\windows\system32\config\system error

[jobrla]

Good moring all,

Got up this morning and turned on my computer and it came up with this...

Window could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt;

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Startup

Using the original setup CD-ROM

Select "r" at the first screen to start repair.

Does anyone have a step by step procedure to walk me through this ordeal??

Thanks in advance

Joe

[KAndle]

Generally I put the factory CD back in with this error and boot to that and reinstall. Did you recently install something or uninstall? Do you have any backups? You don't have to reformat unless that error is caused by drive corruption. I find it helpful to rename Documents and Settings and the Windows folder to something else before beginning. Does Safe mode work? There is no step by step to simply solving that problem that I know of. It can be caused by many things.

[cluberti]

You've already posted them:

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Startup using the original setup CD-ROM

- Pop the Windows XP CD in your drive and press a key to boot from CD when prompted

Select "r" at the first screen to start repair

- When prompted, press the "r" key on the keyboard to start the repair process.

When it's done, your machine should reboot and (hopefully) start working normally again.

If not, you'll have to reinstall.

[IcemanND]

see: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/307545/en-us?

You don't have to use the recovery console anything you have that will allow you to access your disk. Then follow the disk copy procedures.

[jobrla]

Thanks guys for the assistance,

The only thing is, when I hit "r" for repair it runs through a few things and goes to a "DOS" like prompt

c:\windows>

after researching this problem i found this from MS.. plz tell me what you think....

SUMMARY

This article describes how to recover a Windows XP system that does not start because of corruption in the registry. This procedure does not guarantee full recovery of the system to a previous state; however, you should be able to recover data when you use this procedure.

Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously. If you use the procedure that is described in this article, you may not be able to log back into the recovery console to restore the original registry hives.

You can repair a corrupted registry in Windows XP. Corrupted registry files can cause a variety of different error messages. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base for articles about error messages that are related to registry issues.

This article assumes that typical recovery methods have failed and access to the system is not available except by using Recovery Console. If an Automatic System Recovery (ASR) backup exists, it is the preferred method for recovery. Microsoft recommends that you use the ASR backup before you try the procedure described in this article.

Note Make sure to replace all five of the registry hives. If you only replace a single hive or two, this can cause potential issues because software and hardware may have settings in multiple locations in the registry.

If you experience a repetitive occurrence of registry corruption related issues, Microsoft recommends that you obtain and install the hotfix in the following article:

318159 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318159/) Damaged registry repair and recovery in Windows XP

This update is also included in Windows XP Service Pack 1.

Back to the top

MORE INFORMATION

When you try to start or restart your Windows XP-based computer, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE

Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate

System error: Lsass.exe

When trying to update a password the return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct.

The procedure that this article describes uses Recovery Console and System Restore. This article also lists all the required steps in specific order to make sure that the process is fully completed. When you finish this procedure, the system returns to a state very close to the state before the problem occurred. If you have ever run NTBackup and completed a system state backup, you do not have to follow the procedures in parts two and three. You can go to part four.

Back to the top

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.

To complete part one, follow these steps:

1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer. Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.

2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.

4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.

5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line: md tmpcopy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bakcopy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bakcopy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bakcopy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bakcopy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bakdelete c:\windows\system32\config\systemdelete c:\windows\system32\config\softwaredelete c:\windows\system32\config\samdelete c:\windows\system32\config\securitydelete c:\windows\system32\config\defaultcopy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\systemcopy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\softwarecopy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\samcopy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\securitycopy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.

Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example). To create this file, run the following command when you start in Recovery Console:

batch regcopy1.txt

With the batch command in Recovery Console, you can process all the commands in a text file sequentially. When you use the batch command, you do not have to manually type as many commands.

Back to the top

Part two

To complete the procedure described in this section, you must be logged on as an administrator, or an administrative user (a user who has an account in the Administrators group). If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, you can log on as an administrative user. If you log on as an administrator, you must first start Windows XP Home Edition in Safe mode. To start the Windows XP Home Edition computer in Safe mode, follow these steps.

Note Print these instructions before you continue. You cannot view these instructions after you restart the computer in Safe Mode. If you use the NTFS file system, also print the instructions from Knowledge Base article KB309531. Step 7 contains a reference to the article.

1. Click Start, click Shut Down (or click Turn Off Computer), click Restart, and then click OK (or click Restart).

2. Press the F8 key. On a computer that is configured to start to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the Startup menu.

3. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Safe mode option, and then press ENTER.

4. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to access, and then press ENTER.

In part two, you copy the registry files from their backed up location by using System Restore. This folder is not available in Recovery Console and is generally not visible during typical usage. Before you start this procedure, you must change several settings to make the folder visible:

1. Start Windows Explorer.

2. On the Tools menu, click Folder options.

3. Click the View tab.

4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.

5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these files appears.

6. Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to display a list of the folders. If is important to click the correct drive.

7. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder is unavailable and appears dimmed because it is set as a super-hidden folder.Note This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as "_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".Note You may receive the following error message: C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied. If you receive this message, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to gain access to this folder and continue with the procedure: 309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/) How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder

8. Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There may be one or more folders starting with "RPx under this folder. These are restore points.

9. Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder. The following path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder: C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot

10. From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder: • _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT

• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY

• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE

• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM

• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

11. Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as follows: • Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT

• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY

• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE

• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM

• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

These files are the backed up registry files from System Restore. Because you used the registry file that the Setup program created, this registry does not know that these restore points exist and are available. A new folder is created with a new GUID under System Volume Information and a restore point is created that includes a copy of the registry files that were copied during part one. Therefore, it is important not to use the most current folder, especially if the time stamp on the folder is the same as the current time.

The current system configuration is not aware of the previous restore points. You must have a previous copy of the registry from a previous restore point to make the previous restore points available again.

The registry files that were copied to the Tmp folder in the C:\Windows folder are moved to make sure that the files are available under Recovery Console. You must use these files to replace the registry files currently in the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. By default, Recovery Console has limited folder access and cannot copy files from the System Volume folder.

Note The procedure described in this section assumes that you are running your computer with the FAT32 file system. For more information about how to access the System Volume Information Folder with the NTFS file system, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/) How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder

Back to the top

Part Three

In part three, you delete the existing registry files, and then copy the System Restore Registry files to the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder:

1. Start Recovery Console.

2. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line: del c:\windows\system32\config\sam del c:\windows\system32\config\security del c:\windows\system32\config\software del c:\windows\system32\config\default del c:\windows\system32\config\system copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default Note Some of these command lines may be wrapped for readability.

3. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts.

Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example).

Back to the top

Part Four

1. Click Start, and then click All Programs.

2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.

3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous RestorePoint.

Back to the top

REFERENCES

For more information about using Recovery Console, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP

216417 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216417/) How to install the Windows XP Recovery Console

240831 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240831/) How to copy files from Recovery Console to removable media

314058 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/) Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console

For more information about System Restore, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

306084 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084/) How to restore the operating system to a previous state in Windows XP

261716 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261716/) System Restore removes files during a restore procedure

Back to the top

APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional

• Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

• Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002

Back to the top

Keywords: kbhowto kbenv kbinfo KB307545

Back to the top

[IcemanND]

yep that's the lovely way to fix it. Have fun.

[jobrla]

Your too kind ICEMAN

What has me scared to do this is, I built my PC and purchased a OEM Windows XP OS off the internet from Pricegrabber. And in the instructions at the beginning says not to do thid procedure if using a OEM product. What do you think.??

Joe

Edited April 6, 2006 by jobrla

[IcemanND]

As long as you have the cd it shouldn't be a problem, I've done it with every version of Xp available except Media Center, without a problem.

[jobrla]

Thanks ICEMAN,

One last question if you have the time, kind of confused....

In the procedrure, it firsts asks you to...

copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak

The prompt is setting at..

c:\windows>

Do I have to change to my "D" drive before typing in the copy and the same withe the deletes and the second copy???

In part 3, where you do the deletes, Iam guessing I need to be in "C" drive for that..

thanks

Joe

[Nakatomi2010]

Ther's a more user friendly way of doing this...

The UBCD4Windows has a Registry Restore wizard that'll do the above FOR you with about 5 or 6 clicks...

Other thing is you can use like ERD Commander 2005 or or something, do NOT mount the registry, and do all the copying and renaming from there... It's what I do.. Not nearly as much typing....

Go BartPE!

See my sig for my Windows XP Solutions DVD makeup....

Quick addendum here...

As a technician I see that error fairly frequently... NORMALLY it's caused by a failing hard drive, so I'd recommend getting something like PowerMax 4.09 and running a scan on your drive, if it fails Ghost it THEN repair....

Edited April 7, 2006 by Nakatomi2010

[jobrla]

NOW I'M LOST

[IcemanND]

if your windows installation is on the c: drive then you will do everything on C:

Nakatomi is refering to a utility cd you can make and boot from to do the repair, if you have another machine you can make a cd on you could make a UBCD4windows.

[jobrla]

Thanks ICEMAN

I tried to do the first "copy" after the c:\windows> prompt and it came back "cant find the file" is this normal or am I going to have to re-install windows//

joe

[IcemanND]

5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:

md tmp

copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak

copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak

copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak

copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak

copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system

delete c:\windows\system32\config\software

delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam

delete c:\windows\system32\config\security

delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

to save yourself some typing do the following for step 5 instead and follow the rest of the instructions:

cd\windows\system32\config
md temp
copy software temp\software
copy system temp\system
copy sam temp\sam
copy security temp\security
copy default temp\default.bak
delete system
delete software
delete sam
delete security
delete default
copy c:\windows\repair\system system
copy c:\windows\repair\software software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security security
copy c:\windows\repair\default default