Corrupted c:\winnt\system32\config\system file

[Edward Diener]

I am unable to boot into my main Win2k installation because at bootup time a
message comes up that says that c:\winnt\system32\config\system is
corrupted. Is there any way out of this predicament ? I tried using my Win2k
CD-ROM and my Emergency Repair Disk but evidently there was no backup of
this file which could be used to restore a non-corrupted version. Am I
completely hosed or is there a way to get a non-corrupt system file somehow
so that I can boot into my main Win2k installation. If I am hosed it will
naturally be onerous for me to configure my secondary Win2k installation
with all the software and registry settings that I have built up over the
years in my main Win2k installation.

[Dave Patrick]

If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and
choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found
in
%windir%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%windir%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%windir%\system32\config\system

You can also try using the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%windir%\repair\system
to
%windir%\system32\config\system
You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
original OS install.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Edward Diener" <eldi...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:esuif7z...@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

[Edward Diener]

Thanks ! I could not recover no matter what I did so I will have to
re-install and build up my system from scratch. At least the files I had are
still there so it is just a case of re-installing software so the correct
settings are made in the registry again.

I was surpised that an emergency repair disk does not restore an older
version of the registry if it gets hosed.

"Dave Patrick" <ma...@Nospam.DSPatrick.com> wrote in message
news:OHUXq50K...@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

[Dave Patrick]

Depending on the damage it may be a manual process, but yes the files are
there.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

[spc_123]

....Those reporting the error "'WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced" is in
effect, a "winnt\system32\config\system" error. The error is displayed
over the Windows text "...advanced windows options...."

In my case, I had no floppy drive, and booting to recovery console
would not allow me access to copy, paste, or even 'cd' to another
directory. As I had critical applications/data on my system, I didn't
want to reinstall, due to fear of losing everything.

I rebooted the system with the CD, and chose to install to another
location (I chose \winnt2\). When I rebooted, I couldn't login because
of a missing dll.

I then booted from the CD again, and chose to repair, and had the
system find the installation. It couldn't find \winnt2\, but it found
the \winnt\ folder and repaired it fine.

I still have to reinstall IE, as it reverted back to IE5, but at least
I didn't lose anything critical. Just thought I'd provide another
option.

(btw...this whole mess began with a blue screen of death during an
uninstall of JDK1.4.2.)

--
spc_123
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