need help with serious xp home boot error

thenewguy001 · Aug 7, 2005, 04:46 PM

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\windows\system\32\config\system
you can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair

this is on my secondary computer running xp home with the latest security patches. it just all of a sudden won't boot today. it was off all day yesterday and was playing starcraft on it the day before.

problem is i don't know where my original setup cd is for xp home. I have the xp pro cd but i'm not sure whether it will work.

can someone please help with some advice? i've searched google and didn't find anything useful.

I'm not sure if it's allowed but if someone can upload a xp home setup cd it would be a great help. i do have my primary puter running, and if need be i can hook up the hd as a slave to see what's in there, and maybe just replace what needs to be replaced...

DamentZ · Aug 7, 2005, 09:25 PM

What file is missing or corrupted? Your just giving us the folder its located in. When you do find out, you can take your harddrive to a friends house, and find out what file needs to be replaced. Then see if he has the same file and if he does just transfer it over. If he doesnt then its probably a unique driver such as maybe nVidia ide drivers or such.

thenewguy001 · Aug 7, 2005, 11:41 PM

i don't know what file is missing. i've posted the exact error message i am receiving....

Tipstaff · Aug 8, 2005, 12:26 AM

This is the 4th time I've seen this very same problem in the last month. One thing I should mention is that the error isn't pointing to a folder specifically, but rather a file called "system". It shows up the way because the file has no extension. This error, although it's not saying so, can actually involve another file called "software". The reason is that these are the files that hold your system information, and are the ones referenced by the registry. I haven't been able to single out one common problem between the 3 systems, but I have found a couple things out. This error is either due to a corrupt registry, the file system is corrupt, or a virus. There are 3 ways to fix this:

1) If the registry is corrupt, which is the more likely culprit, then the road to recovery will take some time. Either the registry listing is missing to those files (the more likely situation), or the files themselves are corrupt/missing. In any case there is always a backup file for each of them. Follow Microsofts info on THIS page on how to recover from this problem, as well as some of the causes.

2) If the file system is corrupt the only way to fix this is to reinstall XP. This was the only way I was able to get 2 of the 3 systems running. Best way is to dump the data from that drive to another one, reinstall the OS (and delete/recreate the partition in the process), then copy everything back. If you hook this up to another system DO NOT let scandisk/chkdsk scan the drive because it will try to fix the files. Problem is that by fixing the files they can actually delete them, or make them unusable.

3) Reinstall XP. Simplest way to correct this because if it's a virus it's tied itself into the operating system pretty deep. You can try using a DOS virus scanner to clean the virus, and it may work, but the damage is already done. Best thing to do is scan for virus, and then try the recovery method above. If that fails, then you have no choice but to reinstall (see step 2).

I feel your pain, newguy. Hopefully this will help you out.

Yousaif · Aug 8, 2005, 02:22 AM

Just to add a bit to scare you, Lol. This issue happened on my stepdad's machine a while back. We solved the issue by formatting and reinstalling Win XP. 3 days later the problem cropped up again. FOrmat and reinstall again. 2 days this time it happened again.

Gave up finally and put a new HD in the bastard (the PC, not my stepdad). All better now.

Tipstaff · Aug 8, 2005, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yousaif

Just to add a bit to scare you, Lol. This issue happened on my stepdad's machine a while back. We solved the issue by formatting and reinstalling Win XP. 3 days later the problem cropped up again. FOrmat and reinstall again. 2 days this time it happened again.

Gave up finally and put a new HD in the bastard (the PC, not my stepdad). All better now.

Thanks for bringing that up, Yousaif. It's a good point. It could be that the hard drive is on it's dying leg, hence the corruption. If all else fails for him then the only alternative would be to replace the drive.

thenewguy001 · Aug 8, 2005, 08:06 PM

ok i've determined that it is a MAJOR virus infection caused by my sister's use of the computer. when i run it in windows even with a fresh new xp install on a different drive, the viruses start popping messages up on the screen, telling me my system has been compromised and that i should go to such and such website to download a fix. i don't know how the virii can infect a fresh install so badly but they have, and i need a dos based virus scanner to get rid of them because they're obviously in memory as soon as it boots up.

can someone direct me to a DOS-based virus scanner i can put on a boot disk and attempt a rescue on my system. I'm using AVG anti-virus which i heard is the best free anti-viral prog out there, but if you think there's a better one please let me know.
and just FYI, there are no backed up registry files on that computer. it seems they are all deleted...

Yousaif · Aug 8, 2005, 10:31 PM

Sometimes if its things popping up that says your system is compromised it may actually be a spyware issue. Try Ad-Aware SE or Spybot S&D (or both), which are free proggies that you can download at Cnet's download.com.

That is, of course, unless you already tried these.

thenewguy001 · Aug 9, 2005, 12:12 AM

they most definately are not legitamate security warnings. they're poorly spelt and grammar is bad and multiple instances of the same warning will say MS recommend i go to [website] where [website] is different on every message, and download a fix. i have avg and adware and spybot on that computer but the problem is my sister uses it and she never updates that stuff and i don't know how she gets this crap on there. it's not the first time it's been badly infected but it's never been so bad the registry's been fubar

Yousaif · Aug 9, 2005, 12:59 AM

I've found it to be that the more a person tries to get for free on the Internet (Bearshare, Limewire, KaZaa, etc) the more they collect spyware.

Lots of stuff comes with zipped smilies and emoticons, "free" fonts, and stuff like that.

Tipstaff · Aug 9, 2005, 01:58 AM

F-Prot for Dos

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenewguy001

....there are no backed up registry files on that computer. it seems they are all deleted...

Where there any files at all? Such as ones called system, system.bak, software, software.bak, and so on?

The_Neon_Cowboy · Aug 9, 2005, 04:10 AM

The only time I ever saw that was with a bad stick of memory I had added. Removed and RMAed the bad stick and al was well. Might be good ti run a memory tester like docmemory or memtest86

kodiak · Aug 9, 2005, 06:08 AM

Most of the time those pop ups are just that, a stupid pop up that is trying to get you to try there software so they can just tell you that you have to buy it to fix a few bits of spyware. I find when you get away from IE most of those pop ups stop and you get very little spyware on your system. Use firefox or Opera and get away from IE and you will see. Use adaware along with msantispyware or spywareblaster and your spyware worries are almost completely gone. Use ccleaner to clean up your system and thing's will run smooth for a long time to come.

Yousaif · Aug 9, 2005, 06:23 AM

Switching off IE is great advice for people that aren't already having a spyware or pop-up issue. After he cleans it up it would probably be the course to follow.

Of course you realize that the more people that use Firefox or Opera, the faster the "bad peeples" will come up with stuff to screw those up too, right?

kodiak · Aug 9, 2005, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yousaif

Of course you realize that the more people that use Firefox or Opera, the faster the "bad peeples" will come up with stuff to screw those up too, right?

Not so sure about that. Firefox and others work hard to fight off the spam but IE has allowed it from what I have read. Just what I have read. I'm running adaware, spybot and spywareblaster and I check once a month and find one once in a while with adaware. Those are also good to get it off once you have a bad infestation also. But then you may very well be right. We will see cause firefox is coming on strong.

thenewguy001 · Aug 9, 2005, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

F-Prot for Dos

Where there any files at all? Such as ones called system, system.bak, software, software.bak, and so on?

thanks. i will try f-prot after i try avg and trendmicro's dos AV rescue disks. the AVG prog has been running for about 24 hours now... it's pretty stupid cause it has to scan the computer 2 times before it gives you the option to delete the infected files.

last i checked the repair folder was empty. i didn't have enough system resources to do a search for any other backups cause it was so screwed the CPU was on 100% use the whole time i had it on.

thenewguy001 · Aug 11, 2005, 12:20 AM

got another problem the avg rescue disk didn't remove the viruses after the scan. it says 4 infections found and 4 files still infected. it took 2 days to scan the damn thing. i've moved f-prot dos into the computer and having it scan now. hopefully it turns up something...

another problem is i can read the c drive in dos when booted from disk, but my new winxp install on a separate drive doesn'tn recognize c as a formatted drive... does this mean the file system is beyond repair? it reads perfectly fine from DOS but winxp won't read it...

PangingJr · Aug 11, 2005, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenewguy001

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\windows\system\32\config\system

it means what it said... "system" registry hive is corrupted for unknown reason, sometimes this happens after a bad shutdown by user.

at least i've never seen this error, not once on my XPs for the last 3-4 years of using it,
so i would not think this is a common problems in Windows XP.
but might be on other systems.

You can still boot to Windows and sometimes all the problems is ended.... by replacing the corrupt "system" hive with a known good one (the backed up one.)

thenewguy001 · Aug 11, 2005, 02:47 AM

the problem is i can't get at the good registry files. i don't have a good set of registry files i can use to boot up into windows so i can get access to the "system volume information" and where the backup registries are stored. but for some odd reason this folder isn't acessible through emergency-disk boot-up in DOS. if i had some way of accessing this folder in dos i can make copies of my old registries and boot up and attempt to salvage the situation. i'm now going to follow the instructions on http://www.easydesksoftware.com/news/news20.htm to access my old system restore files and hopefully get a good registry that will boot up, but i have to sleep so i can go to work tommorow. it'll have to be done tommorow evening.

update so far:
-avg virus scan failed to delete any viruses at all. avg sucks. f-prot did the trick and identified and and deleted a lot of virii.
-i can also confirm that the hd is also failing. during f-prot's scan there were numberous disk read errors. i fear that the windows file system itself maybe damaged, and may explain why a new install of windows on a separate physical drive failed to recognize c drive. strangely enough DOS reads it just fine. are there any virii out there that can actually damage a hard disk physicallY? it just seems strange to me that a hard disk failure coincided with a crippling virus infection.

PangingJr · Aug 11, 2005, 03:05 AM

Quote:

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting
( http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;Q307545 )

Part one
In part one, you start the Recovery Console, create a temporary folder, back up the existing registry files to a new location, delete the registry files at their existing location, and then copy the registry files from the repair folder to the System32\Config folder. When you have finished this procedure, a registry is created that you can use to start Windows XP. This registry was created and saved during the initial setup of Windows XP. Therefore any changes and settings that occurred after the Setup program was finished are lost.

next time after you have completed the Windows installation create a full registry backup using the ERUNT - The Emergency Recovery Utility NT ( http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt ).
and if you like you could create another registry backup at anytime using this registry tool. (registry backup/restore with this tool = very easy.)

pr0digal jenius · Aug 11, 2005, 07:40 AM

do a surface scan on your hard drive...sounds like you have a bad sector near the beginning of the drive, which you may be able to block off if you can get your hands on a 2nd machine containing a copy of Partition Magic

thenewguy001 · Aug 11, 2005, 10:18 PM

i'm sad to annouce that my hard disk has lost its battle with cancer. i can't even get a directory listing in dos anymore. seeing how the file system is fubar, is it even remotely possible to recover some of the files i had on there? i have a second box i can hook it up to...

PangingJr · Aug 11, 2005, 11:07 PM

sorry to hear that. try to get your files from the hard drive as much as you can.
and then D/L your hard drive utility (in DOS bootable disk version.)
this software utility would be available at the drive manufacturers' websites.
then, run some diagnostic on the drive likes read/write verifications, drive surface checkups. then you could delete all of the partitions, re-create and format or zero-fill drive and try to use the drive for Windows install again and see.

Tipstaff · Aug 11, 2005, 11:55 PM

Just remember what I mentioned earlier: if you hook the drive up in order to copy over files DO NOT allow scandisk/chkdsk to run or you will have a lot of files renamed into useless data or oddball naming, or you will lose files when the table of contents gets rewritten. Bypass scandisk/chkdsk, and copy off as much as you can. Then you can do whatever you want to that drive.

I suggest a 12 story dive off a building.. but that's just me.