Hi

I've got a problem with Windows XP on my laptop. I'm getting the following message: "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

I've tried a number of solutions I’ve seen online, including the Recovery Console approach on support.microsoft.com

This didn't work because I get an "access is denied" message when I type "md temp" I've tried "DIR" but this gets the message "an error occurred during directory enumeration." I've also tried CHKDISK but this stops at 37% saying "the volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems."

I’ve also tried reinstalling XP in the hope this would find the existing Windows and try to repair it but it doesn't seem to find it. It just says I need to reformat the disk to free space so I can reload Windows.

I think the problem may have something to do with partitions/Windows not being in the C drive. When I go to the Recovery Console, it goes straight to C:\> and not C:\WINDOWS. I had to reinstall windows soon after I bought it (about a year ago) because it was having problems booting- maybe I put it in the wrong place?

I get this message sometimes in the Recovery console, no idea what it means!!
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partion(1)\WINDOWS\system32 \config\system
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partion(1)\WINDOWS\system32 \hall.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partion(1)\WINDOWS\system32 \ntoskrnl\exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partion(1)\WINDOWS\system32 \kdcom\dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partion(1)\WINDOWS\system32 \Bootvid.dll

I assume if I do reformat the C drive and then reload Windows, I'll lose all my documents?

Grateful for any advice!

Yes, a reformat will cause you to lose everything on it. It does sound like a reformat should fix the problem. Since you can't boot the computer, you might want to get a LiveCD Linux distro such as Knoppix; that will let you copy your important files before you reformat.

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Common Sense v2.0-Striving to make the world a little bit smarter.

Hi - Thanks for this. I've tried the Knoppix CD. It boots fine but freezes when I go into the My Documents folder- I get a "Stalled" message. Any ideas?

Does it auto-mount the Windows drive? If not you'll have to manually mount it to access it properly. You might also look at the permissions on "My Documents"; you might have to change it to 777 to be able to use it.

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Common Sense v2.0-Striving to make the world a little bit smarter.