\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

Banzai_Joe · 10 May 2010 at 11:46

Win XP Pro SP3
a) error on startup:
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

I've had this quite a few times in the past and have tried the usual MS fix here.

However, it still gives the error above.
I rebooted into recovery console and did a chkdsk /r which is what i usually do to fix this issue.
But it didn't work, still with the error above.
When i check the directory: c:\windows\system32\config.... the file is there, so i copy a new (system.bak) over from c:\windows\repair\..... it copies the file over fine so i reboot, but still the same error.

b) If i have to reformat then so be it, i can copy all the docs&settings off the hdd (put the hdd into a sata caddy and mounted it onto my pc.
However, it fails on loads of files due to permissions, even though i took ownership of the whole disk whilst it was mounted on my win7 x64 pc.

Can someone tell me if i can extract his outlook2003 mail account via explorer please? He's desparate to keep his contacts etc.

Thanks for any help offered to both parts of this problem.

Philtor · 10 May 2010 at 12:52

Why not try a repair install first? http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

Banzai_Joe · 10 May 2010 at 13:35

Lol...oo err.....why didn't i think of that.

Thanks, trying it now, will let ya know.

Banzai_Joe · 10 May 2010 at 13:57

Ok, it gets most of the way through the setup then comes u with a dialog saying something like "when trying to update a password, this return status indicates that the value provided for the current password is not correct", then it reboots, shows the blue screen with "setup is restarting..." but gets caught in the same loop with the password error again.

Any ideas?

Dano · 10 May 2010 at 13:58

Are you using the same password that was previously on the system?

Banzai_Joe · 10 May 2010 at 14:01

Dano said:
Are you using the same password that was previously on the system?

see my last post....oem v retail is the difference as it looks for specific branded files....darnit!!

Dano · 10 May 2010 at 14:27

Banzai_Joe said:
Ok, it gets most of the way through the setup then comes u with a dialog saying something like "when trying to update a password, this return status indicates that the value provided for the current password is not correct", then it reboots, shows the blue screen with "setup is restarting..." but gets caught in the same loop with the password error again.

Any ideas?

Banzai_Joe said:
see my last post....oem v retail is the difference as it looks for specific branded files....darnit!!

The top quote is your last post :confused:

But you'll need an OEM disc to do a repair install with if that is what is on the machine.

Banzai_Joe · 10 May 2010 at 14:34

Sorry, confusion.

XP pro came with the laptop, so i think me using a generic oem disk is what is buggering it up, as i've not changed any passwords. All i did before it went wonky was apply a password to the administrator account.
Everything was working fine, until i did a boot scan with avast (the laptop was riddled with viruses, most of which i'd eliminated). I've done boot scans in the past with no problems, but this seems to have affected some system files i guess.