everything is fine. I put the RAM stick back into place and the old problem comes back (even after reinstalling the original, apparently stable drivers that I had before the original problem).
Now, to reiterate something I mentioned in an earlier post: I have a Chaintech VNF4 Ultra mobo, in whose manual it states that I should not use two DDR400 sticks in DIMM 1/3. Now, I take this to mean DIMM slots 1 and 3 together, so I put the sticks in slots 1 and 2. Perhaps I misunderstood what the book said, perhaps I got a bum stick of RAM (scroll up to see my system stats), I don't know.
The point is this: I managed to circumvent the problem, but only by chopping my machine's RAM in half. I haven't been able to get through on Chaintech's website, but I'm thinking maybe someone could give a little assistance on this subject and help me figure out just what in the world is going on with this machine. There aren't any marks of damage on either the DIMM slot or the RAM itself, but I'm still not taking any chances by putting it back in in a different slot. If you're having this problem with the rebooting, maybe you should try removing a stick of RAM.