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Thread ID: 96973 2009-01-30 18:35:00 windows/system32/config/system B.M. (505) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
743422 2009-01-30 18:35:00 Guy’s and Gal’s,

I’ve got a Toshiba Satallite M70 notebook here (XP Pro) that belongs to a mates daughter, that, upon startup, only gets to message:

/Windows/System32/config/System missing or corrupt.

Any suggestions? The message goes on to say I can attempt to repair it using the XP repair console on CD. I’ve tried the “r” option that takes me to a list of DOS commands and I’ve run “Fixmbr” “Fixboot” “chkdsk /r” but no improvement.

I actually suspect a HDD failure or partial failure as the Chkdsk /r took 10hrs to complete on a 40gig drive and there were a number of recovery messages.

Anyway, how would you guys go about this? :thanks
B.M. (505)
743423 2009-01-30 18:51:00 Go here:-
support.microsoft.com

HTH
Sweep (90)
743424 2009-01-30 19:11:00 Sounds like the HDD is failing.
I would pull the drive out of the laptop and put in another machine and see what data can be recovered.
Then test with the HDD manufacturer's testing software.
CYaBro (73)
743425 2009-01-30 21:51:00 Thanks for that guys. :thumbs:

I got it going following Sweeps link so at least I can see what’s happening. Thanks for that Sweep.

Anyway, the 40gig HDD only had 5 gig left yet it didn’t seem to have much on it.

No Music, No Photos, No videos, My Documents empty????????

Soooo, I installed an old and faithful DOS programme called Diskfronteer. It shows all the files on the computer in Bar Graph form.

Well, now I find a folder called “found.000” 12.5gig would you believe. In it are all these .chk folders and one of those, dir0014.chk is 8 gig on its own. :eek:

I take it they are lost clusters, which leaves me wondering how anything’s working?

Anyway, I’m on to your suggestion now CyaBro. I’ve downloaded Seatools on my computer and will have to burn it to a bootable CD because, although I have Seatools, it is on a Floppy and wouldn’t you know it, the laptop doesn’t have a floppy drive.

By the way, I pulled the HDD out to find what sort it was and it’s a Seagate in a Toshiba, but I notice the jumper is on Cable Select. Is this correct? :confused:
B.M. (505)
743426 2009-01-30 22:13:00 The problem with chkdsk and other programs like it (if run on failing drives etc) is that it can make matters worse. As you see, a lot of the files have been turned into "recovered" .chk files

Last time I got that error (/Windows/System32/config/System missing or corrupt.) which refers to the system registry hive - it was from a faulty hard drive. But the problem could easily be caused by faulty memory too.

I'd run memtest and verify that first. If that checks out fine it's probably the drive or cable.

if the HDD is faulty then a reading on the drive's SMART status should show up something nasty, probably a lot of reallocated sectors (at least)
Agent_24 (57)
743427 2009-01-30 22:14:00 Any suggestions? The message goes on to say I can attempt to repair it using the XP repair console on CD. I’ve tried the “r” option that takes me to a list of DOS commands and I’ve run “Fixmbr” “Fixboot” “chkdsk /r” but no improvement.
Sorry but thats the wrong 'repair' option (that takes you to the Recovery Console),

To setup Windows XP now and Repair Install , press ENTER. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
to actually do a repair of your XP installation you need to do this
www.michaelstevenstech.com
(second quote is from this webpage).

By the way, I pulled the HDD out to find what sort it was and it’s a Seagate in a Toshiba, but I notice the jumper is on Cable Select. Is this correct?
Most likely, yes.
feersumendjinn (64)
743428 2009-01-31 02:28:00 The booting problem should be easily fixed by replacing the system hive with a backup from system volume information folder (where system restore keeps backups)

Easiest way to do this will be from another PC (take the HDD out of the other one)

Open the System Volume Information folder from the root of the drive (you will need to unhide hidden files and system files)

This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as "_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".

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.
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
From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files somewhere:
_REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

Rename the files that you copied 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

Then replace the corrupted versions in C:\Windows\System32\Config with the ones you copied from the restore backup.

That should fix the problem.

But I would still check the Memory and HDD itself for faults
Agent_24 (57)
743429 2009-01-31 07:58:00 Well I got windows to boot up alright following the instructions on Sweeps link. I did this before other suggestions came in.

My problem now is I want to test the HDD and RAM but I don’t have a floppy drive. :rolleyes:

So, for a start I burned a copy of Seagate Tools for DOS to CD. Problem now is it gets as far as the eula screen and that’s it. Just freezes, no mouse no keyboard function. I thought it may be the disk so I put it in my laptop and it worked fine.

Hence I’m now stuck again. I haven’t tried MemTest because I figured if it wasn’t going to boot from DOS then there wasn’t much point burning a disk.

Another question: Is it possible to have say Seatools and memtst on the same CD? :confused:

Well, I guess I’d better sleep on it. (I don’t really have any option I guess) :D
B.M. (505)
743430 2009-01-31 08:14:00 UBCD? Blam (54)
743431 2009-01-31 08:17:00 UBCD?UBCD4Windows has a system restore feature that saves having to muck around changing files etc, it basically does what sweep linked to but in a GUI interface from a bootable CD.

UBCD and UBCD4Windows are two different programs just to confuse the issue :nerd:
wainuitech (129)
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