Resolved XP Total Corruption

Last Friday my XP lost Internet connection. Usually shutting down and powering up fixes the connection. However, I received the message on restart attempts about a corrupt or missing file: C:\Windows\system32\config\system. Thankfully someone on this forum required me to install Recovery Console and suggested I keep it. Without that I would not have been able to apply fixes. Yesterday I used the repair folder to restore this file and got Windows up; but it is sluggish to the point where I cannot either use the mouse or the Start menu. I tried to bring up System Restore; but it comes up as a blank box. Periodically I did Registry Backups and merged a fairly recent one from when the computer was operable; but now it is worse. The computer seems always too busy to do anything. I would like to run System File Checker, but cannot get to the run box. The computer is resting now, hoping that if left alone whatever runs on it will stop so that I can accomplish something. Backing up my text files is one task I would like to accomplish if I require a clean install of Windows. While I could not launch either Windows or Safe Mode, I showed no bad sectors after doing Chkdsk. Any ideas on how to repair this Windows installation? I suspect major corruption. Before posting I neglected to mention that I have the Ultimate Boot CD, which I found confusing to use. It brought me to Recovery Console, which I left on my computer as I mentioned earlier. The Lazesoft recovery disc I also have, but never tried it. Just now, about five days since the crash, it was a slow process but through the Command Prompt, in Administrator mode, I started the System File Checker. It runs slowly but it is running.

 

Mr. Omo, I appreciate your getting back. The Windows XP is on a wireless network with this Windows 7 64-Bit that I am on now. On the XP the System File Checker just completed its run. To avoid having to listen to the screensaver that I previously disabled on it, I shut down the XP. The recent restore process must have enabled that. Safe Mode With Networking is not an option on the XP. When I power it up I will check to see if Windows Repair is on from a previous thread. If not I will download it here, burn it to disc and run it on the XP. Thanks again.

 

Safe Mode with Networking is an option in XP. Are you saying that you just can't get it to work?

 

Normally on my XP, choosing Safe Mode With Networking only puts it in Safe Mode. There is an article somewhere stating that Safe Mode With Networking in XP is not available on wireless networks. It is available on my Windows 7. Presently I have not been able to connect to the Internet with my XP.

 

Safe Mode in Windows XP

 

I can only describe what happens in my XP computer since I know its normal behavior. To reply to the above message I found two articles that state that by design in Windows XP the network must be wired to use Safe Mode With Networking. They are "Wireless Networking May Not Function When You Use the "Safe Mode with Networking" Option" on the Microsoft Support site and "How to Enable Wireless Card in Safe Mode With Networking" on eHow. I did not know if links were allowed; so I did not provide them.

 

Since my Linksys E1000 router works fine with my cable modem, I never disrupted my connection. I suppose I could if necessary to debug that XP computer and avoid a clean install with possible text file loss.

 

I have just burned Windows Repair to a disc on this Windows 7 and just logged into Windows XP Safe Mode. As it logged in a message came up in a white box while the login screen was still up. It said that my profile was lost and the temporary one will be lost after I log in. Strange! More strange, this is the first time I accessed My Documents. What documents? To my knowledge, I did not roll back that far unless that repair folder in the earlier steps wiped out my files.

 

The disc that I made will not open in Safe Mode, and I cannot bring up the full Windows XP at all. The last thing I did from the Run box before shutting down was the System File Checker, which did not do anything unusual while it ran. Please share any ideas for retrieving my lost files. This looks really bad! In fact, now the system hangs on the login page.

 

"What Windows Repair disk?" Your guide. I already stated that I have no Internet on the XP; so I had to download it here on the Windows 7. "...you should boot into Safe Mode and back up the data..." I already stated that there is no data to back up. As result of the steps I followed to bring up XP before, what was there is gone. The system still hangs. Now that morning has arrived my XP still hangs. I am afraid of damaging the computer If I turn it off.

 

So, in reality I lost my files and have to reinstall Windows. Thanks. I guess that is the final solution. The last option may be to try to get to a DOS prompt and see if I can run it from there.

 

Hi troothteller, I started my XP Home SP3 comp and went into Safe Mode with Networking and entered Mozilla FF and WindowsBBS and I am typing this Post to prove that it works as MrBill stated and Steve suggested.
My Internet connection from the comp to the Fritz!box Fon WLAN 7360 Wireless Router/Modem is by cable.
If sfc /scannow didn't correct your problem - you will have to re-install XP as Evan has suggested. Neil.

 

Arguing back and forth over this is counterproductive at this point. I wish we would end this argument about what my computer should be able to do. We are comparing different circumstances, as if I do not know my own computer in terms of how it functions. In present condition my computer is not functional and the last post indicated that I have major damage.

 

I would only add that If you know the age of the HDD, your problems may be a HDD going South! If you wish to continue with XP I would certainly purchase a new HDD before doing an OS install. Neil.

 

That will be the fourth HD that computer had, the first since Microsoft stopped supporting XP. I lost track of how I got these external drives that were once in my computer. Refer to the articles I mentioned before. Such information already provided me with explanation for the loss of the Safe Mode With Networking long before this crash, before I acquired the Windows 7 on the same network.