Yikes! Help with Windows XP Home, please!

[Dark Moment 0]

I've no doubt that this is the wrong forum for this post but this is the only home I know, and I need quick advice. Give me 5, moderators! I just went to reboot to fly my new MD902 and I got a DOS prompt saying:"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SYSTEM"What is this file? An INI file? I've no way of checking as I'm shut out - this message is being typed on my Win98SE computer which, inevitably, has a different file structure. Aaargggh. What's more, I bought a bundled computer so I have no disks for Windows. Makes ya sick, dunnit?If anyone feels inclined to wing me the file (pleeeeeze, grovel grovel) then my address is MABeaumont@aol.com. Thanks. If you are so kind, then please post here so that I don't end up with four hundred of the slippery little devils.Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontEDIT: Mmmm.... may be a bigger problem than I thought, as I can't access DOS and thus have no way of loading or repairing this file. Or do I?http://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[Guest outtatimeiii]

Ouch! That is a important file. That is where all the system stuff is. On my computer this file is 7.75MB which means it has something important in it. Since this file is system dependant, I doubt you can swap the file with another computer.In the mean time, try holding down F8 right before XP loads up normally. In the menu select "Last known good configuration" or whatever its called, and reply and tell me how it went.Hope that helped.

[Dark Moment 0]

Ouch and ouch again! Managed to get to that screen with options ... last known good config, safe mode etc. .... but:1. 'Last known good config' returns me to the same message screen, as above.2. 'Safe modes' bring up a listing of five files onscreen, the last of which is the (apparently) errant file, and then eventually goes to the problem screen, above.Should I consider suicide, or are there other alternatives?Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontEDIT: After two hours of going round in circles, I'm still going round in circles. Can anyone else tell me how big their WINDOWS/CONFIG/SYSTEM file is? Is it, indeed, locally generated or can I replace mine with someone elses'? Even if I could get in to DOS to do that, which I can't right now.And I thought I knew my way around computers ... but this has me stumped. I just can't get in.I'm terrified of having to trawl the old girl around to CompUSA or something ... I just know what they'll say ... "better reformat your hard drive sir" or "sorry, but we wiped your hard drive by mistake" .... oh, woe is me.http://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[Guest]

Yeppers......You are going to have to do a complete format and re-install......that sucks....If you have important stuff you need to get off the HD you may know you can do a parallel install of XP and copy all that stuff to a CD.I had that happen seven times until I got a good install of XP.I do wish you well. DONT DO IT WHEN YOUR TIERD.

[Dark Moment 0]

Are you serious, flynman? You had to do this SEVEN TIMES? What causes it then? Why has this file suddenly gone silly on me?Moving 60GB of stuff onto a CD is not really an option, LOL. I have to find a way to fix this file. I can't believe I have to reformat for one file. Trouble is, for sure, I can't get in there right now.Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontEDIT: Surely, the first thing to try is getting hold of some Windows XP install disks, isn't it? Can I not try to overwrite what is there? Is it really necessary to talk in terms of reformatting?That would be weeks of work for me to get back to square one ... in fact, with FS I could never achieve it. I would lose so much. Here's hoping this isn't a major lesson in life ...I am getting the intro screen and can pull up the SETUP menu etc. I just can't load Windows, and I can't reach DOS to investigate.http://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[Guest outtatimeiii]

I believe there are WinXP setup floppies on Microsoft's site somewhere. With them, you should be able to get into the Recovery console, which is a 'restricted' version of DOS. You might be able to revive your system with that (you can type ? or help to display commands to fix stuff). Cant really use the floppies for much more than that though. That seems like the best you can do without a XP CD. You can try to get the data off with a NTFS driver (so you can access stuff from your XP drive) for Win98, but you cannot write to the NTFS drive.

[gosta 0]

Hi Dark Moment,I got this right, the corrupt file is on your XP system, isn't it?In that case, you can just do a repair install, which will leave all your installed programs and files intact (except for your Windows settings). Just run your Windows CD, select install Windows, and you will be given the option to repair the existing installation (If memory serves correctly, it's on the same page as the option to format). And presto - fresh Windows and all your programs intact.Cheers,Gosta.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

[Guest freequest]

Sorry to say this but the only good windows version was and still is windows 2000... Iv been running mine for about 2.5 years and no downtime no errors and no BSOD's.Lets hope longhorn is better :(And i hope you get your problem fixed up.. reinstalling is a pain in the butt.GL

[jcboliveira 1]

You are right. That repair install as saved me a lot of times.Jos

[Guest Captain Barfbag]

I had this happen once. Sorry to tell you, but in my case it was a failing disk drive. On the bright side, I was able to install a new drive and slave the bad one to that, and then copy almost everything back.Have you checked for viruses that might do this? (Well, you can't, can you?) That was my first thought when this happened to me. Does anyone know if there's a virus which corrupts this particular file?

[Dark Moment 0]

Thanks, all. Captain Barf, that may be the way to go, I guess ... most other comments suggest repair from the Windows CD but as I said earlier that's what I don't have. So, maybe:Try the MS site for Windows XP rescue floppy stuff?Try MS for a Windows XP install disk?If neither of those can be done, install a new HD, load it with Windows and try to slave the existing drive?I just cannot believe that the doom route - sigh deeply and reformat my whole hard drive - is my only option. If so, I shall probably take up needlework.Reverting, but any further comments MORE than appreciated ...Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[Guest]

I hope you haven't done anything drastic yet :-hangLook at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;307545 You need to copy and paste the WHOLE line into your browser - the ; break up the url string.Hopefully this will save you a lot of heartache. Let us know how you get on.Bill

[alastairmonk 0]

Great idea - but he doesn't have an install CD ! Don't you just love the pirates that caused MS to stop supplying the OS on CD. My new(ish) WinXP Home PC came with a "Repair" CD, but I've no idea what it does, or whether it works on a re-formatted/replaced HD.Alastair

[Guest]

I haven't time to go back to MS KB again at the moment but I read it pretty thoroughly before I posted the link and cannot remember anything in the article mentioning the CD was even needed for the repair.Bill

[Dark Moment 0]

Thanks, Bill! Actually, I have just got that far, through Support Chat with Compaq/HP ... but of course, nothing works to plan. My computer won't let me follow the instructions as written (cannot copy this cannot copy that etc.) and now has come up with a password block. Since I never had one, I have new issues.Yaaaarrhhhhgghhhh! More soon .... somewhere, somehow, I will fix this. I'm NOT going to lose my data, dammit.Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg