win\system32\config

[argyle kid]

Hi all.

have a friend who has a problem with a dell computer.
It suddenly won't boot up and leaves a message that file \windows\system32\config\system is corrupt or missing type r and insert installation disc.

She has no disc as i suspect dell puts all that stuff on a partition part of the hard drive.
The operating system is Winxp home edition.It will not boot up in safe mode also.

Been on internet and this seems to be a common problem, all answers are too complicated for me.

Any one got a xp disc or a solution? Regards AK

[dx100uk]

you need 'some' method of booting the PC and running chkdsk c: /f /r

you could make a bootable penstick or use 'any' system disc

it does not 'have' to be the same OS

if you have a vista disc or win 7 disc that has a nice repair option.

you should find that the dell has an F12 option to boot to a diagnostic partition
that should be able to repair or enable you to run chkdsk.

look on the net for that type of lappy and how to get onto the repair partition
i would not however, commend doing a factory install because the punters files will be lost.

dx

[argyle kid]

Hi DX thankn's for reply.

Installation disc are thin on the ground I have used the F12 option but will try again with information given .However my wife made a recovery dvd from our PC (hewlett packard) computer five years ago. This is also winxp and I think this was windows generated not HP. Could this be used to fix my friends sys 32 problem? There is 3.51GB of information on this recovery disc.

Regards AK.

[dx100uk]

try the universal boot disc http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_6592462_burn-bootable-cd.html

that will do chkdsk and many other things too

i doubt you have LOST the file
just the FAT is screwed and it does not knowwhere to find it.

[Niall Fernie]

I you have lost/corrupted the file you can copy it back into place from a healthy installation.

I used slax to do this when a rootkit destroyed some files in my windows installation. (slax is a portable linux operating system on a cd - should be enough like windows for a novice to use for this kind of thing)

Helps to have the healthy PC close to hand as I found once I had replaced one file I needed 3 more :|

Get slax from www.slax.org and burn the .iso in the same way as ultimate boot disk.

Once you get the system up and running again I'd use something that sniffs out rootkits to check your system just to be sure.

[argyle kid]

Hi Niall and others.
Thank you for reply and help.
I do not want to go gallivanting around the web if I have the solution sitting on my desk.The last computer I bought had Win98se as the operating system and when it came out of the box I was instructed to make a emergency start up floppy. please read the threads I have a xP recovery dvd made when it came from the box.

Could I use this to repair my friends computer? A orger has kindly offered the use of a xp start up disc but I need advise on the pertinent question.
Regards AK

[Niall Fernie]

I cant remember correctly (someone will clarify) if Win98se is able to read NTFS formatted drives which your XP installation is most likely using. So your boot disk from 98se will probably not help.

Your recovery DVD is most probably a ghost image of how the drive on your PC looked when the DVD was made and using it will wipe the drive and put it back to that time.

You'll probably need an XP boot disk at the very least with chkdsk added. You should be able to create one when you format a floppy using XP, I've not used floppy disks for years so I'm not sure if that option existed past Windows 98. With a boot disk you can then copy over chkdsk from the XP installation to the floppy and you'll be able to boot the PC and run it from the command line.

If you're not used to using the command line (dos) then you'll find copying healthy files to the broken installation a bit complicated but using something like SLAX would be pretty much like doing it in windows (if you can copy/move files in windows you'll manage it in SLAX).

The Ultimate boot disk is a great set of tools and I'd recommend giving it a go anyway, good tools to have on hand regardless if it fixes this particular problem or not (as is SLAX).

[dx100uk]

you wont be able to easily use a xp disc [sev repeats of f3 are needed and it often disliked running do prompt needed]
i would strongly suggest using the ultimatebootdisc

get the .iso from the site
and burn it to a cd using any prog [lots of free ones on the web] that burn .iso's direct to disc

dx

[argyle kid]

Hi Niall,
My friend's computer does not have a floppy drive,Iam sorry that you took what was said wrongly.The mention of Win8x was another red herring only mentioned to explain my knowlege of start up disc and recovery dvd.

I am trying take on board what you and dx have given me it's at the upper level of my ability.

Regards AK.

[argyle kid]

Thank you to all who replied to my friends sys32 problem. It has now been resolved and my friend is now a happy bunny.