A relative's computer of mine had a history of infections and malware activity. Her computer was rendered unusable two times within half a year due to a missing critical system file. I understand that her HP won't last for long, so that is why I helped her purchase a new machine. However, one missing thing was all her data and documents on the old machine. What is frustrating now is that I cannot boot Windows normally, safe mode, or even use the Data Manager Recovery Console (reformats the entire machine). When I attempted to boot in Safe Mode or normal boot I get this message from Windows telling me that it cannot start because it is missing: "\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM\". Even if this file was downloadable, I cannot boot into the machine. My last guess is to install Linux on the same C:\ drive and get the files from there. I would like to know if there a way to workaround this missing file before using Linux as a last resort and also possibly ending up in the local computer store that rips off people's money.
that usually happens after installation of new OS, application, and device drivers. anyways you may fix it by going to recovery console and replacing the system file. Try this tutorial: http://antivirus.about.com/od/windowsbasic…owsrecovery.htm
that usually happens after installation of new OS, application, and device drivers. anyways you may fix it by going to recovery console and replacing the system file. Try this tutorial: http://antivirus.about.com/od/windowsbasic…owsrecovery.htm
The above makes sense….. if you have a resource to access Recovery Console.
You could probably use a borrowed "retail or OEM" XP installation CD of the appropriate Home or Pro version.
But not a "branded XP installation CD" which will only allow you to format and re-install.
MAny times, running chkdsk /r will fix this problem, which is caused by a corrupted NTFS file system.
You are going to have to get into BIOS Setup on your computer to set the CD/DVD drive as the first bootable device, so you can then boot your XP CD, unless it provides the ability to press a Fn key at boot time to bring up the boot selection menu. If it does, use that.
How you do this varies with each manufacturer. Normally you press F1, F2, F10 or Del when you see the manufacturers logo. Often there is a clue somewhere on the screen when you boot normally telling you what key to press. Some computers (most newer ones) have a key you can press (often F12) to bring up the Boot Menu from where you can select the CD/DVD drive to boot from.
If you don't have an XP CD, use the ARCDC by Artellos package Doug provided a link for.
Boot the CD and at the first opportunity, enter R to start the Recovery Console.
Next, choose which XP installation you want to login to. Normally this will be 1.
Lastly you will be asked for the Administrator password. Just press the Enter key as the Administrator does not have a password (unless you gave it one, then you would enter it).
From the command prompt, enter: chkdsk /r
Allow it to complete undisturbed. It can take an hour or more depending on the size of the hard drive.
Remove the CD, type exit and the computer will reboot. Hopefully that will have fixed the problem (corrupted file system).
Thank you very much guys. At the moment I have the .iso file burnt on a CD; I will presume that this contains all the default system files.
I will let the disc run when I get a chance to get to the HP machine.
I appreciate your help very much!
The recovery CD worked perfectly. I would much rather prefer ARCDC disc because it was simple and prompt.
I'm glad I did not have to make another trip to the computer store :x.
Thanks guys.
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