Windows Will Not Start

I'm Running XP Pro on another computer. At startup I get a DOS message which reads: Windows will not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: windows\system32\config\system
Could someone tell me how to fix this? I tried the "Repair" option on my installation CD, but I don't know what to do!

 

Welcome homer819

Try to run sfc /scannow Just go to start....run.....type in
sfc ( space ) /scannow

Windows will ask you for your Windows XP disk...just put it in your cd-rom drive and Windows will check all of your files that it needs to run properly...it will check yours against the originals on the disk and replace or repair any bad ones...then you should be good to go!

If windows won't start normally...try to do this in safe mode.

The instructions for the recovery console are here at the Elder Geek's page....www.theeldergeek.com just go to "R" for repair or recovery console or you might find something else that works for you.

 

This article on recovering from a corrupt registry may help. Only the parts related to the "system" hive apply.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545&Product=winxp